THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES: SPAIN
The Drama still Brilliant: Moratin. Historians and Philosophers,
Novelists, Orators.
THE DRAMA. Since the middle of the seventeenth century, approximately,
Spain has exercised less literary influence than in the preceding
centuries. Nevertheless Spanish literature was not extinct; it was in the
drama more especially that it was manifest. Candamo, Cañizares, and
Zamora all illumined the stage. Candamo devoted himself to the historical
drama; his masterpiece in this type was _The Slave in Golden Chains_;
Cañizares, powerful satirist, displayed the comic spirit in his comedies
of character; Zamora manipulated the comedy of intrigue with remarkable
dexterity. Then came Vincente de la Huerta, skilful in combining the type
of French tragedy with something of the ancient dramatic national genius;
then Leandro Moratin (called Moratin the Younger to distinguish him from
his father Nicholas), very imitative, no doubt, of Molière, but in
himself highly gifted, and of whose works can still be read with pleasure
_The Old Man and the Young Girl_, _The New Comedy on the Coffee_, _The
Female Hypocrite_, etc. He also wrote lyrical poems and sonnets. He lived
long in France, where he became impregnated with Gallic classical
literature.
PROSE.--Stronger and more brilliant at that period than the poetry, the
prose was represented by Father Florez, author of _Ecclesiastical Spain_;
by the Marquis de San Phillipo, author of the _War of Succession in
Spain_; by Antonio de Solis, author of _The Conquest of Mexico_. In
fiction there was the interesting Father Isla, a Jesuit, who gave a
clever imitation of the _Don Quixote_ of Cervantes in his _History of the
Preacher Friar Gerund_. He was well read and patriotic. He was convinced
that Le Sage had taken all his _Gil Blas_ from various Spanish authors,
and he published a translation of his novel under the title: _The
Adventures of Gil Blas of Santiago, stolen from Spain and adopted in
France by M. Le Sage, restored to their country and native tongue by
a jealous Spaniard who will not endure being laughed at_. Another Jesuit
(and it may be noticed that Spanish Jesuits of the seventeenth century
often displayed a very liberal and modern mind), Father Feijoo, wrote a
kind of philosophical dictionary entitled _Universal Dramatic Criticism_,
a review of human opinions which was satirical, humorous, and often
extremely able. The historian Antonio de Solis, who was also a reasonably
capable dramatist, produced a _History of the Conquest of South America
Known under the name of New Spain_, in a chartered style that was very
elegant and even too elegant. Jovellanos wrote much in various styles.
Among others he wrote one fine tragedy, _Pelagia_; a comedy presenting
clever contrasts, entitled _The Honorable Criminal_; a mass of studies on
the past of Spain, economic treatises, satires, and pamphlets. Engaged in
all the historical and political vicissitudes of his country, he expired
miserably in 1811, after having been alternately in exile and at the head
of affairs.
ROMANTICISM.--In the nineteenth century Spanish romanticism was brought
back in dignified poetic style by Angel Saavedra, José Zorilla, Ventura
de la Vega, Ramon Campoamor, Espronceda. The latter especially counts
among the great literary Spaniards, for he was poet and novelist, who
wrote _The Student of Salamanca_ (Don Juan), _The Devil World_ (a kind of
Faust), lyrical poems, and an historical novel, _Sancho Saldano_.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.--In drama, _Quintana_ also produced a _Pelagia_;
the Duke of Rivas a _Don Alvaro_, which enjoyed an immediate success;
Zorilla a _Don Juan_ entirely novel in conception; Martinez de la Rose
tragedies, some in the classic vein, others with modern intrigue and
comedies; Gutierrez, by his _Foundling_, attracted the attention of
librettists of French operas; Breton de los Herreros wrote sparkling
comedies, the multiplicity of which suggest Scribe. In prose, Fernan
Caballero was a fertile novelist and an attentive and accurate painter of
manner. Trueba (who was also an elegant poet) was an affecting idyllic
novelist. Emilio Castelar, the Lamartine of Spain as he was called by
Edmond About, was a splendid orator, thrown by the chances of political
life for one hour at the head of national affairs, who raised himself to
the highest rank in the admiration of his contemporaries by his novels:
for instance, _The Sister of Charity_ and his works on philosophical
history and the history of art, _Civilisation in the First Centuries of
Christianity_, _The Life of Byron_, _Souvenirs of Italy_, etc. In our
day, there have been numerous distinguished authors (and for us, at
least, out of the crowd stands forth the dramatist José Echegaray), who
carry on the glorious tradition of Spanish literature.