When we look over the whole work of these men, we are struck first by
their tremendous productivity. The elder of the brothers is now 44, but
it is 27 years since their first play was presented. Up to the latest
advices (Jan. 1, 1915), they have had performed 91 dramas, comedies,
farces and operettas, called by the various names of _comedias, juguetes
cómicos, entremeses, sainetes, pasos de comedia, zarzuelas_, and still
others. From 1900 to 1914 they averaged _5 estrenos_ a year, a record
which one knows not whether to commend or to reprove. The conditions of
the stage in Spain are such to-day that dramatists are spurred to turn
out novelties in order to earn a living. A popular hit may remain on the
boards for some time, but after its initial run is over, it is seldom
returned to the repertory. But it would be a mistake to ascribe to
commercial motives what is a trait of national genius. The race of Lope
is not that of Molière, and Spanish literature, in its most
characteristic phases, is the work of brilliant improvisers. That
exuberance of creation of which Lope de Vega was the perfect exemplar is
continued undiminished to-day in Pérez Galdós, Echegaray, Benavente and
the Quinteros.
The enormous output of the Quintero brothers includes an equally
impressive variety. They have attempted almost every known kind of
comedy in prose (never in verse) from the screaming farce (_Las casas de
cartón_, _El nuevo servidor_) to the grand comedy in which there is a
strong tragic element (_La casa de García_, _La zagala_). One may very
roughly divide the mass into plays short and plays long, or, in
Castilian _el género chico_ and _el género grande_.
The short dramatized picture of national customs known as _entremés_
or _sainete_ has as continuous and glorious a history as any literary
genre in Spain, including as it does the names of Lope de Rueda (16th
century), Cervantes, Quiñones de Benavente (17th), Ramón de la Cruz
(18th) and Ricardo de la Vega (19th). The Quinteros maintain worthily a
tradition in which the great qualities are wit, concision and fidelity
to nature, and up to the present writing these short popular sketches
represent possibly the greatest perfection of their accomplishment. _El
ojito derecho_ (1897) is a classic of horse-trading, and only one of an
insurpassable series depicting Andalusian life among the lower classes.
The famous _El patio_ (1900) draws an enchanting picture of domestic
arrangements in a house in Seville.[D] _La buena sombra_, _El flechazo_,
_Los chorros del oro_, _Sangre gorda_ and very many others, which, like
those previously cited, are written in the Andalusian dialect, are
thumb-nail sketches caught in the streets and patios of Seville. But,
following the lead of Ricardo de la Vega, the Quinteros have woven a
thread of sentiment into their scenes from popular life, and thus given
them a relief and truthfulness which the _sainetistas_ of the earlier
centuries would have scorned to consider possible. _La pena_, _El
chiquillo_, _Nanita, nana_ are masterpieces, pure and simple, of sincere,
unexaggerated realism, and one knows not where to turn for a parallel,
unless to Dickens, who touched childhood with a hand more loving than
any other's.
[Footnote D: The authors define a _sainete_ as a form restricted to
one act, and depicting manners of the lower classes only. Hence _El
patio_ (in two acts), and the _pasos_ mentioned further on, are
not _sainetes_, for the characters are not taken from the laboring
classes. The term _cuadro de costumbres_ would perhaps cover them
all.]
It was the Quinteros who started the now declining fashion of
"andalucismo" on the stage, but they were also the first to work away
from it. The _pasos de comedia_ are short pieces, but they are
differentiated from the _sainete_ type by the station of the dramatis
personae, who are not of the working class. They speak Castilian, not
Andalusian, the scene is laid farther north, and the interest is sought
in fine psychology, instead of popular manners. _Mañana de sol_ (1905)
contains a delicate mingling of philosophy and humor with the faintest
suggestion of pathos, and the same qualities appear in _A la luz de la
luna_ (1908), as fanciful and dainty as one of De Musset's
_Proverbes_. _El agua milagrosa_ (1908) is a delightful revelation
of human nature, and _El último capítulo_ (1910) equals it in shrewd
psychological observation. Such dramatic pictures as these are a permanent
and worthy addition to Spanish literature.
