Galdós is said to have written two verse dramas before he was
twenty-five, neither of which was ever staged. One, _La expulsión de los
moriscos_, has disappeared. The other, _El hombre fuerte_, was published
in part by Eduardo de Lustonó in 1902. (See Bibliography.) It appears
from the extracts to be a character play with strong romantic elements.
It is written in _redondillas_.
Some of Galdós' novels have been dramatized by others: _El equipaje del
rey José_, by Catarineu and Castro, in 1903; _La familia de León Roch_,
by José Jerique, in 1904; _Marianela_, by the Quinteros, in 1916; _El
Audaz_, by Benavente, in 1919.
=1.= _=Realidad=, drama en cinco actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Comedia, March
15, 1892. Condensed from the "novela en cinco jornadas" of the same name
(1889). Ran twenty-two nights, but did not rouse popular enthusiasm.
_Realidad_ presents the eternal triangle, but in a novel way. Viera, the
seducer, is driven by remorse to suicide, and Orozco, the deceived
husband, who aspires to stoic perfection of soul, is ready to forgive
his wife if she will open her heart to him. She is unable to rise to his
level, and, though continuing to live together, their souls are
permanently separated.
_Realidad_ has superfluous scenes and figures, and a scattered
viewpoint. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most original and
profound of Galdós' creations, a penetrating study of unusual
characters. There are two parallel dramatic actions, the first, more
obvious and theatrical, the fate of Viera; the second, of loftier moral,
the relations of Orozco and Augusta, which are decided in a quiet scene,
pregnant with spiritual values. Running counter to the traditional
Spanish conception of honor, this drama was fortunate to be as well
received as it was.
To understand the title one must know that _Realidad_, the _novela
dialogada_, is only another version of the epistolary novel, _La
incógnita_, written the year previous. The earlier work gave, as Galdós
says (_La incógnita_, pp. 291-93), the external appearance of a certain
sequence of events; _Realidad_ shows its inner reality. Browning
employed a somewhat similar procedure in _The Ring and the Book_.
=2.= _=La loca de la casa=, comedia en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la
Comedia, Jan. 16, 1893. This play, a success, is printed in two forms,
one as originally written, the other as cut down for performance. In a
foreword to the former version, the author protests against the brevity
demanded by modern audiences. It was doubtless to the long version that
Galdós referred when he included _La loca de la casa_ in the list of
titles of his _Novelas españolas contemporáneas_.
This is a drama of two conflicting personalities, united by chance in
marriage: Pepet Cruz, a teamster's boy, grown rich after a hard struggle
in America, and Victoria, the daughter of a Barcelona capitalist who has
met with reverses.
Its merit lies in the study of these characters, especially in the very
human figure of Pepet, homely, rough, and unscrupulous, who resembles in
many ways Jean Giraud of Dumas' _La Question d'argent_. The theme, the
conquest of a rude man by a Christian and mystic girl, is also the theme
of Galdós' novel _Ángel Guerra_. The first two acts are the best; the
third borders on melodrama, and the last, though containing some
excellent comedy, is flat. The real flaw lies in the extensive use of
financial transactions to express a psychological contest; Victoria's
victory over Cruz is ill symbolized in terms of money.
The title is based on a pun: "la loca de la casa" is a common expression
for "imagination."[11]
[Note 11: It is perhaps in order to protest here against the amazing
translation which has been adopted by several American writers: "Mad for
the sake of her family."]
=3.= _=Gerona=, drama en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, Feb. 3,
1893. Never published by the author, but appeared in _El cuento
semanal_, nos. 70, 71, May 1 and 8, 1908.--Galdós' worst failure on the
stage; it was withdrawn after the first night, and critics treated it
more severely than the audience.[12]
[Note 12: For this reason, one may suppose, _Gerona_ never appeared
in the list of _Dramas y comedias_ which is printed on the back cover of
all Galdós' works. But the same reason cannot be alleged for the
non-inclusion of _El abuelo_ and _Casandra_ in the same list. This
curious bibliographical detail may be supplemented by saying that these
three plays are out of print and unobtainable, although _El abuelo_ was
reprinted as No. 37 of "La novela cómica" (May 27, 1917).]
