Spanish Romanticism: Literature in the 19th Century
In the first half of the nineteenth century, Romanticism in art moved triumphantly across Europe. In Spain, it began with Martínez de la Rosa’s “Conspiracy of Venice” in 1834. Romanticism was the product of a deep crisis manifested in ideological and aesthetic trends. The Romantics protested against the values imposed by the bourgeois world and rebelled against a corporation that crushed their ideals of liberty. The exaltation of the self and the ideal of freedom are at the root of some of the most important characteristics of Romanticism: the rejection of reality and escape through imagination, the analysis of privacy, the importance of landscapes and environments, the demand for popular and national elements, and, finally, creative freedom.
Romantic Poetry Renewal
The renewal brought by Romanticism is seen in all aspects of poetry. Its main features are:
- The lexicon reflects the zeitgeist; that is, the images are filled with exotic, mysterious landscapes with very careful sensuousness.
- In terms of metrics, all sorts of verses and poems are used, but there’s a tendency to use popular forms, in this case, the romance.
- Regarding themes, love occupies the chief place; it is a passionate feeling impossible to achieve. Other themes include religious concerns and cultural and social reasons.
- Finally, among the tendencies of romantic poetry, narrative poetry stands out.
Bécquer and Modern Poetry
Bécquer’s importance for later poetry is fundamental, and modern poetry is born from his work. His romanticism evolved into a new sensibility and a poetic vocabulary far from the rhetoric of his predecessors. His most important poems are the “Rhymes,” which are a kind of poetic and loving biography of the poet. Usually, four parts are distinguished:
- The first is a series of rhymes on the theme of poetic creation itself.
- The second part is about love lived to the full.
- In the third, the failure of love.
- Finally, in the fourth, loneliness and distress.
Its technical characteristics are brevity and condensation. The poems show a delicate symbolism in capturing the reality of love, and clarity produces a sense of dialogue, an intimate conversation with the reader. The strophic form of the poems is free, with a predominance of heptasyllabic verses and assonance rhyming in heroic verse.
The Historical Novel and *Costumbrismo*
In the early nineteenth century, a highly successful genre began: the historical novel. In this genre, masterpieces were not even known by their authors. One of the most important historical novels is “The Lord of Bembibre.” Within the narrative genre, works of the *costumbrismo* type were very popular. *Costumbrismo* is characterized by the description of types and social or popular customs with a didactic intent. They were usually written for newspapers and magazines in the form of articles.
Larra’s Critical Articles
Larra was a very prolific author in all genres, but his literary importance lies in his articles, which usually follow *costumbrismo* in most ways. His attitude is critical and acerbic when dealing with Spanish life, its vices, and defects. His desire is the progress of a society mired in laziness and backwardness. Larra criticizes arrogance and hypocrisy, and he criticizes some festivals like bullfighting. Examples of such articles include “Come Back Tomorrow,” “Coffee,” etc. The political articles cover the last years of his life, and they show a change. Sometimes they are written in letter form, others as a witness account, and others in a dream mode. He uses natural language, far from rhetoric.
Romantic Drama in Spain
The introduction of romantic drama in Spain was delayed by the survival of neoclassical theater. Both trends came to coexist on stage. The theater underwent a remarkable transformation and improvement in this century. The theater building became pleasant and reasonably distributed. The main feature of romantic drama is a break with the mandatory rules of Aristotelian drama; this is reflected in the following traits:
- The open refusal of standards.
- Mixing of comic and tragic genres.
- Use of verse and prose in the same work.
The most cultivated dramatic genre is historical drama, with a favorite setting being the medieval era. The protagonists of romantic drama are a heroic man and a beautiful woman faced with the impossibility of seeing their love fulfilled. Finally, the great theme of romantic theater is love. Other important issues are the desire for absolute freedom; the tragic outcome is a cry of rebellion against a world that does not support the fulfillment of ideals.