Valle-Inclán’s Luces de Bohemia: Society & Modernism

Political and Social Reality in *Luces de Bohemia*

Valle-Inclán’s *Luces de Bohemia* offers a scathing critique of contemporary Spanish politics and society. The play is filled with criticism, such as:

• Imprecations against Maura, Chairman of the Board of Ministers and the S.A.R.
• A parody of Gadez Dorio, who makes vacuous rhetoric of Manuel Garcia Prieto.
• Open insults to Castelar, Mr. Jaime Romanones, and Ms. Isabel.

Political corruption is evident in references to Picalagartos and *caciquismo*, stating that his father was a barber. Dorio says Garcia Prieto is a “son of,” alluding to the prevailing nepotism. The distribution of wealth is questioned in the Romanones quotes. Max Estrella goes so far as to sentence that revolution in Spain was as inevitable as it was in Russia. The collusion of *Acción Ciudadana* with power is criticized. In scenes II, VI, and XI, a set of characters give the play a social dimension: the Catalan prisoner, the dead boy’s mother, and others. Related to this is the story of the Catalan anarchist: his detention, imprisonment, and death, interpreted as retaliation for riots following a proletariat strike.

Considering the social and political situation, certain phrases acquire a meaning and depth much greater than clever words; behind them beats a massive social conflict and a grisly violence.

Social marginality is also present when Max meets with a group of prostitutes and engages in conversation with “The Moon.” Don Latino departs with the *cotillion*. “The Chicken of the Pay-Pay” takes out a knife, intending to force Latino to share the lottery prize money. Other marginal characters include Pisa Good and “The King of Portugal.”

Modernism and the Generation of ’98 in *Luces de Bohemia*

The literary movement known as Modernism originated in Latin-speaking Spain. This movement arose from the *fin de siècle* crisis of values. Some Spanish authors added to this modernist aesthetic a restoration of critical consciousness regarding the moral misery and decay represented by Spain’s disastrous loss of its colonies, Cuba and the Philippines.

Criticism takes a conciliatory approach, viewing Modernism and the Generation of ’98 as two complementary aesthetics. *Luces de Bohemia* partakes of the Generation of ’98’s critical aspects of modernist values. A reflection of the Generation of ’98 is the so-called “issue of Spain,” which is not simply a critical vision of Spain. The play is an indictment of the historical-social situation. The text presents numerous complaints about the situation in Spain, occasionally denouncing the lack of talent of those running the country, stating that in Spain, work and intelligence have been disregarded. In their parody of Spain, characters share the criticism underlying the so-called Black Legend and refer to people and institutions of this period with provocative intent.

The work identifies some possible “solutions”: establishing the electric guillotine in the *Puerta del Sol*, the destruction of wealth as in Russia, and ending industrial Barcelona. In short, *Luces de Bohemia* lashes out against an entire society. Bohemianism is primarily a way of life in which bohemian artists marginalize themselves from the bourgeois social environment, intending to form a separate society in which they can collectively experience the passion of art. Therefore, bohemian life is identified with a youthful attitude. Max Estrella appears as a uniquely rugged lifestyle that is being abandoned by all who professed it.