_Gerona_ is a dramatization of the _Episodio nacional_ (1874) of the
same name, which describes the siege of the city of Gerona and its final
surrender to the French (May 6--Dec. 12, 1809). There are many minor
changes from the novel; among them, a nebulous love story is added as a
secondary interest.
To a reader the play does not appear so bad as the event indicated. The
first act is conceded to be a model; and, in spite of confused interests
and some wildly romantic speeches, the whole presents a vivid picture of
siege horrors, without melodrama or exaggeration. Possibly the failure
was due to the fact that doctor Nomdedeu, the chief character, places
his daughter's health ahead of patriotism, and to the final tableau, in
which the defeated Spaniards lay down their arms before the French
marshal.
=4.= _=La de San Quintín=, comedia en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la
Comedia, Jan. 27, 1894.--Aroused great enthusiasm, and received fifty
consecutive performances in Madrid. Was given in Paris, in Spanish, in
1900 (?).
This "furiously romantic" drama, Galdós' most meretricious play, is
intended to symbolize the union of the worn-out aristocracy and the
vigorous plebs to form a new and thriving stock. The duchess of San
Quintín, left poor and a widow, weds Víctor, a socialist workman of
doubtful parentage. The last act is weak and superfluous, the devices of
the action cheap, and the motivation often faulty. Víctor's socialism is
more heard of than seen, and it appears that he will be satisfied when
he becomes rich. He is not a laboring man in any real sense, since his
supposed father gave him an expensive education. He is no true symbol of
the masses.
However, the duchess Rosario is a charming figure, and the secondary
figures are well done. There is excellent high comedy in the famous
"kneading scene" of the second act, in which the duchess kneads dough
for "rosquillas" while her lover looks on. The kneading is symbolic of
the amalgamation of the upper and lower classes. Without doubt, the
popularity of this play in Spain is in part due to its propaganda.
Again, a punning title. "La de San Quintín" means "a hard-fought battle"
(from a Spanish victory outside the French city of Saint-Quentin, in
1557).
=5.= _=Los condenados=, drama en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Comedia,
Dec. 11, 1894. (The _Prólogo_ is important as a piece of self-criticism
and an exposition of the author's aims.)--A failure, given three nights
only, and severely criticized in the press.
_Los condenados_ is an ambitious and fascinating excursion into symbolic
ethics. Salomé, the inexperienced daughter of a rich Aragonese farmer,
elopes with a wild character, José León, who does not repent till his
sweetheart loses her mind as a result of his perversity. No play of
Galdós contains more glaring weaknesses of construction or greater flaws
in logic, many of them admitted by the author in his preface. To make
two saintly characters take oath to a lie (II, 16) in an attempt to save
a man's soul (spirit above letter) was, in Spain at least, a deliberate
courting of failure. And why introduce a bold example of a justified lie
into an indictment of false living? The purest romanticism reigns in the
play, as Martinenche has pointed out; José León and Salomé are not other
than less poetic versions of Hernani and Doña Sol. Paternoy, the spirit
of eternal justice, resembles Orozco of _Realidad_, and still more,
Horacio of _Bárbara_.
The lesson conveyed is that we all live in the midst of lies, and that
salvation is attained only by sincerity and by confession of one's own
free will, not under compulsion. This is an idea familiar to Ibsen and
Tolstoy; the added element, that conditions fit for complete repentance
can be found only after death, is perhaps original. Martinenche thinks
the failure of _Los condenados_ was due to the fact that the Spanish
public was not accustomed to the spiritual drama. But one should
remember that Calderón's _autos_ are both spiritual and symbolic. The
failure was more probably due to faults of form than to any inherent
weakness of theme.
=6.= _=Voluntad=, comedia en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, Dec. 20,
1895. Coldly received. Ran six nights.
_Voluntad_, which contains some good genre scenes in a Madrid petty
store, is meant to show how energy, in the person of a wayward daughter,
can repair the faults of sloth and laxness. But Isidora, who saves her
father's business, can hardly conquer the will of a dreamy idler whom
she loves.
Yet there is no real conflict of wills, only of events, and the lover's
conversion to a useful life by means of poverty is cheap, and the ending
commonplace. On the whole, the stimulating exhortation to will and work
is run into a mold not worthy of it.
Galdós has, in fact, mingled here, with resulting confusion, two themes
which have no necessary connection,--the doctrine of salvation by work,
and the doctrine of the necessary union of complementary qualities.
