BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓS: BIOGRAPHY, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) was a Spanish novelist, chronicler, playwright and politician who went down in the history of the literary world as one of the most important and influential writers in Europe in recent times. It had within its variety of works more than one hundred novels, an approximate of thirty plays, in addition to a fruitful range of essays, articles and stories.

Galdós is considered a pioneer and teacher of Realism, as well as Naturalism. His level was or is that of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, so much so that both have disputed the first place of the best novelist in the Castilian language.

Benito Pérez Galdós. Source: UnknownUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons

Pérez Galdós' life was disturbed by the conservative society that existed during the 19th century. The honesty and objectivity with which he expressed some issues, especially ecclesiastical ones, led the powerful to persecute him and limit his work.

Biography

Benito Pérez Galdós was born on May 10, 1843 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His parents were Sebastián Pérez, belonging to the Spanish army, and Dolores Galdós, who was the daughter of a member of the well-known Inquisition. His passion for literature was a consequence of the stories that his father told him about the war.

Galdós's first academic years

Galdós began his first studies when he was nine years old and entered the Colegio de San Agustín in his hometown. The advanced education he received at that institution was reflected in some of his later works. It was at this time that he began to write for local media.

Years later, in 1862, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Some time later, due to an affair with a cousin, his mother sent him to Madrid to enroll in a law degree. He was 19 years old when he began living in the big city.

In his university years he met important people, among whom were the former Franciscan friar and Spanish pedagogue Fernando de Castro, as well as the philosopher and essayist Francisco Giner de los Ríos.

The latter motivated him to write and introduced him to the doctrine of Krausism, to defend freedom and tolerance in teaching.

The writer made the most of his stay in Madrid. He frequently attended literary meetings, in the same way he went to the Athenaeum to read the renowned European writers of the time.

From a young age he was passionate about the theater. He was a witness to La Noche del Matadero in 1865, where several students died.

Works by Pérez Galdós

Benito did many jobs before becoming a writer. In the newspapers La Nación and El Debate he served as editor. His work as a journalist allowed him to report historical events, such as the mutiny against Queen Elizabeth II by the San Gil Artillery Barracks on June 22, 1866.

From his trip to Paris he brought with him the works of Honoré de Balzac and Charles Dickens. In the newspaper La Nación published the translation of Dickens's work, The Pickwick Club Papers. Between the years 1867 and 1868 he published La Fontana de Oro, considered his first novel.

Three years later, he published La Sombra in the Spanish Magazine. The mentioned printed medium of an intellectual and political nature was directed by Galdós himself between 1872 and 1873. Later, Los Episodios Nacionales made their appearance, where the contemporary Spanish history of the time was narrated.

Politics was also part of the playwright's life. His connection with the Liberal Party plus his friendship with the engineer and politician Práxedes Sagasta y Escolar led him to be a congressman. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1910, he was the leader of the so-called Republican Socialist Conjunction.

Pérez Galdós theater

Since his university days the theater had become a passion for the playwright, so attending theater performances in Madrid became a hobby.

Among his first works, Quien Mal Hace Bien No Espere, from 1861, and La Expulsion de los Moriscos from 1865, are among his first works. Due to its content, Electra, premiered on January 30, 1901, was one of his most outstanding and remembered works.

His position before the Catholic Church with the play, made the clergy influence so that he did not win the Nobel Prize.

Representation of Casandra, by Benito Pérez Galdós. Source: UnknownUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons

Galdós's success in the theater was not bombastic. The public rejected the fact that his works were long-lived, and also had too many characters. Most of his works in this genre were about the value of work and money, about repentance and women in society.

His last years

Benito Pérez Galdós had the honor of belonging to the Royal Spanish Academy, despite the opposition of the most conservative sectors of Spanish society. On the other hand, the writer spent his whole life alone, he was very careful about his private life. Although no wife was known, it is known that he had a daughter.

His last years of life were spent between writing and politics. He died on January 4, 1920 in the city of Madrid. It was so much the regret of the citizens for the death of the writer, that his funeral was attended by more than thirty thousand people. His remains rest in the Almudena Cemetery.

Main works

As stated in the introduction, Pérez Galdós's work was quite prolific. Furthermore, his style was within the objectivity of Realism. That, plus his keen ability to describe, earned him the fame that accompanies him to this day.

The style of his works was characterized by the use of a language for all social classes; used the cult and the street. In addition to being the owner of a direct enough way to penetrate the readers. His stories enjoyed humor and satire; at the same time the use of dialogue was predominant.

Galdós knew how to write novels, theater, essays and stories. Among his most relevant works are: Fortunata and Jacinta (1886-1887), Doña Perfecta (1876), La Sombra (1870), Lo Prohibido (1884-1885), Misericordia (1897), Casandra (1905) and

El Caballero Encantado (1909), all within the genre of novels.

While in the theater they had recognition: Who Mal Does Well Don't Wait, from the year 1861, whose manuscripts were lost; La De San Quintín (1894), Electra (1901), Alma y Vida (1902), Casandra (1910), Alceste (1914), Sor Simona (1915) and Saint Juana de Castilla (1918).

