Spanish Romanticism and Modernism: Literary Evolution

Romantic Theater and the Force of Destiny

The Romantic Theater is defined by its tragic love themes, blending tragic and comic elements, verse and prose, and the use of polymetry (the use of various metrical forms). The action unfolds across diverse locations and settings, often featuring temporal shifts. Two of the most significant works of this era are:

• Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino (Duke of Rivas)
• Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla

The character of Don Juan is traditionally written in verse and draws deep influence from both Spanish and French literary traditions.

Romantic Poetry: Love, Freedom, and Marginality

Romantic poetry utilizes various meters, though the octosyllable remains the favorite. Key themes include impossible love, existential angst, and the presence of the demonic. It often features social criticism and the exaltation of marginal characters.

Prominent Romantic Poets

Notable poets include José de Espronceda, known for The Student of Salamanca and The Pirate’s Song, whose work focuses on the idea of freedom and marginality during his exile. Later, the movement transitioned into Post-Romanticism with the works of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Rosalía de Castro.

Romantic Prose: Mariano José de Larra

Mariano José de Larra is the central figure of Romantic prose. Through his articles, he employed social critique with the goal of reforming Spanish customs and habits. He frequently criticized the neglect of the administration and the stagnation of society.

Linguistic Evolution: Word Creation

The Spanish language evolved through several mechanisms of word formation:

• Derivation: Adding morphemes to root words.
• Composition: The union of two words.
• Acronyms: Formed from several words or syllables.

Post-Romanticism in the 19th Century

Rosalía de Castro

Born in Santiago de Compostela (1837–1885), Rosalía de Castro was a pivotal figure in the Galician Rexurdimento. Her major works include Cantares Gallegos, Follas Novas, and En las orillas del Sar.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Bécquer’s Rhymes are celebrated for their intimacy and musicality, focusing on themes of love and the pain of living. His Legends are prose narratives featuring supernatural elements, characters caught between good and evil, fear, religion, and music.

Modernism: Beauty and Symbolism

Emerging in the early 20th century, Modernism began in Hispano-America with Rubén Darío. It was shaped by two main influences:

• Parnassianism: The pursuit of formal perfection and aesthetic beauty.
• Symbolism: The intention to suggest hidden realities through symbols.

Modernist writers incorporated cultismos and sensory words (tactile, olfactory, and auditory) to evoke sensations. They achieved musicality through rhythmic resources like anaphora, parallelism, and alliteration, while recovering classical verses such as the hendecasyllable, dodecasyllable, and Alexandrine.