Spanish Golden Age Prose: Idealist and Picaresque Novels

Idealist Novels and Their Characteristics

Idealist novels are stories that reflect an idealized reality. Their style is artful and refined. This group includes:

• Pastoral novel: The theme is platonic love. The characters are gentlemen and ladies dressed as shepherds who love honest living. These novels are written in prose that is full of lyricism.
• The Moorish novel: The theme is the relationship between Moors and Christians on the frontiers. They are stories of love and warlike exploits starring both Moors and Christians.
• Byzantine novel: These are stories of love and adventure starring a pair of lovers who undergo a long journey.

Lazarillo de Tormes: The Picaresque Masterpiece

The picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes is a markedly anonymous work of realism. This book was a great novelty with respect to the triumphant stories of the day.

Plot and Character Evolution

When Lazarillo was young, he was from a low social class, naive, and had very few resources. As he grew older, he learned to survive without help from anyone, eventually starting a family and living without complications. Throughout the book, we clearly see how he evolves: at the beginning, he is a naive yet clever child, and eventually, he becomes intelligent and brave.

Themes and Narrative Structure

The theme of Lazarillo is the autobiographical story of Lazarus's life journey, from being a miserable child to an adult who achieves a measure of economic welfare. He gives up his honor to reach that state. The work consists of a prologue and seven treatises. Besides the central theme, there are other issues: hunger, homelessness, and criticism of the Church. Some treatises are similar in nature.

The Picaresque Protagonist

Lazarus is a rootless character, marked by shame and poverty. He must fight for his own survival in a hostile environment, which he achieves through cunning and wit. His primary concern is to satisfy his hunger.

The Deeper Meaning of the Work

This is a controversial novel. The anonymous author attacked the obsession with themes of honor and purity of blood. Lazarus fights his way up the social ladder and, considering his needs covered, believes he has reached the summit; however, the text suggests this is not truly the case.