Comparison between A Lost Lady and Water for ChocolateThe worlds that Willa Cather and Laura Esquivel write about hardly seem congruous. Written at different times, in different styles, and in different cultures, Cather's A Lost Lady and Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate appear, at first glance, to have little in common. Cather's Victorian realism seems completely incompatible with Esquivel's surrealist imagery, yet, if we look closely, we can find common threads woven between the two works. While the differences are obvious, there are subtle similarities in the setting, conflict, and central characters. The excerpt above is provided to give the student an idea of ​​the focus of this essay. The full essay begins below. Imagine, for a moment, Marian Forrester in her kitchen preparing a tray for tea. As he works, his mind wanders to the letter he received in the mail today from Frank Ellinger. “It's been too long since Frank's been out of Denver,” he thinks as he looks out the window across the lawn, half-expecting to see his silhouette approaching. Instead he sees an exotic form in the distance, a Spanish girl, and in a cloud of dust a soldier approaches her. Without slowing his gallop, so as not to waste a moment, he bent down, put an arm around her waist, and lifted her onto the horse in front of him, face to face, and carried her away. The horse, which also seemed to obey superior orders, continued to gallop as if it already knew its final destination, even though Juan had thrown aside the reins and was passionately kissing and embracing Gertrudis. The movement of the horse combined with the movement of their bodies as they made love for the first time, at a gallop and with great difficulty. (Esquivel 55-56)An unlikely scene in Mrs. Forrester's Victorian world? The worlds that Willa Cather and Laura Esquivel write about hardly seem congruous. Written at different times, in different styles, and in different cultures, Cather's A Lost Lady and Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate appear, at first glance, to have little in common. Cather's Victorian realism seems completely incompatible with Esquivel's surrealist imagery, yet, if we look closely, we can find common threads woven between the two works. While the differences are obvious, there are subtle similarities in the setting, conflict, and central characters. Writing in the Victorian era, Cather chooses the prairie states of the United States at the turn of the century as the setting for her novel..