Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) was a Spanish novelist, chronicler, playwright and politician who went down in the history of the literary world as one of the most important and influential writers in Europe in recent times. It had within its variety of works more than a hundred novels, an approximate of thirty plays, in addition to a fruitful range of essays, articles and stories.
Galdós is considered a pioneer and teacher of Realism, as well as Naturalism. His level was or is that of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, so much so that both have disputed the first place of the best novelist in the Spanish language.
Pérez Galdós' life was disturbed by the conservative society that existed during the 19th century. The honesty and objectivity with which he expressed some issues, especially ecclesiastical ones, led the powerful to persecute him and limit his work.
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Benito Pérez Galdós was born on May 10, 1843 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Her parents were Sebastián Pérez, belonging to the Spanish army, and Dolores Galdós, who was the daughter of a member of the well-known Inquisition. His passion for literature was the consequence of the stories that his father told him about the war.
Galdós began his first studies when he was nine years old and entered the Colegio de San Agustín in his hometown. The advanced education he received at that institution was reflected in some of his later works. It was at this time that he began to write for local media..
Years later, in 1862, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Some time later, due to an affair with a cousin, his mother sent him to Madrid to enroll in a law degree. He was 19 years old when he started living in the big city.
In his university years he met important people, among whom the former Franciscan friar and Spanish pedagogue Fernando de Castro stood out, as well as the philosopher and essayist Francisco Giner de los Ríos..
The latter motivated him to write and introduced him to the doctrine of Krausism, to defend freedom and tolerance in teaching.
The writer made the most of his stay in Madrid. He frequently attended literary meetings, in the same way he went to the Athenaeum to read the renowned European writers of the time..
From a young age he was passionate about the theater. He witnessed La Noche del Matadero in 1865, where several students died.
Benito did many jobs before becoming a writer. In the newspapers La Nación and El Debate he served as editor. His work as a journalist allowed him to report historical events, such as the mutiny against Queen Elizabeth II by the San Gil Artillery Barracks on June 22, 1866..
From his trip to Paris he brought with him the works of Honoré de Balzac and Charles Dickens. In the newspaper La Nación published the translation of Dickens's work, The Pickwick Club Papers. Between the years 1867 and 1868 he published The Golden Fountain, considered his first novel.
Three years later, he published The shadow in the Magazine of Spain. The mentioned printed medium of an intellectual and political nature was directed by Galdós himself between 1872 and 1873. Later they made their appearance National Episodes where the contemporary Spanish history of the time was narrated.
Politics was also part of the playwright's life. His connection with the Liberal Party plus his friendship with the engineer and politician Práxedes Sagasta y Escolar led him to be a congressman. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1910, he was the leader of the so-called Republican Socialist Conjunction.
Since his university days, the theater had become a passion for the playwright, so attending theater performances in Madrid became a hobby.
They count among his first works Whoever does bad does good, don't wait from 1861, and The kick of the Moorish 1865. Due to its content, Electra, premiered on January 30, 1901, was one of his most outstanding and remembered works..
His position before the Catholic Church with the play, made the clergy influence so that he did not win the Nobel Prize.
Galdós's success in the theater was not bombastic. The public rejected the fact that his works were long-lived, and also had too many characters. Most of his works in this genre were about the value of work and money, about repentance and women in society.
Benito Pérez Galdós had the honor of belonging to the Royal Spanish Academy, despite opposition from the most conservative sectors of Spanish society. On the other hand, the writer spent his whole life alone, he was very careful about his private life. Although he was not known as a wife, it is known that he had a daughter.
His last years of life were spent between writing and politics. He died on January 4, 1920 in the city of Madrid. It was so much the regret of the citizens for the death of the writer, that his funeral was attended by more than thirty thousand people. His remains rest in the Almudena Cemetery.
As stated in the introduction, Pérez Galdós's work was quite prolific. Furthermore, his style was within the objectivity of Realism. That, plus his keen ability to describe, earned him the fame that accompanies him to this day..
The style of his works was characterized by the use of a language for all social classes; used the cult and the street. In addition to being the owner of a direct enough way to penetrate the readers. His stories enjoyed humor and satire; at the same time the use of dialogue was predominant.
Galdós knew how to write novels, plays, essays and stories. Among his most relevant works are: Fortunata Y Jacinta (1886-1887), Perfect Lady (1876), The shadow (1870), The forbidden (1884-1885), Mercy (1897), Cassandra (1905) and
The Enchanted Knight (1909), all within the genre of novels.
