Spanish Romanticism: Key Authors and Characteristics
Characteristics of Romanticism
Subjectivism and Individualism
Feelings and desires dominate Romantic literature. The yearning for freedom and love become life ideals. Literature embraces non-rational elements like fantasy, imagination, and dreams. Individualism is reflected in the theme of loneliness, with individuals feeling isolated and different.
Projection in Nature
As a result of the primacy of the subjective, Romantic writers seek a confidant in nature.
Confrontation with Reality
Romantic idealism creates a clash between wishes and reality. This contrast often leads to disappointment, anger, disillusionment, and skepticism.
Taste for the Supernatural and Mysterious
Death, burial, and mysterious environments are common themes. Romantics are attracted to what reason cannot explain.
Interest in the Popular and National
Romantics embrace anything interpreted as genuine manifestations of the soul of the people, including history, romances, and legends.
Preferred Genres
The lyrical and dramatic genres are favored as suitable channels for expressing emotions.
José de Espronceda (1808-1842)
José de Espronceda is a prominent representative of liberal Romanticism. He spent years in exile in Lisbon, London, and Paris, returning to Spain in 1833. He dedicated himself to journalism and politics in Madrid.
Work
Espronceda is best known for his poetry, which often has a social and political character, expressing a deep complaint against inequality and injustice. His Romantic poetry includes short compositions dedicated to marginalized figures (pirates, executioners, beggars) and two long narrative poems:
Student of Salamanca (1839)
This poem takes the form of a legend. It uses various verse forms and draws on traditional Spanish themes (the trickster, the supernatural encounter, the danse macabre) but from a non-Christian perspective. The protagonists, Felix Montemar and Elvira, represent the romantic hero and romantic disillusionment, respectively.
The Devil World (1840)
This unfinished philosophical and social poem features a character named Adam. It includes the intense “Teresa’s Song,” an elegy composed after the death of Espronceda’s lover.
Mariano José de Larra (1809-1837)
Larra was born in Madrid and spent his early years in Bordeaux. He had a brilliant career as a journalist, writing under the pseudonym Figaro. He became famous and well-paid but was unlucky in love and committed suicide at age 28. Despite his pessimistic view of Spanish life, his criticism stemmed from his love for his country. He is considered a precursor to the Generation of ’98.
Articles
Larra’s articles are classified into three groups:
- Articles of Manners: Satirize the shortcomings of Spanish society, using irony and subjective observations to address deeper issues.
- Political Articles: Analyze current events, criticizing both liberals and absolutists.
- Literary Articles: Offer literary criticism and defend Romanticism, particularly in the theater.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836-1870)
Life
Bécquer was orphaned at age ten and had a literary, artistic, and musical education. He moved to Madrid in 1854 and became involved in literary and political life. His love life was marked by several relationships, including an unhappy marriage. He died shortly after his brother, which deeply affected him.
Work
Bécquer’s poetry, published posthumously in 1871, was originally collected in a manuscript that was lost. He rewrote it as The Book of Sparrows. After his death, friends reorganized the poems to reflect a love story and published them as Rimas. These short poems have a popular tone and great musicality.
Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885)
Rosalía de Castro’s work, like Bécquer’s, belongs to the intimate poetry of the late nineteenth century. Her Castilian poetry, particularly On the Banks of the Sar (1884), focuses on personal feelings and internal conflicts: loneliness, pain, and nostalgia for her youth. Themes of death, misfortune, and the incomprehensibility of human suffering are explored. Her poetry anticipates the existentialism of later authors like Machado and Unamuno. Her confessional tone and use of new verse forms also foreshadowed Modernist poetry.