Benito Pérez Galdós: A Literary Journey Through 19th-Century Spain
Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but it was in Madrid where he developed his literary work, becoming a keen observer of this city. In 1862, he moved there to study law but never finished the degree. A progressive writer, always concerned about politics, Galdós accepted a seat in Congress under Sagasta. Three years later, he was elected to the Royal Spanish Academy. In 1892, he began his own theatrical reform, as he had done with the novel in 1870, but was less successful. In 1907, he returned to Congress, and in 1909, he became, along with Pablo Iglesias, the titular head of the Republican-Socialist Conjunction. He died in Madrid. His last years were sad due to the blindness he suffered, economic difficulties, some dramatic failures, and the opposition of his enemies to his being awarded the Nobel Prize.
He is the most prolific author in Spanish literature, and his work is a testament to the life of the 19th century, reflecting all social classes and all the events of the time.
Galdós’ Novelistic Works
1. *Episodios Nacionales*
This is a set of 46 extensive novels, divided into five series. They intended to create a fictionalized story of much of the 19th century: from 1805, with the defeat of Trafalgar and the War of Independence, to 1875, with the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Galdós mixed fictional characters with historical figures, important political and military events of the day, and private lives. He managed to recreate a vibrant history, lived nearby and felt by his contemporaries. With a personal approach to the facts, but based on rigorous documentation, the author achieved a successful, fresh, complex reality of that century in Spain. The best titles are in the first series: *Trafalgar*, *Bailén*, and *Zaragoza*.
2. The First Novels (Thesis Novels)
In these, the author, in order to defend a particular ideology, creates characters and models a reality based on what he wants to express. The characters are types.
They faced an idea and are divided sharply into good and bad. The two most representative novels are Doña Perfecta (1876) and Gloria (1877), in which he attacks intransigence and fanaticism.
3. The Contemporary Spanish Novels
Galdós called this group of novels written after 1881, among which are the best titles of his work. Abandoning thesis novels, Galdós became a critical but impartial observer of Spanish society. The main characteristics of these novels are the creation of environments reflected with remarkable accuracy and the characterization of the characters, which, although they become schematic types, are full of truth and life. The author analyzes the historical moment in which he lives, the popular environment, and various social classes. However, Madrid will be the center of his vision, with its streets, shops, guesthouses, coffee chats, and its characters: beggars, rich burghers, and burghers who have come down, ruined nobles, clerics, laborers, liberals, fanatics, etc. The main titles are: *La desheredada* (1881), *El amigo Manso* (1882), *Tormento* (1884), *La de Bringas* (1884), *Miau* (1888), and *Fortunata y Jacinta* (1886-87), his masterpiece in which Galdós traces a love triangle, well suited to express the conflict between love and society. Women, Fortunata (a symbol of nature, the people, rebellion against the rules, and transgression) and Jacinta (the personification of the bourgeois ideal, respecting the laws and conventions), are the real protagonists.
4. The Spiritual Novels
Beginning in 1880, disillusioned with the old ideals of liberalism and influenced by Tolstoy, Galdós was oriented toward spiritual and moral issues. These novels are marked by a clear embrace of Gospel values of love and Christian charity. The characters are humble but have high morale and a sense of duty. They are set in the most miserable quarters of the time. Highlights include: *Misericordia*, *Realidad*, *El abuelo*, and *Nazarín*.