So much cannot always be said for the more ambitious flights of the
Quinteros. Many times they have tried comedy on a large scale, and
tragic figures are not lacking in their long list of created characters,
but their success has not been uniform in the broader field. In it are
to be found marks of haste in construction, the inevitable harvest of
intellects not allowed to lie fallow, and even of concession to popular
applause. When they are content with observation or satire they are
supreme, as in the interesting _zarzuela_, _El estreno_ (1900), a vivid
glimpse behind the scenes at a "first night"; and in _El amor en el
teatro_ (1902) and _El amor en solfa_ (1905), which exhibit the
love-scene as it is rendered in various types of play and opera. But
when the authors grow serious they approach the danger line, for it is
then that a tendency to sentimentality shows unpleasantly at times,
which in the purely objective studies serves only to cast a glow of
poetry. The public, too, has been overcritical with its favorite
funmakers whenever they have tried to convince it that their talent is
not confined to provoking laughter; their future has been to a certain
extent circumscribed by past successes, and they are not granted a fair
hearing. So one must set down as unsuccessful attempts at high comedy or
drama _La dicha ajena_ (1902), _La musa loca_ (1905), _La casa
de García_ (1904), and _La zagala_ (1904), the last two with almost
tragic endings; perhaps even _Malvaloca_ (1912), in spite of its lofty
aim and generous teaching. _Los Galeotes_ (1900) is too well rounded
and solid a play to be included in the same category. In _El amor que
pasa_ (1904) we are shown the longing for a finer life which may beset
sensitive womankind in a provincial town. _La escondida senda_ (1908)
sings the praises of quiet country life; _Doña Clarines_ (1909) is a
character study of much power and truth. _El genio alegre_ (1906),
flooded in southern sunshine and perfume, is truly a hymn to the joy of
living, and it is the favorite in Spain of all the long plays. A remarkable
piece of dramatic technic is _La flor de la vida_ (1910), a three-act
play in which only two characters take part. The conflict between the lure
of the stage and the attraction of the home in a woman's heart was never
stated more clearly or more logically left unsolved than in _Pepita
Reyes_ (1903), a very perfect piece of work. Still, the most finished of
all the longer efforts is _Las flores, comedia en tres actos_ (1901).
The plot is so simple that it will scarcely bear analysis, but the
setting is so redolent of flowers and shot through with light, the
dialog so restrained and suggestive, the characters so well studied,
that one feels in this play the inevitableness of a masterpiece. An
artist compared it to a painting of Velázquez, in that the authors
sketched with the fewest possible strokes an epitome of Andalusian life.
Here there is much sentiment, but no sentimentality. _Las flores_ was
coldly received by both audience and critics at its first performance,
but since then the latter, at least, have made ample amends.[E]
[Footnote E: _Las flores_ has been highly praised by R. Altamira,
J.O. Picón, and other esteemed Spanish writers. Manuel Bueno, by no means
partial to the Quinteros, speaks of it as "una de las obras más bellas,
intensas y veraces del teatro español contemporáneo".]
The lyric quality predominates in other plays beside _Las flores_;
notably in _La rima eterna_ (1910), which is an expansion and
interpretation of a famous _Rima_ of Bécquer, and a worthy tribute to
his memory. The Quinteros have not acquired fame as versifiers, perhaps
because their extraordinary power of visualizing characters made them
dramatists instead, but their interest in poets is as obvious as the
poetic quality of their thought. Bécquer is the favorite, and Campoamor
and Luis de León have furnished texts for certain plays, while one,
_Malvaloca_, is inspired by an Andalusian _copla_.
A word as to the language employed by the Quinteros. Southerners
themselves, they revel in the Andalusian speech forms, and few of their
plays do not contain one or two characters who use them. To those who
love the soft accent of Seville and Cadiz, this will prove no draw-back,
but an added charm. Yet when one reflects that writings in dialect, even
if they are the work of a Goldoni, cannot fail to drop soon out of the
current of active literary influence, it is much to be regretted that
such remarkable compositions as _Las flores_, _El patio_ and the racy
_sainetes_ are doomed to pass quickly from the stage on that account
alone.
The dialog of the Quinteros is lively and natural, at times sparkling
with wit--they are inveterate punsters--, and again charged with rich,
quiet humor. Long speeches are rare. Their Castilian is highly
idiomatic, but not free from Gallicisms and slang. For this reason it
has not the value as a pure speech-type that one finds in their
Andalusian writings.
According to the latest information, 19 of their plays have been
translated into Italian, six into German, two into French, one into
Dutch and one into Portuguese. It may be hoped that English will not
long remain conspicuously absent from the list.