Spanish Literary Renaissance: Generation of '98

His work changed course: he leaves and takes the modernist style free verse, while replacing the enthusiastic melancholy tone. In this poetry, he creates what is called naked poetry. He is the author of Platero and I, and received the Nobel Prize in 1956.

The Essay in the Generation of '98: Unamuno

Among the highlights are essayists like Azorín, but Miguel de Unamuno was most influential. His essays include:

• Around Castic, a book proposing a renewal of Spain
• Life of Don Quixote and Sancho, which sees Don Quixote as an example of the Spanish spirit

Unamuno explored existential issues such as the meaning of life and the desire for immortality. He also wrote poetry, plays, and novels. He called the latter Nivola to highlight their innovative nature (e.g., Fog).

Theater in the Generation of '98: Valle-Inclán

Valle-Inclán is one of the most relevant playwrights of the twentieth century, although not understood in his time. Jacinto Benavente, another playwright of the day, received recognition from critics and the public.

• The first published works of Valle-Inclán, Sonatas, are narrative and modernist in style. These feature the Marqués de Bradomín, whom Valle defined as "an ugly, Catholic, and sentimental Juan."
• In the 1920s, his work culminated in the creation of plays called grotesques, which ridicule both Spanish society and human nature. Valle-Inclán's notable works include The Daughter of the Captain and Bohemian Lights, in which he caricatures society through two protagonists who roam the night in Madrid.

Poetry in the Generation of '98: Machado

• He published Solitudes, his first book of poems in modernist aesthetics. A few years later, he expanded and published it under the title Solitude, Galleries, and Other Poems.
• In Soria, he wrote Fields of Castile, moving away from Modernism and, following the trend of the Generation of '98, writing about the beauty and depth of the landscape and the people of Castile in a simple style. After the death of his wife, Eleanor, he left Soria and wrote prose in which he created an apocryphal character, Juan de Mairena, an imaginary professor who explains skeptical and ironic thoughts to his students.