MANUEL MACHADO: BIOGRAPHY, LITERARY STYLE, IDEOLOGY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2024

Manuel Machado Ruiz (1874-1947) was a Spanish poet and playwright who developed his work within the profiles of Modernism. He was the brother of the also poet Antonio Machado, and just as blood united them, so did friendship. There were many anecdotes and the work they did together.

Manuel was influenced by his father's work as a researcher and student of Spanish folklore. Then, he was able to mix his taste for traditions with his personality and affinity for the modern and cosmopolitan. The most relevant works of the writer were Cante hondo and El mal poema.

Manuel Machado. Source: Fot. Cartagena, via Wikimedia Commons Manuel Machado's work was characterized by the dissemination and knowledge of flamenco as part of the Andalusian heritage. In addition, he had the ability to write romances, quartets, sonnets and the verses of more than nine syllables that he himself called "soleariyas".

Biography

Birth and family

Manuel Machado was born on August 29, 1874 in Seville. His parents were Antonio Machado Álvarez, writer and folklorist; and Ana Ruiz Hernández.

He was the oldest of four brothers: Antonio, Rafael, Ana, José, Joaquín, Francisco and Cipriana. With Antonio he created an unbreakable bond.

Childhood and studies

The first nine years of Manuel Machado's life were spent in his hometown in the company of his family, who gave him all the love and attention. He had a happy childhood, imbued with the tranquility and beauty of Seville.

Some time later his family made the decision to go to Madrid so that the children could receive a better education. Once in the Spanish capital, she began studying at the well-known Instituto de Libre Enseñanza. Then she attended high school at San Isidro and Cardenal Cisneros schools.

Manuel Machado entered the University of Seville at eighteen years of age to study philosophy and letters; He graduated on November 8, 1897. Later he met his brother Antonio and together they began to frequent the cafes and literary gatherings in Madrid.

Building on Churruca street in Madrid where Manuel Machado lived. Source: Luis García During the stage of his bohemian life, the young Manuel began to show his capacity for poetry. It was at that time that he released his first verses and made some publications in certain print media that were being formed.

Years of youth

After putting an end to the carefree life he had in the Spanish capital, the young Manuel went to Paris in 1898. In the French city he began to work as a translator at the then well-known Garnier publishing house. That was the time when he published his first book entitled Alma.

The life of Manuel Machado was enriching and full of learning. While in the city of light, he had the opportunity to meet and befriend important writers and literary critics at that time, such as Rubén Darío, Amado Nervo and Enrique Gómez Carrillo.

In 1903 the Sevillian poet returned to Spain, and from that moment on his literary activity did not stop. He collaborated for the magazine Blanco y Negro and also for the newspaper ABC. During those years the playwright began his steps in the theater.

In that same year he premiered in Seville the theatrical comedy Amor al volar, which did not have the significance he expected. Two years later, in 1905, he published Caprichos; his brother José Machado was in charge of the illustration.

Manuel's mature life

Manuel entered the stage of maturity being a recognized and beloved writer, there were many works he developed before reaching this stage of his life. Likewise, he demonstrated his ability and efficiency to carry out administrative positions related to literature.

In 1913, when he was thirty-nine years old, he held the position of official of the Facultative Body of Archivists, Librarians and Archaeologists of Santiago de Compostela; then it was changed to the National Library of Madrid. In addition, he was director of the municipal library and museum of the Spanish capital.

The poet also served as a journalist. At the end of the First World War he traveled to various countries in Europe as a correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Liberal. Later, in 1921, he published his work Ars moriendi, a collection of poems considered by scholars of his work as his best work.

In the early 1920s Manuel considered the decision to retire from poetry; he thought his had an expiration date. However, he continued to write theater with his brother Antonio. One of the works with the greatest receptivity was La Lola se va a los puerto, from 1929.