(Cf. page xxiv.) The latter theory is the central one in _Voluntad_, and
a failure to discern this fact has led critics to some unwarranted
conclusions.
=7.= _=Doña Perfecta=, drama en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Comedia,
Jan. 28, 1896. Adapted from the well-known novel (1876). Successful.
The novel _Doña Perfecta_, one of the best Galdós ever wrote, both as an
artistic story and as a symbol of the chronic particularism of Spain,
has been somewhat weakened in dramatization. The third act is almost
unnecessary, the dénoûment hurried. One misses especially the first two
chapters of the novel, which furnish such a colorful background for the
story. Yet, as a whole, the play gives a more favorable impression of
Galdós' purely theatrical talent than almost any other of his dramas.
The second act, with its distant bugle calls at the end, is one of the
best he ever wrote, and the first is not far behind. It is to be noted
that the motivation, especially in the part of Perfecta, is made much
clearer here than in the novel; the play serves as a commentary and
exegesis to the earlier tale. The gain in clarity is offset, however, by
the loss of the mysterious grandeur which clothes Perfecta in the novel.
There, her reticences speak for her.
=8.= _=La fiera=, drama en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Comedia, Dec.
23, 1896. Coldly received.
_La fiera_ is allied in subject to the _Episodios nacionales_, although
it is not taken from any of them. The year is 1822, the scene, the city
of Urgell, in the Pyrenees, attacked at that moment by the liberals
under Espoz y Mina, and defended by the absolutists. A young liberal spy
is loved by an absolutist baroness, and after numberless intrigues
during which the hero's life is in danger from friends and enemies, he
kills first the leader of the liberals, then the commander of the
fortress, "the two heads of the beast," and the lovers flee toward
regions of peace. As an appeal for tolerance, _La fiera_ is
unexceptionable, and Galdós, the radical, has painted the excesses of
both sides with perfect impartiality. But as a drama, it is an example
of wildly improbable romanticism, and might have been written in the
thirties, except that in that case the comedy element would not be so
insipid as it is, but would have tasted of the pungent realism which was
the virtue of the _best_ romantics. The characters are unconvincing, the
love-story a poor parallel to _Romeo and Juliet_.
=9.= _=Electra=, drama en cinco actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, Jan. 30,
1901. A wild success. A French adaptation made a hit in Paris in 1905.
This "strictly contemporary" drama depicts a contest for the hand and
soul of Electra, an eighteen-year-old girl whose mother was a woman of
dubious life. She loves the young scientist Máximo, but Pantoja, the
religious adviser of the family with whom she stays, believing himself
her father, desires her to enter a convent. Since he cannot otherwise
dissuade her from marriage, he tells her falsely that she is Máximo's
half sister. She cannot be convinced that this is a lie until the spirit
of her mother reassures her.
Concerning _Electra_ and the battle which it excited between radicals
and clericals, one can consult contemporary periodicals, and Olmet y
Carraffa, cap. XIV. Its _estreno_ happened to coincide with a popular
protest against the forced retirement to a convent of a Señorita de
Ubao, and the Spanish public saw in the protagonist a symbol of Spain,
torn between reaction and progress. Consequently, no play of Galdós has
been so unduly praised or so bitterly attacked. Two facts appear to
stand out from the confusion: (1) Galdós did not deliberately trade upon
popular passions, since this play was written before the exciting
juncture of events arose; (2) The enormous vogue of _Electra_, its wide
sale and performance in many European countries, were not justified by
its intrinsic value.
_Electra_ appears now as a drama of secondary importance, with some
cheap effectism, excellent third and fourth acts, and a weakly romantic
ending. The ghost of Eleuteria is less in place than the corresponding
spirits of _Realidad_ and _Casandra_, both because it is unnecessary for
the solution of the plot, and because it is an anachronism in a play
devoted to the eulogy of the modern and the practical. On the other
side, it is clear to an impartial reader that Galdós did not intend an
attack on the clergy, much less an attack on religion. Máximo is careful
to affirm his belief in God. And Pantoja is not the scheming hypocrite
that some have seen in him; he is a man of firm convictions and courage,
sincere in his religious mysticism. Galdós was interested in studying
such a character and in showing that his religion is not of the best
type.