While in the theater they had recognition: Whoever does bad does good, don't wait, from the year 1861, whose manuscripts were lost; La De San Quintín (1894), Electra (1901), Soul and Life (1902), Cassandra (1910), Alceste (1914), Sister Simona (1915) and Santa Juana of Castile (1918).
Some of the most outstanding works are described below:
This publication belongs to the cycle of Contemporary Spanish Novels of the writer. It is considered the best novel by Galdós, and the most representative of Realism. It is the story of two completely different women in a time of the Revolution of 1868.
Fortunata is described as a beautiful and slender woman, while Jacinta as affectionate, delicate-looking and cute. The characters that make up the novel are numerous, reaching one hundred. The work falls within the genre of comedy.
Fragment:
Fortunata also looked at him in surprise… She saw in his eyes a loyalty and honesty that astonished her… They had made fun of her so much that what she was seeing could only be a new mockery. That one was, without a doubt, more rogue and more deceitful than the others ... ".
This work tells the story of Doña Perfecta, a widow who, in order to preserve the family heritage, agreed with her brother to marry her daughter Rosario to Pepe, her nephew..
Later the tragedy was unleashed after the idea of the protagonist. It has five main characters: Doña Perfecta, Rosario, Pepe Rey, Inocencio and Caballuco.
Fragment:
"Lord, my God, why didn't I know how to lie before, and now I know? Why didn't I know how to hide before and now I'm trying to hide? Am I an infamous woman? ... What I feel and that happens to me is the fall of those who do not get up again ... Have I stopped being good and honest? ".
This short novel by Pérez Galdós was published in parts in La Revista de España. The work of philosophical and also fantastic content has been framed by the followers of the writer as an essay. In the story, "the shadow" is jealousy.
Fragment:
"-She Loves Me; we love each other, we present ourselves, we approach each other by fatal law, you ask me who I am: I am going to see if I can make you understand. I am what you fear, what you think. This fixed idea that you have in your understanding is me ... ".
It belongs to the Contemporary Spanish Novels within the spiritualist space. With Fortunata Y Jacinta is considered one of the most important universally.
With this work he describes the most sensitive aspects of the city of Madrid of his time. The protagonist is called Benina.
Fragment:
“The Benina had a sweet voice, manners to a certain point fine and well-mannered, and her dark face did not lack a certain interesting grace that, already groped by old age, was a blurred and barely perceptible grace… Her large, dark eyes were barely they had the red edging imposed by age and morning chills ... ".
In this work the author made a severe criticism of the domes of the Catholic Church in Spain. It is part of Galdós's Contemporary Spanish Novels. It tells the story of Doña Juana de Samaniego, who changes the will of her late husband, and donates her assets to the church.
In addition, Doña Juana conditions her son with a part of the inheritance. He demands that he separate from Cassandra with whom he has children, and marry Casilda. From then on, a dispute begins between the characters, which increases with the interference of Catholicism in families, according to the writer..
Fragment:
“-Doña Juana: Yesterday I saw you… we talked… I told you that, without seeing and treating that Cassandra, I cannot determine the form and quality of the protection that I should give my husband's son… Tell him that this afternoon, after my religious festival, bring me that preciousness ... You have to see everything, even the beauty of meat ".
It is one of the plays of the playwright. It was premiered at the Teatro de la Comedia in the city of Madrid on January 27, 1894. It is about a love story that occurs between Rosario de Trastámara and Víctor, César's natural son, who is also Don José's nephew. Manuel de Buendía, a wealthy old man.
Fragment:
“-Don José: Yes, but… By my opinion, the recognition will not be verified until we make sure that Víctor deserves to belong to our family. In view of the bad reputation he brought from abroad, where he was educated, and from Madrid, where he lived the last months, I thought, and you approved, that we should put him through a correctional observation system. Imagine that it was impossible ... ".
"-Don César: Victor has talent".
This play by Galdós premiered at the Teatro de la Princesa in Madrid on May 8, 1918. In it the author describes the last days of the confinement in Tordesillas of Queen Juana I of Castile, in addition to the humiliating treatment she received by the regent Marquis of Denia.
Santa Juana de Castilla is in the category of tragicomedy. It is divided into three acts. From its premiere to the present it has been represented by several theater companies. The main characters in the play are six.
Fragment:
“-Denia: (Kissing Doña Juana's hand with affected respect) Madam, I see you in good health, and your servant truly strikes.
-Doña Juana: (With cold indifference) Thank you, Marquis. I have many proofs of the interest you take for me ".
The above are just some of the few works by the talented and prolific Spanish writer and playwright, who, with his ability for language, his skill for dialogue, his objectivity and at the same time the sagacity of his criticism, gave the literary world of the most important works of Castilian.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens 1868
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