19th Century Spain: Romanticism and Realism
The Nineteenth Century: Romanticism and Realism in Spain
The first half of the nineteenth century in Spain presents a spectacle of a country struggling to mature against the backdrop of a new European spirit. This period was significantly marked by Romanticism.
The Romantic Movement
Romanticism was a political and cultural movement that affected Spain and other European countries. It reacted against the rationalism of the eighteenth century (preromanticism). The Romantics inquired into the unknown and mysterious, prioritizing the duties of feeling.
Characteristics of Literary Romanticism
- Subjectivism: The protagonist of all things romantic is the author’s exalted soul, expressing feelings of dissatisfaction with a world that limits and curbs their cravings. These feelings are often of a loving type, but also include protests against the social order, with nature reflecting their moods.
- Escape from the World Around: The clash between the romantic’s exaggerated longings and reality produces an insufferable discouragement.
- Nationalism: Romanticism exalts the differential features of one’s country. It revalued ancient epics and legends, local traditions, and aimed to achieve a new vernacular literary culture.
- Attitude: In opposition to Neo-classicism, Romantics were hostile to its aesthetic rigor.
Spain, A Romantic Country
Spain became a flag bearer for the new school of the Romantic movement, providing an example to other European countries. It influenced works of romance, the Quixotic, and theater.
The Romantic Poets
Romantic poets were inspired writers who created poems by turning to their feelings, with little self-criticism. While this approach achieved sincere and genuine moments of lyricism, it sometimes fell into the vulgar, the prosaic, and mere oratory. Their most common themes were melancholy, excitement, protest, and disgust. They prowled the mystery and rebelled against social norms and life itself. They wanted their poems to be intimate, friendly, and with very sharp rhythms. Their poems are polyrhythmic and employ almost forgotten stanzas (like *el romance*).
Key figures include:
- José de Espronceda (*Canción del pirata*, *El verdugo*, *El mendigo*)
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (*Cartas desde mi celda*)
- Rosalía de Castro (*Cantares Gallegos*, *Follas novas*, *En las orillas del Sar*)
Prose
Three important genres emerged in prose:
- The *cuadro de costumbres* (painting of manners): These works gracefully reflected lifestyles, folkways, or representative human types, sometimes satirically. The folkloric genre aligned with the Romantic taste for the different, strange, and peculiar. Key figures: Ramón Mesonero Romanos and Serafín Estébanez Calderón.
- The historical novel: Another triumphant prose genre. Key figures: Telesforo Trueba y Cossío, Enrique Gil y Carrasco, and Francisco Navarro Villoslada.
- The newspaper article: Notably, the works of Mariano José de Larra.
Theater
There was a preference for the legendary, chivalrous, adventurous, or national history. The drama was presented as a tapestry. Rules of unity of place and time were violated, mixing the tragic and the comic. Dramas were divided into five acts, with lines of different sizes, and a mixture of prose and verse. The primary goal was to move the audience. Night scenes and burials were abundant.
Key figures and works include:
- Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas (*Don Álvaro, o la fuerza del destino*)
- José Zorrilla (*Don Juan Tenorio*)
- Francisco Martínez de la Rosa (*La conjuración de Venecia*)
The comical and satirical genre was cultivated by Manuel Bretón de los Herreros.
Realism
The main feature of Realism is its objective depiction of life as it is. It is a movement of French origin, which uses an omniscient point of view and frequent comments from the author to influence the reader. It employs a natural style and scientific language.
Naturalism
Naturalism takes Realism to the extreme. Based on the scientific method and determinism, it resorts to unusual or unpleasant environments, unusual characters, and a strict application of the scientific method.
Poetry During Realism and Naturalism
In poetry, Bécquer and Rosalía are still relevant. The bourgeois mentality did not favor the development of lyric poetry. The two trends are the tediousness of Campoamor and the rhetoricity with civic and philosophical pretensions of Núñez de Arce.
Theater During Realism and Naturalism
The theater of this era is of little importance, surviving on the traits of Romanticism. A genre called *alta comedia* (high comedy) stands out, addressing contemporary issues with a didactic approach and a more sober language.