Spanish Romanticism: Core Ideas, Authors, and Works

Characteristics of Romanticism

• Rupture with Neoclassicism: Romanticism represents a break from Neoclassical rules, emphasizing a desire for freedom.
• Evocative Settings: Its settings often feature nocturnal scenes, the irrational power of nature (sea, storms), ruins, forests, and cemeteries, emphasizing mystery and emotion over reason.
• New Concept of the Individual: It introduced a new conception of the individual, often portrayed in confrontation with society, sometimes leading to tragic ends like suicide.
• Search for a New Reality: Romantics sought a reality perceived as more beautiful, dignified, and poetic, accessed through imagination.

Romantic Themes

• Key themes include: individuality and privacy, freedom, rebellion, and the significance of landscape, among others.

Features of Romantic Lyric Poetry

• Subjectivity: Poets used lyric poetry to express personal feelings and moods, such as rebellion, despair, pessimism, passion, and a desire for freedom.
• Themes: Common themes include love, freedom, and death.
• Polymetry: Romantic poems often experimented with various meters and stanza forms, blending popular and classical elements.
• Musicality: Characterized by rich language, often using numerous adjectives, contributing to a less simple, more evocative style.

José de Espronceda

Born in Almendralejo (Badajoz), José de Espronceda lived a tumultuous life. He went into exile with his mistress Teresa Mancha, whom he had abducted and later abandoned. He died young at age 34.

He is the author of famous works like 'Canción del pirata' (The Pirate's Song) and other significant Romantic poems.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Born in Seville, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is renowned for his Rimas (Rhymes), a collection of poems exploring themes of poetry itself, love, loneliness, and anguish.

Bécquer's style is characterized by simple, intimate language used to express deep personal feelings.

His Leyendas (Legends) were also highly important. This prose work consists of fantasy stories, often based on popular origins, with strong Romantic themes.

Features of Romantic Prose

• Costumbrismo: A focus on depicting popular environments and lifestyles (costumbrismo). Key figures include Ramón de Mesonero Romanos, Serafín Estébanez Calderón, and Mariano José de Larra.
• Historical Novels: Often set in the Middle Ages. Enrique Gil y Carrasco is a notable author in this genre.
• Journalism: Particularly newspaper articles, exemplified by Larra.

Mariano José de Larra

Mariano José de Larra is noted primarily for his newspaper articles, often signed with the pseudonym 'Fígaro'. His work frequently started from observations of customs (costumbrismo) but tackled controversial issues of his time, including politics, society, culture, and literature.

Larra's style is concise, clear, and employs satire and irony effectively.

Larra continued a critical tradition addressing Spain's societal problems.

Romantic Theatre Characteristics

• Rejection of the Neoclassical three unities (time, place, action).
• Blending of tragic and comic elements.
• Combination of prose and verse within the same play.
• Often structured in five acts (as opposed to the Neoclassical three).
• Focus on emotional impact rather than didacticism (aiming to move, not indoctrinate).
• Common themes include passionate love and national history.
• Emphasis on evocative scenery (ruins, cemeteries, churches) and atmosphere (sounds, echoes, lighting effects).
• Protagonists are often social outcasts or rebels.