Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Post-Romanticism
Neoclassicism (18th Century)
- Imitation of the Classics: The belief that Classical art had reached maximum perfection, making innovation futile; imitation was valued.
- Art as Beauty: Art was synonymous with beauty, good taste, perfection, harmony, and balance.
- Objective Viewpoint: Emphasis on reason and rationality.
- Idealized Nature: A peaceful and balanced representation of nature.
- Universal Values: Exaltation of universal human values.
Romanticism (19th Century)
- Creative Freedom: Embraced modern liberty, rejecting strict rules; mixed literary genres and verse forms (polymetry).
- Liberty in Art: Art was synonymous with liberty, including the grotesque, deformed, and exaggerated (hyperbole and sensationalism).
- Subjective Expression: Focused on expressing intense emotions, fantasies, and even delirium.
- Untamed Nature: Preference for wild, untamed landscapes.
- Particularism: Rise of nationalism, with an emphasis on local landscapes, the picturesque, and regional elements.
First Half of the 19th Century: Espronceda’s Romanticism
- Social Themes: Denounced social issues, exalted liberty, and criticized bourgeois hypocrisy.
- Narrative Position:
- *El estudiante de Salamanca*
- *El diablo mundo*
- Songs: *Canción del pirata*, *El mendigo*, *El reo*, *El verdugo* — featuring marginalized characters.
- Key Themes: Impossible love, rebellion, liberty, anxiety, existential distress, the sepulchral, and national exaltation.
- Style: Extensive and dynamic rhythm, brilliant and sonorous rhyme, expressive intonation, abundant interrogatives and exclamations, disordered syntax (hyperbaton) to express sensationalism.
- Lexicon: Archaic vocabulary related to night and sepulchral themes.
- Metrics: Polymetric with very sonorous rhyme.
Second Half of the 19th Century: Bécquer’s Post-Romanticism
- Intimate Themes: Focused on existential frustrations.
- Lyrical Position: More intimate.
- Expression: Primarily expressed feelings of love, frustration, the unattainable world, and loneliness.
- Style: Short poems, melodic rhyme, assonant rhyme, soft rhythm, and frequent use of parallelism and anaphora.
The Historical Novel
What is it? A narrative based on characters and events of the past (Middle Ages).
Why did it arise? As an idealized way of life in distant times where heroism triumphed; featuring rebellious and lonely heroes experiencing turbulent and passionate love affairs that end tragically.
Authors:
- José Larra: *El doncel de don Enrique el Doliente*
- Sancho Saldaña: Espronceda
- Walter Scott: *Ivanhoe*
- Victor Hugo: *Our Lady of Paris*
- Alexandre Dumas: *The Three Musketeers*
Folkloric Prose: José Larra
Realistic and brief descriptions of customs, types, professions, or scenes in a friendly manner, reflecting the quaint aspects of Spanish regions.
Articles of Manners:
- *Vuelva usted mañana* (Slowness of state administration)
- *El castellano viejo* (Poor education and feigned affability)
- *Casarse pronto y mal* (The pitfalls of untimely marriages)
Romantic Drama
- Favorite Genre: Drama mixed with comic and tragic elements.
- Rejection of Rules: Abandonment of the three unities (action, place, and time).
- Popular Characters and Themes: Revived characters and themes from the Spanish Golden Age theater.
- Central Theme: Tragic and impossible love.
- Characters: Passionate heroes or heroines who confront societal norms and die.
- Metrical Variety: Blends verse with prose; typically consists of five acts.
- Emotional Impact: Aims to move the audience emotionally.
Authors:
- Adolfo Bécquer: *Rimas y Leyendas*
- José de Espronceda: *El estudiante de Salamanca*. Elvira is a tragic symbol; Félix de Montemar symbolizes Romantic rebellion against morality, society, and religion.