A punning title. Beside the Greek allusion, Máximo's laboratory is a
"taller de electrotecnia."
=10.= _=Alma y vida=, drama en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, April
9, 1902. (Published with an important preface.) _Succès d'estime._
This play is Galdós' vital contribution to the sentiment aroused in
Spain by the Spanish-American war. The heroine, Laura, an invalid
duchess of the late eighteenth century, is ruled by a tyrannical
administrator, until freed by the love of a vigorous young hidalgo. But
the effort of will involved exhausts the delicate girl, and she dies
just as the triumph of her partisans is announced. She was the divine
beauty of the soul; without her there is left only a tyranny of one sort
or another, and evil, injustice, corruption, are perpetuated.
_Alma y vida_ is Galdós' most ambitious attempt to write a literary
symbolic drama on a grand scale. In it he resumes, with Aragonese
stubbornness (to use his own words), the attempt made unsuccessfully in
_Los condenados_, only this time the symbolism is not abstract, but has
a definite application to Spain. The extreme care which Galdós took with
the costumes of the pastoral interlude in the second act, going to Paris
for advice on their historical accuracy, the spectacular and costly
settings, the length of time, four hours, consumed in the performance,
the passages of verse,[13] all demonstrate that Galdós put his full will
into the elaboration of this drama. The result was disappointing.
Audiences were bored, despite their desire to approve. They knew some
symbolism was involved, but could not decide upon its character until
the author solved the problem in his _Prólogo_. He there defended the
vagueness of his play, as more suggestive than clearness, and explained
that _Alma y vida_ symbolizes the decline of Spain, the dying away of
its heraldic glories, and the melancholy which pervades the soul of
Spain; the common people, though possessing reservoirs of strength, are
plunged in vacillation and doubt. The sad ending is the most appropriate
to the national psychology of the time. Warned by _Electra_, he says, he
deliberately avoided popular applause, and sought to gain the approval
of cultured persons.
[Note 13: The first poetry he ever tried to write, according to the
author; but this is denied by Ed. de Lustonó. See _Nuestro Tiempo_,
1902, vol. I, pp. 155 ff.]
Although the pathetic figure of Laura is most affecting, the author did
not fully reach the goal he had set for himself, yet "no mediocre mind
or ordinary imagination could have conceived such vast thoughts."
=11.= _=Mariucha=, comedia en cinco actos._ Barcelona, Teatro Eldorado, July
16, 1903. Given for the first time in Madrid on Nov. 10, 1903. A fair
success, especially in the provinces. The aristocratic portion of the
Madrid public did not like it.
_Mariucha_ carries a moral aimed directly at the Spanish people. Like
_Voluntad_, it preaches firm will and the gospel of labor; like _La de
San Quintín_, it points out a new path which the decayed aristocracy may
follow in order to found a renovated Spain. In the exaltation of
stoicism (V, 4) it resembles _Realidad_. Clericalism does not enter into
the discussion. Instead it is _caciquism_ which Galdós attacks in
passing. The play overflows with daring and optimism; it is like a
trumpet call summoning the Spanish youth to throw off the shackles of
tradition and political tyranny, and to walk freely, confiding in its
own strength. One's best impulses must be followed, no matter what ties
may be broken or what feelings hurt in the process. We recognize here a
favorite doctrine of Ibsen.
_Mariucha_ is not quite so good a drama as its theme deserves. The two
chief characters suffer from the weight of the message they bear, and
are, in fact, rather symbols than characters or even types. The play
possesses, however, many interesting features. One is the fact that the
"good angel" of the play is a priest. His figure proves that Galdós grew
in sympathy for the representatives of religion, if not for bigots, as
he grew older. Another is the protest against thoughtless charity, which
fosters shiftlessness. Galdós gave expression to a different point of
view in _Celia en los infiernos_.
=12.= _=El abuelo=, drama en cinco actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, Feb. 14,
1904. Adapted from the "novela en cinco jornadas" of the same title
(1897). Galdós' greatest public success, next to _Electra_.
In this drama Galdós considers a general problem of inheritance of
character. The aged, poor and nearly blind count of Albrit knows that of
his two granddaughters one is not his son's child. Which? His efforts to
read the characters of the children are vain, and when at last he learns
the truth, it is to realize that the girl of his own race is fickle and
vain while the bastard is generous and devoted. Then his pride knows
that good may come out of evil, that honor lies not in blood, but in
virtue and love.