Some of the most outstanding works are described below:

Fortunata and Jacinta

This publication belongs to the cycle of Contemporary Spanish Novels of the writer. It is considered the best novel by Galdós, and the most representative of Realism. It is the story of two completely different women at a time during the Revolution of 1868.

Fortunata is described as a beautiful and slender woman, while Jacinta as affectionate, delicate-looking and cute. The characters that make up the novel are numerous, reaching one hundred. The work falls within the genre of comedy.

Fragment:

House where Benito Pérez Galdós lived. Source: Museo8bits, from Wikimedia Commons

Fortunata also looked at him in surprise… She saw in his eyes a loyalty and honesty that astonished her… They had made fun of her so much that what she was seeing could only be a new mockery. This one was undoubtedly more rogue and more deceitful than the others… ”.

Perfect Doña

This work tells the story of Doña Perfecta, a widow who, in order to preserve the family heritage, agreed with her brother to marry her daughter Rosario to Pepe, her nephew.

Later the tragedy was unleashed after the idea of ​​the protagonist. It has five main characters: Doña Perfecta, Rosario, Pepe Rey, Inocencio and Caballuco.

Fragment:

“Lord, my God, why didn't I know how to lie before, and now I know? Why didn't I know to hide before and now I hide? Am I an infamous woman?… What I feel and that happens to me is the fall of those who do not get up again… Have I stopped being good and honest?

The shadow

This short novel by Pérez Galdós was published in parts in La Revista de España. The work of philosophical and also fantastic content has been framed by the followers of the writer as an essay. In the story, "the shadow" is jealousy.

Fragment:

"-She Loves Me; we love each other, we present each other, we approach each other by fatal law, you ask me who I am: I'm going to see if I can make you understand. I am what you fear, what you think. This fixed idea that you have in your understanding is me… ”.

Mercy

It belongs to the Contemporary Spanish Novels within the spiritualist space. Together with Fortunata and Jacinta it is considered one of the most important universally.

With this work he describes the most sensitive aspects of the city of Madrid of his time. The protagonist is called Benina.

Fragment:

“The Benina had a sweet voice, manners to a certain point fine and well-mannered, and her dark face did not lack a certain interesting grace that, already groped by old age, was a blurred and barely perceptible grace… Her large, dark eyes were barely They had the red trim imposed by age and morning chills… ”.

Cassandra

In this work the author made a severe criticism of the domes of the Catholic Church in Spain. It is part of Galdós's Contemporary Spanish Novels. It tells the story of Doña Juana de Samaniego, who changes the will of his late husband, and donates his assets to the church.

In addition, Doña Juana conditions her son with a part of the inheritance. She demands that she separate from Cassandra with whom she has children, and marry Casilda. From then on, a dispute begins between the characters, which increases with the interference of Catholicism in the families, according to the writer.

Fragment:

“-Doña Juana: Yesterday I saw you… we talked… I told you that, without seeing and treating that Cassandra, I cannot determine the form and quality of protection that I should give my husband's son… Tell him that this afternoon, after my religious festival, bring me that preciousness… You have to see everything, even the beauty of the meat ”.

The one of San Quentin

It is one of the playwright's plays. It was premiered at the Teatro de la Comedia in the city of Madrid on January 27, 1894. It is about a love story that takes place between Rosario de Trastámara and Víctor, natural son of César, who is also Don José's nephew. Manuel de Buendía, a wealthy old man.

Fragment:

“-Don José: Yes, but… By my opinion, the recognition will not be verified until we are sure that Víctor deserves to belong to our family. In view of the bad reputation he brought from abroad, where he was educated, and from Madrid, where he lived the last few months, I thought, and you approved, that we should put him through a correctional observation system. Imagine that it was impossible… ”.

"-Don César: Victor has talent."

Saint Juana of Castile

This play by Galdós premiered at the Teatro de la Princesa in Madrid on May 8, 1918. In it the author describes the last days of the confinement in Tordesillas of Queen Juana I of Castile, in addition to the humiliating treatment she received by the Regent Marquis of Denia.

Santa Juana de Castilla is in the category of tragicomedy. It is divided into three acts. From its premiere to the present it has been represented by several theater companies. The main characters in the play are six.

Fragment:

“–Denia: (Kissing Doña Juana's hand with affected respect) Madam, I see you in good health, and your servant truly strikes from this.

–Doña Juana: (With cold indifference) Thank you, Marquis. I have many proofs of the interest you take for me ”.

The above are just some of the few works by the talented and prolific Spanish writer and playwright, who, with his ability for language, his skill for dialogue, his objectivity and at the same time the sagacity of his criticism, gave the literary world of the most important works of Castilian.