Last years

When the Spanish civil war broke out in 1936, the poet was in Burgos, in the company of his wife of more than thirty years, Eulalia Cáceres, whom he met in his university years. The situation in the country kept him away from his family.

The poet was jailed on December 29 of that same year for two days after he gave a statement about the war to a French media. Two years later he was appointed a member of the Royal Spanish Academy.

From his old age are the works Los versos del comediante and La corona de sonetos, the latter in honor of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the eponymous dictator.

In 1939 he learned of the death of his brother Antonio and his mother. Collioure left with his wife and then returned to Burgos.

Manuel Machado wrote until the end of his days. He died in the city of Madrid on January 19, 1947, his funeral was attended by many intellectuals and politicians.

His body was buried in the La Almudena cemetery. After his death, his wife dedicated herself to the care of needy children.

Literary style

Ana Ruiz and Antonio Machado Álvarez, parents of Manuel Machado. Source: UnknownUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons Manuel Machado's literary style was characterized by using precise and concise language. It was similar to that of his brother Antonio in that he did not use fancy rhetoric. In addition, the poet used short phrases to give his verses more naturalness and expressiveness.

By writing poetry, he felt free enough to make his work free. He did not let the metric guide him, but rather wrote the way he wanted and felt. He was influenced by the French Paul Marie Verlaine and the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío.

Regarding his way of writing, he followed in many cases in his father's footsteps in terms of the propagation of Andalusian folklore, he even had great ability for flamenco and his popular cante hondo. The Seguidillas, the verses and the soleares were the main structures that he used.

Manuel Machado was creative, witty and light in his poetry. As for his prose work, this was pretty straightforward; unlike many writers of his day, he made little use of adjectives. In the theater he coincided with his brother in the ideas of comedy and tragedy.

Ideology

From a political point of view, the ideology of Manuel Machado was initially oriented towards the defense of democracy and civil liberties. He was a man of peaceful thoughts and solutions who believed in a Spain that was the fruit of work and innovation.

However, when the Civil War broke out in 1936 he was a supporter of Spanish Falangism founded by the son of the dictator Primo de Rivera. That movement was a copy of the fascism of Italy, which meant proposals of absolutism and totalitarianism.

Manuel's decision to join this movement surprised many: first, because he was never attached to any type of political party; and secondly, because it was not consistent with their democratic sentiment. So his close friends considered that it was more to survive than to sympathize.

Complete works

Manuel Machado's work developed within poetry, theater, novels, translations, and essays; however, he is recognized most of all for his verses and plays. In the case of poetry, his activity began with Tristes y alegres (1894) and Etcétera (1895).

The most important period of his work was between 1900 and 1909. It was considered his most prolific period and, also, the time when he published his most important works. Such is the case of Alma (1902), which is an Andalusian reflection -due to the verses- of his thinking about love and death.

In relation to his prose works, he began in 1913 with El amor y la muerte, which dealt with a series of short stories. Machado showed how much influence Rubén Darío had on him given the way he wrote some stories.

The most important works of Manuel Machado in the literary genres that he developed are mentioned below:

Poetry

- Sad and happy (1894).

- Etcétera (1895, with the collaboration of the writer and journalist Enrique Paradas).

- Alma (1902).

- Caprichos (1905-1908).

- The songs (1905).

- The national holiday (1906).

- The bad poem (1909).

- Apollo (1911).

- Trophies (1911).

- Cante hondo (1912).

- Songs and dedications (1915).

- Seville and other poems (1918).

- Ars moriendi (1921).

- Phoenix (1936).

- Golden hours (1938).

- Poetry opera omnia lyrica (1940).

- Cadences of cadences (1943).

- Schedule, religious poems (1947).

Test

Of Machado's essays, there were three of the largest:

- The literary war (written between the years 1898 and 1914).

- A year of theater (1918).

- Day by day of my calendar (1918, it was also known as Memorandum of Spanish life of 1918).