_El abuelo_ is beyond question Galdós' best play, practically
considered. The plot is simple, the handling of it direct and skilful,
there is no propaganda to interfere with the characters, who are few,
interesting, and admirably drawn. The contrast between the lion of
Albrit (so often compared to King Lear) and the playful children is a
master-stroke. Free from effectism, dealing only with inner values of
the heart and morals, _El abuelo_ can properly rank as one of the
masterpieces of modern drama. Its theme is diametrically opposed to the
traditional Spanish conception of family honor (cf. _Realidad_), and so
its popularity at home is a sign that Galdós was able to educate his
public to some extent.
In condensing the dialoged novel to a drama, Galdós made a number of
alterations in character and action, and all, in our opinion, for the
better. Nevertheless, Manuel Bueno says: "Prefiero, sin embargo, la
novela. Me llena más."
=13. _Bárbara_=, _tragicomedia en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español,
March 28, 1905. Coolly received.
The overshadowing figure of this drama is Horacio, governor of Syracuse
in 1815, who "entertains the idle moments of his tyranny modeling out of
human wickedness the ideal statue of justice." He forces the countess
Barbara, who stabbed her brutal husband, to marry the latter's brother,
instead of a chivalrous and mystical Spaniard whom she loves, and who is
blamed for the murder. How does such an outcome represent ideal justice?
It seems to teach that unhappiness, caused by oppression, must not
provoke any effort for freedom on the part of the victims. Revolt must
be punished and expiated. Letter is placed above spirit, and the theme
is repeated often: "There is no change, no reform possible in the world.
All things must return to their first state." How to reconcile such
doctrine with the body of Galdós' work?
These considerations nonplussed contemporary audiences and critics, and
caused Martinenche to regard the play as an "ironique divertissement,"
intended to demonstrate that "Galdós' art was supple and objective
enough to set forth an idea apparently at variance with the general
inspiration of his theater." Such an explanation would be in harmony
with Galdós' favorite custom of balancing one argument against another,
but perhaps _Bárbara_ may be interpreted in the light of _Los
condenados_, where also penance for both lovers was insisted upon. In
the ideal justice, it makes no difference whether the crime committed is
against oppression or against liberty. In the latter case, punishment
assumes the form of a liberal revolt; in the former, it appears
reactionary. This is why Galdós, holding the balance even, with the
impartiality which is the root of his character, seems in _Bárbara_ to
advocate a static philosophy, whereas in most of his work he is the
liberal whom Spain, a backward nation, needed.
In any case, _Bárbara_ is a fascinating, enigmatic play, too elevated
ever to be popular, but one which, on account of its closely studied
characters, delicate motivation and suggestive ideas ought always to be
a favorite among the thoughtful. No other play arouses greater respect
for Galdós as an original creator.
=14. _Amor y ciencia_=, _comedia en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la
Comedia, Nov. 7, 1905. Coldly received.
The redemption of an erring woman is a frequent dramatic theme, from the
Romantic era to the present. _Malvaloca_, of the brothers Quintero,
presents it, as does Palacio Valdés' novel _Tristán_, with a plot and
spirit not unlike that of _Amor y ciencia_. Here, love and science are
forces which together heal and redeem the soul of Paulina, the repentant
wife of a famous physician. Once more, as in _Realidad_, and as in
_Tristán_, we are shown a husband who pardons. But here the treatment of
the theme lacks vitality, and the abstract idea is not beautified by the
veil of poetry which gives charm to _Los condenados_, _Alma y vida_, and
_Sor Simona_.
=16. _Pedro Minio_=, _comedia en dos actos._ Madrid, Teatro Lara, Dec. 15,
1908. A fair success.
Galdós' only real comedy is distinctly a minor play, with a languid
second act. The scene is laid in a wonderfully perfect Old Folks' Home.
The hero is an inmate, once a jolly liver and spendthrift, who still
enjoys every moment, while as a foil to him is placed a wealthy
money-grubber, who at forty is ridden with a dozen plagues. There is
much quiet humor, and some obvious symbolism,--perhaps also some not so
obvious. That reformed profligates wish to restrict the pleasures of
others, while the blameless allow them harmless freedom; that the
money-seeker meets with torment, while the generous spender lives
happily; that "peace, fraternity and innocent love of life are all God
has given humanity, to make its passage through the world less painful";
these are the plain morals. It is thus united in spirit with Galdós'
latest work. But the form in which this lesson is conveyed is not
calculated to encourage a life of productive toil.
