Romanticism and Neoclassicism in Spanish Literature
Romanticism
Definition
A cultural and political movement originating in Germany and the United Kingdom in the late 18th century. It emerged as a revolutionary reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment and Classicism, emphasizing emotion and feeling.
Key Features
Romanticism’s core principle is a departure from classical tradition and its rigid rules. The movement champions the pursuit of freedom, leading to its revolutionary character. As a way of experiencing and interpreting nature, life, and humanity, Romanticism’s expression varied across countries and even within specific regions. It influenced various art forms, projecting diverse trends.
Characteristics of Romanticism:
- Individualism
- Rejection of Reality
- Evasion
- Defense of Freedom
- Emphasis on Nature
Prominent Figures in Spanish Romanticism
José de Espronceda
The quintessential Romantic liberal, Espronceda’s rebellious spirit is evident in his literary works and his attitude towards society. His poetry, a passionate ode to freedom, showcases a distinctly Romantic style: brilliant, musical, and dramatic. Primarily a poet, he also authored a historical novel and plays, characterized by a pompous and emphatic style.
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Bécquer’s poetry ushered in contemporary poetry with its intimacy, purity, sensitivity, and authenticity. Drawing inspiration from German Romantic lyricism and Andalusian folk songs, he excelled in lyrical poetry and rhymes. He also produced quality prose, notably his legends.
Rosalía de Castro
Castro established a style of intimate and melancholic poetry, influenced by the simplicity and musicality of traditional lyricism. Her personal style is characterized by its simplicity and directness.
Mariano José de Larra
Larra holds a significant place in literature due to his journalistic articles focusing on customs, politics, and literature. He developed a personal style – straightforward and unpretentious – that effectively served his journalistic communication and persuasive abilities. Larra’s articles are categorized as: articles of customs, political articles, and literary articles.
Larra’s Style
Larra employed a style suited to newspapers: functional, natural, and direct, effectively reaching a broad audience.
Romantic Theater
Drama dominates Romantic theater, aiming to stir the audience’s emotions. It blends tragic and comic elements, prose and verse, and disregards the classical unities of time, place, and action.
Themes
Conflicts surrounding love and freedom abound, as the Romantic hero confronts the external world, often leading to a tragic end.
Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas
Born in Córdoba, Rivas was a renowned playwright and a skilled poet. His narrative poems are noteworthy, often exploring the theme of tragic fate that relentlessly pursues the protagonist. He combined tragic and comic elements, prose and verse, disregarded the classical unities, and incorporated genre scenes. His style is powerful and dynamic, though occasionally marked by rhetorical and sentimental excesses.
José Zorrilla
Born in Valladolid, Zorrilla is the most celebrated writer of Spanish Romanticism. His lyrical compositions and narrative poems, written in ballad form and dealing with historical or traditional folk themes, are of considerable quality. However, it is his theatrical works that brought him fame.
Neoclassicism
Definition
An 18th-century style inspired by Greco-Roman and Renaissance models, Neoclassicism aimed to reflect refined taste.
Characteristics
Neoclassical art aspires to be elegant, simple, and rational. It presents clear themes and characters, is didactic, and adheres to classical rules.
Prominent Figures in Spanish Neoclassicism
Juan Meléndez Valdés
Valdés’ work synthesizes the poetic currents of his time: the neoclassical, the sensual and playful Anacreontic style, and the pre-Romantic humanist approach. In his early works, he wrote Anacreontic poems, odes, idylls, and pastorals with a soft sensuality, as well as epistles and elegies. In his later phase, he evolved towards pre-Romanticism, incorporating legendary and romantic elements, and producing poetry with a strong social, humanistic, and sentimental tone.
Fray Benito Jerónimo Feijoo
Feijoo, a prolific author of numerous didactic essays in an encyclopedic style, is considered the most important intellectual of his time. His works disseminated diverse knowledge with the aim of modernizing the society of his era.
José Cadalso
With his remarkable knowledge of Neoclassicism and pre-Romanticism, Cadalso is the author of the most representative narrative work of the Enlightenment.
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
An outstanding essayist, Jovellanos addressed a wide range of topics from an enlightened perspective, aiming to modernize the country. He also wrote satires, prose epistles, and plays.
Lope de Vega
: Excellent poet, the simplest and most natural of his time, who wrote lyric traditional type, sonnets and poetry and love poetry epica.En elected autobiographical background, does an intense emotividad.Como narrator experiment various genres, tying together a remarkable quality of a dialogue in his novel La Dorotea.