Romantic Lyricism of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: An Overview
Romantic Lyricism: Gustavo A. Bécquer
The Rise of Romanticism
Napoleon’s European expansion spread the ideals of the French Revolution (liberty, equality, fraternity). This led to a reaction from traditional monarchies, emphasizing values like religion, throne, and home. Nationalist sentiments also arose, reaffirming historic identities against the invader. Within this context, Romanticism emerged in 19th-century Europe.
As an artistic and literary movement, Romanticism reacted against Neoclassicism’s strict rules and regulations. It exalted individualism and absolute artistic freedom, rejecting established norms and genre boundaries.
Characteristics of Romanticism
Idealism: Romantic artists rejected mundane reality, yearning for exotic escapes or idealistic pasts. This often led to rebellion against the establishment, celebrating marginalized figures like pirates or beggars as symbols of freedom.
Nature: Romantics viewed nature as free and powerful, contrasting with humanity’s perceived weakness. Desolate landscapes, moonlit nights, and ruins reflected the artist’s inner turmoil.
Nationalism: The focus on individuality extended to nations, emphasizing unique characteristics, customs, and languages.
In essence, Romanticism championed individual freedom and expressed dissatisfaction with the status quo. Some saw this as a return to traditional values, while others viewed it as a need to deepen the Enlightenment’s unrealized ideals of equality and progress.
Two main branches of Romanticism emerged:
- Traditional Romanticism: Sought to restore the Old Regime.
- Liberal/Revolutionary Romanticism: Aimed to advance new values.
Romanticism arrived late and superficially in Spain due to Fernando VII’s absolutism. Exiled liberals returned after his death, bringing Romantic ideas from Europe.
Romantic Genres
Popular genres included prose (historical novels set in the Middle Ages, newspaper articles), theater (focused on destiny, honor, and love), and poetry (narrative and lyrical). Romantic poets, like Espronceda, the Duke of Rivas, and Zorrilla, felt unbound by rules, writing from inspiration. They used dramatic forms, vivid imagery, and strong rhythms. Later, post-Romantic poetry adopted a more intimate and simple tone, as seen in the works of Rosalía de Castro and Bécquer.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Bécquer embodies the Romantic paradigm: orphaned, struggling financially, battling tuberculosis, and facing professional and personal setbacks. He wrote Legends (prose with traditional Romantic characteristics) and Letters from My Cell (articles written during his stay at Veruela Monastery).
Rimas
Bécquer’s Rimas, published posthumously, are characterized by intimate lyricism, formal simplicity, and profound emotion, aligning with traditional poetry. These short, assonant poems employ parallelism, symmetry, and subtle rhythms. They often adopt a conversational tone and utilize symbolism extensively.
Rimas are divided into four thematic groups:
- Poetry (1-8)
- Hopeful Love (9-29)
- Disillusioned and Lost Love (30-51)
- Loneliness, Pain, and Death (52-76)