Romantic and Post-Romantic Literature
Romantic Poetry (Mid-19th Century)
Lyric poetry flourished during the Romantic period, expressing themes of love, disappointment, loneliness, dreams, and ideals. Key figures include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Lord Byron, and Victor Hugo.
Lyrical Poetry
Romantic lyricism was characterized by a rhetorical and bombastic style, rich in exclamations. In terms of meter, Romantic poetry introduced numerous formal innovations, reflecting the ideal of creative freedom and the importance of inspiration. The preferred composition, following the classic Spanish tradition, was the romance. Romantic themes encompassed a range of motifs and feelings: the idealized woman, romantic disappointment, sadness, and loneliness. These feelings often intertwined with melancholic landscapes and settings featuring elements like the night, the moon, and the cemetery.
Narrative Poetry
Extensive Poems: Narrative poems of several thousand verses, often historical, legendary, or fantastical.
Short Poems: Use of the romance, short poems narrating brief stories (Zorrilla popularized legends and traditions based on medieval romances).
Realist and Post-Romantic Poetry (Late 19th Century)
By the mid-19th century, Romantic poetry showed signs of decline. The reaction against Romantic sentimentality took different forms: Realist poetry, Ideological poetry, and Post-Romantic poetry (which continued Romantic intimacy but with less rhetoric and simpler language, exemplified by Bécquer and Rosalía de Castro).
Rosalía de Castro
Rosalía de Castro, marked by a lonely and sickly childhood, used both Castilian and Galician in her poetry. Her later works in Galician, such as “Galician Songs” and “Follas Novas,” contributed to the revival of traditional Galician poetry. She not only described the beauty of her homeland but also sympathized with the plight of the Galician peasantry and immigrants. “On the Banks of the Sar” is considered a link between Bécquer’s poetry and modernity. Her simple and direct style stemmed from a mastery of poetic techniques. She created new stanzas based on assonance, seamlessly blending personal feelings with landscape descriptions.
José de Espronceda
José de Espronceda, a prominent figure in exalted Romantic poetry, addressed themes such as the defense of the marginalized (“Pirate Song”), political ideals (“The Second of May”), and the lament for lost youth (“To a Star”). His passionate temperament is reflected in his poetic style: rhythmic verses, strong contrasts, and surprising innovations.
Narrative Poems: “The Student of Salamanca,” set in the 17th century, features Félix de Montemar, a Don Juan-like character symbolizing exalted and rebellious Romantic vitality. The style is theatrical and bombastic, with striking, gruesome images and violent contrasts.
“The Devil World” blends different genres—lyrical, narrative, and dramatic. The tone shifts between the sublime and the grotesque, the philosophical and the vulgar. The unfinished poem has ideological intentions, aiming to show that man is inherently good and that society corrupts him.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Bécquer’s childhood was marked by the early death of his parents. At eighteen, he went to Madrid to pursue a literary career. He married Casta Esteban in 1861 but was unhappy in his marriage. He died of pneumonia in 1870.
Rhymes: Bécquer’s Rhymes explore themes of poetry and poetic inspiration (I-VIII), passionate love (IX-XXIX), love’s failure and disappointment (XXX-LI), and loneliness and death (LII-LXXVI). This subjective poetry expresses the poet’s personal experiences. The style is simple yet formally perfect. Bécquer believed poetry should address the intimate and inexpressible, using language to explore deep feelings. His influence on later poets is undeniable, particularly on Antonio Machado and Luis Cernuda.
Prose Works: Bécquer’s Legends, published between 1858 and 1864, are fantastical stories mostly set in the Middle Ages. Notable examples include “The Mountain of the Souls” and “Maese Pérez, the Organist.”
Romantic Prose
Historical Novels
Romantic historical novels rarely focused on contemporary issues, preferring the past (especially the Middle Ages). Romantics viewed modern society as prosaic, vulgar, and aesthetically uninteresting (Walter Scott). In Spain, the historical novel didn’t produce works of high quality. “The Lord of Bembibre” by Enrique Gil y Carrasco is considered the most interesting.
Costumbrismo (Bridge Between Romanticism and Realism)
Costumbrismo, a conservative literary form, reacted against modern life by nostalgically evoking disappearing traditions. Ramón Mesonero Romanos, a chronicler of Madrid’s social life, is a key figure.
Realism and Naturalism (Second Half of the 19th Century)
Generation of 1868 (The Realist Novel in Spain)
Realism, emerging around 1830, arrived in Spain much later. “La Fontana de Oro” by Galdós, published in 1870, is considered the first Spanish realist novel. Set during a period of crisis ending with Alfonso XII’s accession, it marked the beginning of the Restoration and Spain’s modernization. The ideological conflicts of this period, between progressive ideas and traditional Catholic sectors, are reflected in the thesis novels of the Generation of 1868 (1874-1884). Spanish realism also displayed a regionalist tendency, with writers often setting their works in familiar environments: Valera (Andalusia), Pereda (Cantabria), Galdós (Madrid), Clarín (Asturias), and Emilia Pardo Bazán (Galicia).
Naturalism
Introduced in Spain around 1882, Naturalism sparked controversy, seen as immoral and contrary to Catholicism for denying free will. Emilia Pardo Bazán defended its literary techniques but rejected its scientific basis. Its influence on Spanish writers was limited. Clarín (“La Regenta”) and Galdós (“The Disinherited”) used some naturalist resources.
Naturalism and the Spiritualist Reaction
A shift towards psychological and spiritual concerns is evident in the later novels of Galdós, Clarín, and Pardo Bazán. This turn connects with the broader aesthetic renovation of Modernism, which opposed Realism’s scientific mentality.
Romantic Drama
Features
Romantic drama centers on the tragic conflict between ideals and reality. Passionate love, doomed by social norms, is a central theme. Unlike Neoclassicism, Romantic theater aimed to move and excite the audience. Romantic playwrights often preferred historical settings, disregarded the neoclassical unities, and alternated between verse and prose.
Development of Spanish Romantic Drama
Key playwrights include the Duke of Rivas (“Don Álvaro, or the Force of Destiny”), whose work marked the triumph of Spanish Romanticism, and José Zorrilla.
Realism in Drama (Second Half of the 19th Century)
Realist drama featured contemporary settings and moralizing intentions, exemplified by Manuel Tamayo. Later, Benito Pérez Galdós attempted to renew Spanish theater with social criticism, generating controversy.
José Zorrilla
The most popular Spanish Romantic playwright, Zorrilla’s conventional themes resonated with audiences due to his accessible verse. His subjects often had patriotic and religious undertones.
Don Juan Tenorio: Based on Tirso de Molina’s “The Trickster of Seville” and Espronceda’s “The Student of Salamanca,” Zorrilla’s play introduces a crucial change: Don Juan falls in love with Inés, an innocent woman. This love redeems him, allowing his soul to be saved and reunited with Inés in heaven. The play’s enduring popularity is evident in its annual All Souls’ Day performances.