Complete works

Thesis novels

• La Fontana de Oro 1870 (1867-68)
• The shadow 1870
• The bold 1871
• Doña Perfecta 1876
• Glory 1876-1877
• Marianela 1878
• Leon Roch's Family 1878

Contemporary Spanish novels (cycle of matter)

• The Disinherited 1881
• The Meek Friend 1882
• Doctor Centeno 1883
• Torment 1884
• The Bringas 1884
• The Forbidden 1884-85
• Fortunata and Jacinta 1886-87
• Celín, Tropiquillos and Theros 1887
• Meow 1888
• The unknown 1889
• Torquemada at the stake 1889
• Reality 1889

Contemporary Spanish novels (spiritualist cycle)

• Angel Guerra 1890-91
• Tristana 1892
• The Madwoman of the House 1892
• Torquemada on the cross 1893
• Torquemada in purgatory 1894
• Torquemada and San Pedro 1895
• Nazarin 1895
• Halma 1895
• Mercy 1897
• Grandpa 1897
• Cassandra 1905

Mythological novels (final cycle)

• The Enchanted Knight 1909
• The Reason for Unreason 1915

National episodes

First series

• Trafalgar 1873
• The Court of Charles IV 1873
• March 19 and May 2, 1873
• Bailen 1873
• Napoleon in Chamartín 1874
• Zaragoza 1874
• Girona 1874
• Cadiz 1874
• Juan Martín the Stubborn 1874
• The battle of the Arapiles 1875

Second series

• King Joseph's Luggage 1875
• Memoirs of a courtier from 1815 1875
• The second coat 1876
• The Great East 1876
• July 7, 1876
• The Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis 1877
• The Terror of 1824 1877
• A realist volunteer 1878
• The Apostolics 1879
• One more factious and some less friars 1879

Third series

• Zumalacárregui 1898
• Mendizábal 1898
• From Oñate to the Farm 1898
• Luchana 1899
• The Campaign of the Maestrazgo 1899
• The romantic courier 1899
• Vergara 1899
• Montes de Oca 1900
• Los Ayacuchos 1900
• Royal weddings 1900

Fourth series

• The storms of 48 1902
• Narvaez 1902
• The goblins of the clique 1903
• The July Revolution 1903-1904
• O'Donnell 1904
• Aita Tettauen 1904-1905
• Carlos VI in the Rapita 1905
• Around the world in Numancia 1906
• Prim 1906
• The one with sad fates 1907

Fifth series

• Title Year of publication Spain without a king 1907-1908
• Tragic Spain 1909
• Amadeo I 1910
• The First Republic 1911
• From Cartago to Sagunto 1911
• Canovas 1912

Theater

• Who does wrong, well don't wait 1861 (lost)
• The expulsion of the Moors 1865 (lost)
• A young man of profit 1867?
• Reality 1892
• The Madwoman of the House 1893
• Girona 1893
• That of San Quentin 1894
• The Damned 1895
• Will 1895
• Doña Perfecta 1896
• The beast 1896
• Electra 1901
• Soul and Life 1902
• Mariucha 1903
• Grandpa 1904
• Barbara 1905
• Love and Science 1905
• Zaragoza 1908
• Pedro Minio 1908
• Cassandra 1910
• Celia in Hell 1913
• Alceste 1914
• Sister Simona 1915
• Stingy Solomon 1916
• Saint Joan of Castile 1918
• Antón Caballero 1921 (unfinished)

Memories, trips, essays and various works

• Chronicles of Portugal 1890
• "Speech of admission to the Royal Spanish Academy" 1897
• Memoranda 1906
• Memoirs of a forgetful person (autobiography) 1915
• Spanish politics I 1923
• Spanish Politics II 1923
• Art and criticism 1923
• Social physiognomies 1923
• Our theater 1923
• Chronicle 1883 to 1886 1924
• Toledo 1924
• Travels and fantasies 1928
• Chronicle of Madrid 1933
• Letters to Innkeeper Romanos 1943
• Chronicle of the Fortnight 1949
• Madrid 1956
• The prologues of Galdós 1962

Translations

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens 1868

Stories

• A round trip by the bachelor Sansón Carrasco 1861
• Gatherings of »The Omnibus» 1862
• One night on board 1864
• An industry that lives on death 1865
• Future Chronicles of Gran Canaria 1866
• Obituary of a prototype 1866
• Social political madhouse 1868
• The Conjuration of Words 1868
• May 2, 1808, September 2, 1870 1870
• A literary court 1871
• The Feature Article 1871
• The Philosopher's Wife 1871
• The novel in the streetcar 1871
• The feather in the wind or the journey of life 1872
• That 1872
• A story that looks like a story or a story that looks like history 1873
• The Mule and the Ox 1876
• The Princess and the Rogue 1877
• Theros 1877
• June 1878
• Tropiquillos 1884
• Celin 1887
• Where is my head? 1892
• The Porch of Glory 1896
• Puzzle 1897
• Smoking the colonies 1898
• Old cities. El Toboso 1915.

References

1. Benito Pérez Galdós. (2018). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org.
2. Rubio, E. (2018). Benito Pérez Galdós. Spain: Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com.
3. Benito Pérez Galdós. (2018). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
4. Tamaro, E. (2004-2018). Benito Pérez Galdós. (N / a): Biographies and Lives: The Online Biographical Encyclopedia. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
5. Biography of Benito Pérez Galdós. (2018). (N / a): The Summary. Recovered from: elresumen.com.