The Life and Works of Mercè Rodoreda: A Literary Legacy

Mercè Rodoreda and Gurguí was born in Barcelona in the district of Sant Gervasi on 10 October 1908. She is known primarily as a novelist and short story writer, but also wrote several plays and poetry. Growing up in a quiet neighborhood and surrounded by the love of her parents, especially her grandfather, she developed a passion for reading.
In 1928, she married her maternal uncle, John Gurguí, who was fourteen years older than her. He had gone to America when he was very young and had become quite wealthy by 1921. This marriage, which she never accepted, along with the birth of their only son, George Gurguí, became a traumatic experience for her. She felt immense guilt over her child's mental illness, which forced him to be interned in a psychiatric center. Mercè Rodoreda turned to literature as an alternative choice to escape from that disappointing environment.

On 21 January 1939, she took the road to exile, settling in the castle of Roissy-en-Brie, twenty-five kilometers from Paris. It was a tough time of survival during which, according to the author, "writing seemed a shockingly frivolous occupation." Moreover, economic instability prevented her from having the necessary tranquility to continue her literary work. Her entire body of work is still constantly being reissued and translated.

The works of Mercè Rodoreda are characterized by a detailed analysis of characters, often reflecting on human existence. Themes of loneliness and lost love complicate the relationships between people, and her writing is often from a female perspective, where women are usually portrayed as passive victims, offering a pessimistic view of life. Her work is characterized by four key elements:
- Isolation in society: Women are often lonely introverts. This isolation responds to the existentialist proposals of the time;
- Birth: Heroines are born into unique conditions, creating a mystery that will feature throughout their lives. The mother figure is often more positive than the father.
- Childhood: The writer's attraction to the first phase of life is crucial in her experience. Childhood is always seen as a distant paradise lost forever. There is an antagonism between childhood and middle age. As they face adult life, they turn their attention to childhood, although not all memories are positive. Rodoreda's heroines flee from conflict, where childhood does not miss any imbalance.
- Maturity: The contemplation of life in maturity, as the special position given by experience allows one to see things with greater pessimism and disbelief.