=16. _Zaragoza_,"= _"drama lírico en cuatro actos; música del maestro D.
Arturo Lapuerta._ Saragossa, Teatro Principal, June 4, 1908.
This opera, only the libretto of which has ever been published, was
given four nights during the centennial celebration of the siege of
Saragossa, and was never performed elsewhere. The book is a mere
scenario of the well-known _Episodio nacional_, and contains practically
no spoken lines. It cannot be judged without the music. The chorus of
citizens is the protagonist.
=17. _Casandra_=, _drama en cuatro actos_. Madrid, Teatro Español, Feb.
28, 1910. Adapted from the "novela en cinco jornadas" of the same name,
1905. The occasion of hot political demonstrations.
_Casandra_ is frankly anti-clerical, but with an Olympian irony, not
bitterness. The central figure is an aged, childless widow, whose
enormous wealth is eagerly awaited by a host of distant relatives. She
changes her mind, and starts to give away her property to the Church,
with natural disappointment to the heirs. Casandra, not an heir, but the
mistress of an illegitimate son of Doña Juana's husband, is a woman
without money-interest, but Doña Juana's desire to deprive her of her
children and lover stirs her to stab the aged bigot. The novel is
admirably genial, full of convincing characters and pregnant thoughts;
the play much changed, and inferior to it. It teaches that Dogmatism is
sterile and only Love is fertile. Only Love is powerful enough to drive
away the specter that oppresses Spain. Unconscious well-doing alone
aids humanity, not ostentatious aristocratic charity. It is doubtful if
the elaborate allegory suggested by R. D. Perés (see above, p. xxii,
note 1) was intended by Galdós.
=18. _Celia en los infiernos_=, _comedia en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro
Español, Dec. 9, 1913. Successful.
The story of a beautiful, good-hearted marchioness who, being an orphan,
comes at the age of twenty-three into the free management of her
enormous property. She soon becomes disgusted with society life, and,
accompanied by an elderly confidant, disguises herself as a peasant
girl, and visits the infernal regions of the slums, partly to learn how
the other half lives, and partly to learn the fate of some former
servants. After interviewing don Pedro Infinito, a half-demented
astrologer and employment agent, who furnishes the best scene and the
most interesting character in the play, they inspect a rag-picking
factory. Celia buys it and promises to establish profit-sharing and
old-age pensions, if all the workers will live decently. The project is
hailed with delight, and the benefactress returns to her heaven. The rag
factory is a symbol of Nature: "Nothing dies, nothing is lost; what we
abandon as useless is reborn and again has a part in our existence."
Only _silk rags_, the refuse of elegant things, are of no further use.
The plot of _Celia en los infiernos_ is romantically commonplace. In
dramatic interest each act is weaker than the one before. The slums
shown here would never appal an unaccustomed visitor. Moreover, Galdós
abets in _Celia_ the vice of ill-considered charity which he condemned
in _Mariucha_. Decidedly, the author's heart got the better of his
intelligence in this play.
=19. _Alceste_=, _tragicomedia en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la
Princesa, April 21, 1914. _Succès d'estime._
The sacrifice of Queen Alceste, who dies in place of her husband,
Admetus, was used for a drama by Euripides, and from his have been
drawn many later plays, as well as a famous opera by Gluck. In his
Preface Galdós details the changes which he introduced into the story,
so many that his plot and characters may almost be considered original.
Galdós has abandoned the surpassing lyric quality of the Greek, so far
removed from his own genius, and set the theme down into a key of
everyday humanity, at times half humorous. The figure of the queen has
lost at his hands its poignant tenderness, but Admetus has gained in
dignity, and the dramatic movement is much heightened. The realistic
visualization of Pherés and Erectea, Admetus' selfish parents, the
excision of the buffoonery in the rôle of Hercules, who restores the
queen to life, are excellent adaptations to modern taste. Galdós'
_Alceste_, mingling comedy and pathos with singular charm, power, and
discretion, must henceforth take its place among superior modern
interpretations of the story, beside Alfieri's severely dignified
_Alceste seconda_ (1798). _Balaustrion's Adventure_ (1871) by Robert
Browning is hardly more than a rude paraphrase of Euripides.
