Romanticism in Spain: Key Authors, Themes and Works of the 19th Century

Spanish Romanticism in the First Half of the 19th Century

First half of the nineteenth century: Spanish literature cannot be understood without considering the historical, political and social events of the time.

Romantic movement: Romanticism spanned roughly the first half of the nineteenth century and originated in Germany and England, in contrast to French rationalism. Romantic writers expressed their feelings freely.

Characteristics of Romanticism

• Rebellion of the individual against standards that prevented them from expressing their feelings.
• Absolute freedom in morals, politics and art.
• An ideal attitude of rebellion against the country, society and even God.
• As a consequence of the ideal and its confrontation with reality, a production of disillusion and disappointment.

If truth in the previous century was equated with reason, in Romanticism truth became subjective and emotional.

Main themes of Romanticism:

Romantics prioritized feelings over reason, expressing their emotions, melancholy and disillusionment.

1. Nature

Nature is a very important element in Romantic landscape. It participates in the poet's feelings and they preferred the most tumultuous nature.

2. The Past and the Exotic

The Romantic poet, driven by imagination, sought escape from reality through the past and the exotic. Exotic attraction was felt in Spain toward the Muslim East.

3. Popular Revival

The Middle Ages were revived through romances and inspired positive legends and epic tales.

4. Love

Romantic love was idealized to the point of considering woman as an angelical being, almost God. Love became a divine principle, although its frustration often led to fatality and the downfall of man.

5. Freedom

Freedom was the most frequent theme. Romantic man admired outlaws and those who stood out from the crowd, such as pirates, and considered freedom a symbol (as in the Song of the Pirate).

Romantic Theatre:

Romantic theatre mixed verse and prose, the tragic and the comic. The audience was the only spectator. Romantic theatre sought to move the audience, and the play Don Álvaro achieved great success. The most notable romantic theatrical success was Don Juan Tenorio.

Characteristics: classical rules were abandoned, preference was given to legendary subjects, actors increased in number, and works mixed prose and verse. The tone was vibrant, with violent scenes and suicides.

José Zorrilla:

Zorrilla grew up in the Romantic European context and took part in theatrical performances. He began writing verses at the age of 12, and at 20 he buried his verses in the grave of Larra, whom he met as a young poet. He was a member of the Spanish Royal Academy. His theatrical works present features of their own Romantic drama. He wrote exclusively in verse, and his best-known work is Don Juan Tenorio.

Romantic prose and the novel:

The novels stood out for their historical content, legendary medieval tales and journalistic articles, many of them published in periodicals. They exposed their feelings and fought against classical norms.

Enrique Gil y Carrasco:

Born in Madrid and died of tuberculosis at a young age. He published in Madrid periodicals and worked as a diplomat. He wrote poems of melancholy, and is known for his novel El señor de Bembibre.

Mariano José de Larra:

His father worked at the court of Joseph Bonaparte. After the fall of the king, the whole family went into exile in France. Larra received a solid, secure and progressive intellectual formation. He returned to Spain and began writing articles in periodicals, becoming one of the most important journalists of his time. He was a lover of worship and refinement, but he clashed with the environment in which he lived. His personal disappointments, along with political and social problems for which no solution was found, accentuated his pessimism and disillusionment, which led him to suicide by a shot to the head. Despite his fame, he risked everything in his articles, writing again tomorrow.

The Position in Romanticism: José de Espronceda:

He belonged to a society of Numantines, who wished to overthrow Ferdinand VII and were discovered and imprisoned in a convent. He went to Portugal, where he fell in love and participated in the French Revolution. He died at 34, just as his brilliant career was beginning. He wrote El diablo mundo and La canción del pirata.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer:

At 18 he moved to Madrid, where he lived by collaborating with periodicals and magazines. His marriage was a failure. His poetic works were only known to a small group of friends who published his poems after his death. With his recognition came the Modernismo movement. His poetic work deals with love and the possibility of woman. His prose work includes legends and the letters of his Desde mi celda.