19th Century Romanticism in Spanish Literature

Posted on Oct 5, 2024 in Music

XIX Century: Romanticism

General Features:

  • Irrationalism: Romanticism refuses to explain all of reality through reason alone.
  • Subjectivism: If reason has limits, other ways of knowing are necessary (passion, intuition, imagination, instinct…).
  • Idealism: Predilection for the ideal over the material.
  • Individualism: The romantic individual is self-aware, the ego versus what surrounds him. This sometimes leads to loneliness.
  • Creative Genius: The artist is not merely a craftsman who produces; art becomes a form of self-expression.
  • Radical Insecurity: The romantic nature is insecure and dissatisfied (the “romantic vital chagrin”; the romantic seeks answers to existential questions).
  • Discontent: Romantic clash between the self and the mundane, gray reality.
  • Evasion: Desire to escape the sad reality (to exotic places like America and Asia, or to the past, such as medieval times).
  • Solitude: Escape from reality through refuge in oneself.
  • Dynamic Nature: Representations of nature as changing, dramatic, and preferably at night.
  • New Sensitivity: Intimacy, introspection, nostalgia, melancholy, sadness, loneliness, a taste for the dark and twilight…
  • Nationalism: Enhancement of the spirit of each nation; obsession with seeking the roots of each people.

Prose:

Characteristics:

  • In the first half-century, prose is almost nonexistent (excepting Larra).
  • The main genre is the historical novel.
  • Also includes sentimental and terror narratives.
  • The historical novel is set in past events and enjoys great success in Europe.
  • Examples: Larra (The Young Henry the Sufferer), Espronceda (Sancho Saldaña), Enrique Gil y Carrasco (Lord of Bembibre).
  • Texts are published in installments (serial novels) to lower the price of books and make them more accessible.
  • Serialized novels include melodramatic elements, social issues, and large type.
  • A variant of the serialized novel is the serial (Wenceslao Ayguals de Izco’s Maria / Daughter of a Laborer).
  • Custom articles also appear in two types:
    • The portrait: description of an individual who stands out for some quality.
    • The scene: the writer describes a peculiar aspect of the country’s culture.

Authors:

  • Serafín Estébanez Calderón:
    • Writes scenes and folklore articles (Andalusian Scenes).
  • Ramón Mesonero Romanos:
    • The most important author of Spanish manners.
    • Portrays the daily reality of Madrid at the time (Madrid Scenes).
  • Mariano José de Larra:
    • Wrote a little drama (Macías) and a novel (The Young Henry the Sufferer).
    • First published the satirical Fairy Day, and later in The Anonymous Coward (Come Back Tomorrow, The Old Castilian, The Married Soon and Wrong).
    • His articles can be classified as follows:
      • Articles of literary criticism and culture: outlines theatrical releases, publications, literary trends…
      • Political articles: comment on the political events of the moment.
      • Articles of manners: they are mainly satirical and criticize behavior and various social customs.
    • His themes combine enlightened thought with the new romantic sensibility.
    • Desire for freedom in his writing.
    • Criticizes pillars of the old regime: the church and nobility.
    • He is deeply individualistic, which leads to romantic dandyism (enhances elegance and good taste compared to “tasteless” popular culture).
    • Skepticism and pessimism.
    • Functional style, with clear, direct language.
    • Very frequent use of irony to satirize.

Poetry:

Characteristics:

  • Reflects the transition from neoclassical to romantic.
  • New media: magazines and newspapers.

Narrative Poetry:

  • Invented historical and legendary events.
  • Examples: Ángel de Saavedra, Duque de Rivas (The Moorish Foundling), Espronceda (Student of Salamanca, The Devil World), Zorrilla (Eastern Poem).

Lyric Poetry:

  • Themes such as life’s ennui, melancholy, love, women…
  • Use of locations with evocative environments: lonely places, graveyards, night, ruins…

Authors:

  • José Zorrilla:
    • Cultivates both lyrical and narrative poetry.
    • His characters move in primitive and magical worlds (knights, castles, princesses…).
    • Poetry is metrically and thematically varied.
    • Changes poetic register easily and manages different styles with ease.
  • José de Espronceda:
    • Champion of an exalted, liberal Romanticism.
    • His poetry is divided into three stages:
      • Neoclassical poetry: juvenile texts (El Pelayo, an unfinished epic attempt). Pastoral themes, nature, freedom, universal brotherhood.
      • Poetry of the exile stage: evolution towards Romantic sensibility. Influence of Ossian. Change from Greco-Roman mythology to Norse and Celtic (Hymn to the Sun, Oscar and Malvina).
      • Romantic poetry: at first conventional themes of historical Romanticism, but evolves into a more social tone. Defense of marginal beings, longing for freedom and disregard for laws and rules (Song of the Pirate, Who is Guilty of Killing the Executioner, The Beggar, To Haifa in an Orgy, The Song of the Cossack, The Student of Salamanca, The Devil World).
    • The Student of Salamanca: the story of Don Felix de Montemar, a cynical womanizer who, after seducing and abandoning Elvira, who dies of grief, kills the brother of the deceased in a duel. Finally, pursued on a dismal night by a ghostly lady, who turns out to be the skeleton of Elvira (representing death), he marries her and ends up dancing surrounded by ghosts. This work represents the cynicism and rebellious Satanism typical of Romanticism.
    • The Devil World: contains many different and diverse elements. The central theme is the story of an old man disillusioned with life who is transformed into a young man (Adam) to experience the world anew. The second part is an elegy on the death of Espronceda’s beloved, Teresa Mancha (Canto a Teresa).

Theater:

Characteristics:

  • Main theme of love, often with tragic endings.
  • The characters do not change; lack of psychological development.
  • The characters show a love for freedom and women.
  • The stories usually take place within a national historical context.
  • Romantic drama is baroque-like.
  • Mixes tragedy and comedy to highlight the contrast between ideals and reality.
  • Does not respect the rule of three unities and mixes prose and verse.
  • The number of acts is between three and five; scenery is very important.
  • Important melodramatic elements, introduction of intrigue, to stir and excite the public.
  • Lyrical landscapes.
  • Inexorable nature of time.
  • Longing for a fairer society, defending freedom and rebellion against bad governments and rulers.

Authors:

  • Francisco Martínez de la Rosa:
    • (The Conspiracy of Venice) defends freedom and social values.
  • Duque de Rivas:
    • (Don Alvaro, or the Force of Destiny) the romantic archetype who is prey to fate in a series of tragic events.
  • Antonio García Gutiérrez:
    • (The Troubadour) an example of medieval historical romantic drama.
  • Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch:
    • (The Lovers of Teruel) tragic drama whose theme is the purity of love and its conflicts with social conventions.
  • José Zorrilla:
    • Great skill in the approach to and maintenance of conflict and suspense.
    • Dramas are often superficial.
    • Works: The Shoemaker and the King, Traitor, Martyr and Unacknowledged, and Don Juan Tenorio.