Theater plays

The plays of the Spanish poet and playwright are the result of a joint work with his brother Antonio Machado. The following stood out:

- Misfortunes of fortune or Julianillo Valcárcel (1926).

- Juan de Mañara (1927).

- The oleanders (1928).

- La Lola is going to ports (1929, one of the most important and versioned).

- Cousin Fernanda (1931).

- The Duchess of Benamejí (1932).

- The man who died in the war (1928).

Novel

The novel was also to Manuel's taste, even though his work within this literary genre was not so prolific and outstanding. However, the best known titles of the author can be mentioned:

- Love on the fly (1904).

- Love and death (1913).

Translation

Manuel made the Spanish translation of several European writers. Some of the most important works were the following:

- Gallant Parties, by the Frenchman Paul Verlaine (1911).

- Ethics, by the Dutch Baruch Spinoza (1913).

- Complete works, by René Descartes (1920).

- Hernani, by the Frenchman Víctor Hugo (1928).

Brief description of the most representative works

soul

This work is divided into nine parts. The first three are related to symbolism, while the following were influenced by the French movement born after Romanticism and known as Parnassianism.

Cover of «Alma», by Manuel Machado, Los Cantares Museum. Source: Juan Gris In Alma Manuel he expressed some songs and verses typical of Andalusia, and at the same time he connected with his emotions and thoughts about death, loneliness and love. The content and the way he wrote it reflected a series of contrasts.

The poems were related to the interiority of the poet, he described the loneliness and forgetfulness that he felt at certain moments in his life. With this work he also addressed the theme of Castile, which opened the way for other writers to do the same.

Poem "Adelfos"

"My will died one moonlit night

in which it was very beautiful not to think or want…

My ideal is to lie down without any illusion…

From time to time a kiss and a woman's name.

In my soul, sister of the afternoon, there are no contours…

And the symbolic rose of my only passion

It is a flower that is born in unknown lands

and it has no shape, no aroma, no color ”.

Whims

This work was divided into two parts, each with notable differences. In the first one you can see a poetry full of vitality and joy, in which the form was characterized by the lightness and, at the same time, by the perfection that Manuel Machado sought. In the second, the poet returned to melancholy.

Poem "Abel"

“The field and the twilight. A bonfire, whose smoke slowly rises to the sky.

In the pale sphere

there is not a single cloud.

The smoke rises to the sky

quiet, from the bonfire…

And come down like a sovereign duel

the night to the meadow…

Cain! Cain! What have you done with your brother?

The bad poem

It is considered one of the most innovative works of Manuel, taking into account the situation that his country experienced at the time of being conceived. The poet took the opportunity to capture the moment through the visionary freedom of art. In the verses you can see depth and superficiality.

At the same time, the writer managed to integrate elegance and reflection between the cultured and the popular. The language of the work is very natural, with clear evidence of the influences of the aforementioned Verlaine and Rubén Darío. The bad poem is the notoriety of a new poet who began to feel differently.

Poem "I, decadent poet"

"I, decadent poet, twentieth century Spanish, that the bulls I have praised, and sung.

The whores and the brandy…

And the night of Madrid, and the impure corners, and the darkest vices

of these great-grandchildren of El Cid:

of so much scoundrel

I must have had enough of being a little;

I'm already sick, and I don't drink anymore

what they said he drank… ”.

Sing deep

The book collected a series of flamenco songs that Manuel wrote throughout his youth, influenced by his father and the memories and experiences of his native Seville. The poet used the soleares and followed in the structure; it is a tribute to the traditional and popular.

Poem "Cante hondo"

“They have sung us all, on a night out, verses that have killed us.

Heart, shut up your grief:

they have sung us all

on a night out.

Malagueñas, soleares, and gypsy bands…

Stories of my sorrows

and your bad hours ”.

Ars moriendi

This work (which in Spanish translates as Art of Dying) has a deep poetic expressiveness and touches on the theme of life and death with many nuances of subtlety. In this, Manuel evoked life like a sigh, a dream that ends when he falls asleep forever.

