Spanish Romanticism Literature and Key Authors

Spanish Romantic Poetry

Lyric Poetry: Characterized by its subjective nature and reflection of the landscape of the soul. It is full of love, utilizing various meters and stanzas. Key authors include:

• José de Espronceda: Active in the first half of the 19th century.
• Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Rosalía de Castro: Active in the second half of the 19th century.

Romantic Narrative and Legends

Narrative: These works relate to historic events and legends of the Middle Ages and the 16th century. They often use the strophic form of the romance, featuring a bright style and expressivist strength. Key authors include Espronceda, Zorrilla, and the Duke of Rivas.

Characteristics of Romantic Theater

Theater: Romantic drama rejects neoclassical rules (preferring long action) and shows a predilection for tragicomedy. Features include:

• Inspiration in classic works and social concerns.
• Themes of mystery, romantic heroes, and rebels.
• Mixing prose and verse in the same work with great metric variety.
• Sepulchral and nocturnal settings.
• Works typically divided into five acts.

Authors: The Duke of Rivas, Martínez de la Rosa, García Gutiérrez, and Bretón de los Herreros (who wrote costumbrist plays such as Muérete y verás).

Prose and Costumbrismo

Costumbrist Literature: Emerging in the first half of the century, this style includes Mariano José de Larra and Ramón de Mesonero Romanos (known for Escenas Matritenses). Estébanez Calderón offered an amiable look at Escenas Andaluzas. These works often featured a close partnership with mild criticism and a moralizing undertone.

Historical Novel and Legends: Notable works include El Señor de Bembibre by Enrique Gil y Carrasco.

Key Authors and Their Works

José de Espronceda

Characteristics: Known for his great imagination, use of polymetry, excellent domain of rhyme, and musicality.

• Short Poems: Canción del Pirata.
• Longer Poems: El Estudiante de Salamanca and El Diablo Mundo.

The Duke of Rivas

• Poetry: El Moro Expósito (a narrative dramatic poem), Romances Históricos (medieval and 16th-century stories), and Leyendas (featuring a wide metric range).
• Theater: Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino (5 acts, prose and verse, breaks the three unities, dynamic action, and romantic ambience).

José Zorrilla

• Poetry: Orientales (lyric or exotic narrative themes), Leyendas (diverse traditional themes and meters, e.g., Margarita la Tornera), and Granada (an incomplete work about the Moorish King).
• Theater: El zapatero y el rey (featuring King Pedro I in verse), Traidor, inconfeso y mártir (the legend of the Portuguese King Don Sebastián), and Don Juan Tenorio (based on Tirso de Molina's The Trickster of Seville, but with new character features).

Mariano José de Larra

• Articles of Manners (Costumbres): Critical tone regarding Spanish social life and habits, including Vuelva usted mañana and his pessimistic outlook.
• Political Articles: Progressive and liberal disenchantment with the political situation, such as Nadie pase sin hablar al portero.
• Literary Criticism: Focused on the theater, caught between neoclassicism and free ideas, reflecting the romantic spirit (e.g., critiques of El sí de las niñas).

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

• Poetry: Rimas (intimist tone, short and simple poems).
• Prose: Desde mi celda (letters about art and life) and Leyendas (short stories involving the exotic world, terror, and mystery).

Rosalía de Castro

• Cantares Gallegos: Written in Galician, offering a nostalgic vision of Galician life.
• Follas Novas: Written in Galician, denouncing social injustice in Galicia.
• En las orillas del Sar: Written in Castilian, featuring aching verses that foreshadow bitter modernism.