=20.= _=Sor Simona=, drama en tres actos y cuatro cuadros._ Madrid, Teatro
Infanta Isabel, Dec. 1, 1915. Received with applause, but soon
withdrawn.
The action takes place during the last Carlist war (1875) in Aragonese
villages. Sister Simona is a runaway nun, thought slightly demented, who
devotes herself to nursing the wounded of the war. She attempts to save
the life of a young Alfonsist spy by declaring him her own son. This
serves only to destroy her reputation for saintliness, and the situation
is suddenly saved by an offer to exchange prisoners.
It will be seen that there is, properly speaking, no plot, and the
ending is full of improbabilities. Once more Galdós, with characteristic
persistence, has used the justifiable lie, which failed so signally in
_Los condenados_. The work is saved by its poetic atmosphere and by the
spiritual central figure. Charity is not to be imprisoned in convents;
it is as free as the divine breath that moves the planets. God is
reached by good works; the only fatherland worth fighting for is
humanity; the only king, mankind. These are the teachings of _Sor
Simona_. Her name is to be connected with Simon Peter, the cornerstone
of the Church of Christ.
=21.= _=El tacaño Salomón=, comedia en dos actos._ Madrid, Teatro Lara, Feb.
2, 1916. (Sub-title, _Sperate miseri_.)
The scene is the modest home of a Madrid engraver who earns good wages,
but is victimized by all who appeal to him for help. Stingy Salomón is
sent him by a wealthy brother in Buenos Aires to assist his want if he
will reform and acquire thrift. The engraver proves incorrigible, but,
through his brother's death, receives the money nevertheless.
The play is of the same type as _Celia en los infiernos_, but is less
interesting and even more improbable. In a way it is a complement to
_Pedro Minio_, which taught the beauties of an open and generous life,
while _El tacaño Salomón_ appears to preach thrift. But the author has
hard work to become enthusiastic over that virtue, and at the close
quite lets it slip away from him. Both _Celia_ and the present play are
the work of a man who has despaired of accomplishing any good in society
by logical and practical means, and resorts to the illusions of a child
dreaming of a fairy godmother.
=22.= _=Santa Juana de Castilla=, tragicomedia en tres actos._ Madrid,
Teatro de la Princesa, May 8, 1918.
A picture of the old age and death of Juana la Loca, the daughter of the
Catholic Kings, and widow of Philip the Handsome. The Queen's mad
passion for Philip is barely mentioned, her figure is idealized, and she
is made a symbol of humility, self-effacement, and love for the humble.
Closely guarded by a harsh agent of her son Charles V, she escapes for a
day to a country village, where she talks in a friendly way with the
peasants, discussing their problems with a simplicity which conceals
much wisdom. To those who wish to use her name as a standard to restore
the power of the common people, she insists that she desires nothing
but darkness and silence in which to end her days. She had been
suspected of heresy, because she read Erasmus, but the Jesuit Francisco
de Borja, a man of saintly life, is with her at her death, and bears
witness that her faith is untainted and that she will receive in the
bosom of God the reward for her many sufferings.
As far back as 1907 Galdós was deeply interested in the life of this
wretched Queen: "No hay drama más intenso que el lento agonizar de
aquella infeliz viuda, cuya psicología es un profundo y tentador enigma.
¿Quién lo descifrará?"[14] In his interpretation of her last moments,
Galdós has made the figure of the Queen vaguely symbolic of present-day
Spain, like Laura of _Alma y vida_. But she embodies still more the soul
of the aged author, blind, feeble, living in silence and obscurity,
absorbed in contemplation of approaching death.
[Note 14: _Prólogo_ to J. M. Salaverría: _Vieja España_, p. xxxiv;
Madrid, 1907.]
The construction of the play is flawless, of diaphanous simplicity, the
dialog is pure and brief, the characters are delicately outlined in a
few sure touches. "A mournful, somber triptych," says Luis Brun of its
three acts, "the central panel of which is lit by a ray of light." An
atmosphere of serene melancholy broods over this admirable drama,
fitting close to the career of a well-poised spirit.