"Fortunata y Jacinta", by Benito Pérez Galdós

Though usually Benito Pérez Galdós is studied as a 19th century author, I like thinking that he is a transition to the 20th century literature. That is why today I am writing about him.

Galdós’ books are a great way to learn about Spain’s history and society. An example is “Fortunata y Jacinta”, which is perfect to understand the Spanish political and social reality at the second half of the 19th century. This book shows the way the bourgeoisie and the poor class lived at that time, and constantly refers to the political environment. 

“Fortunata y Jacinta” was published in 1885 and 1887, but the story is set between 1869 and 1876. In 1868 the most important cities in Spain organized themselves against the central government, and soon the queen Isabel II had to leave the country. The new constitution of 1869 made important changes that were oriented to democracy and a very limited monarchy. Amadeo I de Saboya was chosen as the new king, but soon he resigned because of a very conflicted environment against the monarchy. The Republic is proclaimed in February of 1873, but it didn’t last for too long because of the regimen’s political weakness. “El carlismo” was one of the factors that brought down Amadeo I and, later, the Republic. This novel brings up “el carlismo” many times. Finally, in 1875, the monarchy was reinstated and the king Alfonso XII initiated the period known as “La Restauración”.

“Fortunata y Jacinta” tells us the story of two unhappy married women: Fortunata and Jacinta. To make a long story short, this is a very complicated plot in which Jacinta, Juanito’s wife, wishes to be a mother, but she is sterile. Fortunata, married to an impotent and ugly husband, is Juanito’s lover, wishes to be his wife, and becomes the mother of his son. At the end, Fortunata dies, leaving her baby to Jacinta. But this book is much more that the story. Galdós described every character in detail, presenting Madrid’s social life through all of them. I like imagining this book as a tree, in which every branch is the story of some secondary character, being all connected to the trunk or main plot. But Galdós’ universe is much bigger than that; he connected many of his books through common characters. As example, in “Fortunata y Jacinta” we can think of Torquemada. At the end we have a huge net of characters that is Galdós' universe.

This book is extremely large, but somehow Galdós keeps us interested from the first to the last page.  The way he writes is very oral, and some times the reader can have the impression of being listening to a friend. Galdós also uses humor to keep us engaged. This humor leans on caricature and funny comments. But humor allows him to use satire as a way of social and political criticism.

As a conclusion, Galdós is a genius because he was able to create a very commercial literature that at the same time was a piece of art.