Poem «Ars Moriendi»

"Dying is… There is a flower, in the dream

-which, when we wake up, is no longer in our hands-

of impossible aromas and colors…

and one day without aromas we cut it…

Life appears like a dream

in our childhood… then we woke up

to see her, and we walked

the charm looking for him smiling

that first we dream… ”.

Juan de Mañara

It was a play that Manuel Machado wrote together with his brother Antonio. It premiered on March 13, 1927 at the Reina Victoria Theater in the city of Madrid. It was carried out by the Spanish actor Santiago Artigas and the Argentine Pepita Díaz.

It was based on the legend of Don Juan, but the writers added some references to the character Miguel Mañara, who was an icon in Seville. Two women long for Juan's love; Elvira, who was evil, had killed her husband and Mañara helps her escape. The tragedy does not wait.

Oleanders

This play was presented for the first time at the Eldorado Theater in Barcelona on April 13, 1928. It is a story of death and seduction; Duchess Araceli seeks answers to the constant nightmares she has with her dead husband Alberto.

After the inquiries that the lady made with the doctor and friend of her husband, Carlos Montes, she discovered the dark personality of the deceased and the personality problems he had. Disappointed, the widow sold the properties and fell in love again with a man similar to the dead man.

La Lola goes to the ports

This play by the Machado brothers is one of the most recognized and remembered. They structured it in three acts and it was written in verses. They premiered it on November 8, 1929 in Madrid at the Fontalba Theater, and it has been taken to the theater in three different versions.

It is about the story of a flamenco singer from Cádiz called Lola, whom all men wanted. Don Diego, a rich landowner, wants her for himself; by inviting her to his farm, his son falls in love with her, but that love is not possible.

Cousin Fernanda

This work was written in verses and was structured in three acts. Its premiere took place on April 24, 1931 at the Reina Victoria Theater in Madrid. It was the exhibition of a story of love, hate, jealousy and seduction, in which the protagonists are involved in a difficult plot.

Matilde and Leopoldo's marriage, which has always been functional and harmonious, is disturbed when Fernanda came into their lives. The young woman only seeks her own benefit; her cousin fell in love with her and the woman only brought him misfortunes.

The Duchess of Benamejí

Play written in verses and divided into three acts. It premiered on March 26, 1932 at the Spanish Theater. It was set at the beginning of the 19th century and presented the story of the bandit Lorenzo Gallardo during the invasions of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Feeling threatened by the occupation of the Napoleonic troops, Gallardo had to take shelter in the residence of the Duchess of Benamejí, who owed him a favor for having been saved by him long ago. Over time they fall in love and everything ends in pain.

The man who died in the war

In the case of this play, Manuel and his brother wrote it in prose unlike many others; in addition, they structured it in four acts. It premiered in the city of Madrid on April 8, 1941 at the Spanish Theater. Eleven years later it was presented in Mexico.

It narrated the story of a bourgeois marriage formed by the Marquis of Castellar, Don Andrés de Zuñiga and Mrs. Berta. The husband hid for a long time from his wife that he had a child outside of marriage named Juan, whom he never recognized.

Many years later, when Andrés saw that he could not have children, he looked for the boy to make him his heir and learned that he died in combat during the First World War. Later they discovered that Juan was closer than they ever thought.

References

1. García, M. (S. f.). Soul. Manuel Machado. (N / a): Solidarity Portal. Recovered from: portalsolidario.net.
2. Manuel Machado. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org.
3. Álvarez, M. (2011). Manuel Machado. Works, style and technique (N / a): Machado. Study magazine about a family saga. Recovered from: antoniomachado.com.
4. Tamaro, E. (2019). Manuel machado. Spain: Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
5. Manuel Machado. (2019). Spain: Spain is culture. Recovered from: españaescultura.es.