Bécquer’s Rimas and Leyendas: Themes and Characters
Bécquer’s Poetic and Narrative Style
Key Poetic Devices in Bécquer’s Work
- Parallelism: Repetition of the same syntactic structure in verses.
- Anaphora: Repetition of a word at the beginning of several verses.
- Correlation: Reciprocal correspondence between two or more series of concepts or words.
- Epiphonema: Exclamatory sentence or reflection summarizing the preceding idea, often at the end.
- Symbolist Poetry: Uses images, metaphors, or symbols to embody the poet’s sentiments.
Analysis of Bécquer’s Rimas
Rimas I-XI: Poetry and Poetic Creation
The poet faces the insurmountable difficulty of converting intuition into words, making poetry an impossible dream. Nature is used to convey the essence of poetry; images are based not on resemblance but on the intimate feelings evoked by natural elements.
Rimas XII-XXIX: The Fullness of Love
This section identifies woman with poetry, representing feelings and the peak of love.
Rimas XXX-LI: Disappointment and Pain
Deals with the breakdown of love due to incompatibility or infidelity, causing profound disappointment and pain.
Rimas LII-LXXVI: Existential Angst and Death
The poet expresses feelings of wanting to leave this world, yet the approach of death creates fear. Faced with deep solitude in sickness and death, Bécquer fears being forgotten.
Analysis of Bécquer’s Leyendas
Monte de las Ánimas Characters
- Alonso: Heir to the lands where the story unfolds. A young, innocent man in love with Beatriz. He dies trying to retrieve a lost object for her.
- Beatriz: Alonso’s cousin, daughter of the Counts of Borges. A beautiful young woman with dark features, thin lips, and deep blue eyes. Appears cold, calculating, and manipulative.
Los ojos verdes Characters and Themes
- Fernando de Argensola: A proud character driven by impulses and the madness of love. His pursuit of desire leads him to perdition.
- Íñigo: Argensola’s loyal huntsman (montero). Cautious, he tries to warn Fernando away from the Fountain of the Poplars (Fuente de los Álamos).
- The Woman with Green Eyes: A water spirit whose beauty enchants Fernando, leading to his downfall. She symbolizes temptation. Fernando is attracted by her beauty (especially her green eyes), embodying the Romantic attraction to beauty itself (often confusing nature and the beloved woman), mystery, and the indescribable. Romantics often prioritize their inner world and beloved over external reality.
Maese Pérez el organista Character
- Maese Pérez: An old (76), blind man with an exceptional gift for playing the organ. He has only a daughter. A solitary, austere man, poor but generous to the less fortunate.
Rayo de luna Synopsis
In Rayo de luna (Moonbeam), a nobleman named Manrique becomes obsessed one night with the fleeting vision of a woman’s white dress seen in the moonlight. He relentlessly pursues this idealized image, mistaking moonbeams and shadows for his elusive beloved.