Characterization in the plays of Jacinto Benavente
Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Authors Owen, Marie, 1908-
Publisher The University of Arizona.
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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553377 CHARACTERI&ATIOK IN THE PLAYS OF JACINTO BENAYENTE
by
Marie Owen
A Thesis
submitted to the faculty of the
Department of Spanish
In partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
In the Graduate College
University of Arizona
1938
<^v
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The writer gratefully acknowledges
the helpful guidance of
Dr, Helen S. Nicholson
in the preparation of this thesis.
Si6»55 t m m of m m m m
IHfEOWCTIOH
CHAPTER I - BMAVEHTE^ 5 POSSESSION OF THE KHOT/LEDGE
OF HTOUH NATURE
CHAPTER II • THE EXPRESSION OF THIS KHOWLSSOE IH
CHARACTERIZ ATIOII CHAPTER III - THE PLACE OF CHARACTERIZATION III HIS
dramatic m m m m
C01CISSI0H bibliography
F O O T H O m ggAMCfSBXZAfIOH IH THE PLAYS OF JACIIfO BSHAVESEB
I# Beaa7ente,8 posstssion of the knowledge of human nature A. AsBtmption from his training and experience
B, Statements of .the oritios concerning
1. His possession of knowledge
2* Bealism of his plays r
3. Characterization inplays G* Mteamry theories of author
II. Expression of this knowledge in charaoteriaationin
A. Dramas of provincial andKadrifi aristocracy •
B. Dramas of middle class
C. Dramas of lower class
D. Rural drama E. Fanciful drama
III. Place of characterization in his dramatic technique
A* Importance of dialogue
B. Suhordination of plot IBflOWCflQl
It is our purpose to show in this thesis that the sue- oess @f the eonteoporary Spanish dramatist, Jaeikto Eehavente who was awsraed the Eohel prime for literature in 1522, la flue to his power in characterisation, and that this power springs from his knowleflg# of h u # h mature# la order to prove this thesis, the writer has react thirty-nine of Benaventef s plays and seventy-nine erltieal articles or hooks on the playwright. It would be impossible to treat all the plays rcafl in a work of this kina, because of which we have chosen to deal with twenty of the play# which we feel are representative of the author1s work. After proving that Benavente possesses a knowledge of human nature, we shall analyze these twenty plays in order to show that that characterization is the main factor in Benavente’s dra matic technique and is therefore the basis of his success as a dramatist. CHAPTER I
BEHAYEHTE* S POSSESSION OF THE K50T/LEDGE OF
e m m ^ m t s i b
To say that any man poEBeaseB a knowledge of human na ture 1b to make a rather broad statement, but it is neverthe less a statement whleh we oan make without hesitation eon- eerning Jaointo Bemvente. We base this opinion on three factors: the assumption of Benavente *s knowledge of human- nature which may be derived from our aeqmaInterne# with his training and experience, his knowledge of human nature as attested by the critics who have had the boldness iosjBritl~< else the works of a contemporary, and his knowledge of human nature as shown by some of his own statements regarding dra matic authorship• ■ / / Angel lasero perhaps gives us the most comprehensive account of Jacinto Benavente*e life, a knowledge eoneernlng which is absolutely esseatial to us for a complete under standing of the dramatist*s attitude toward and insight into the lives of his fellow beings*V Jacinto Benavente was born on August 12, 1866, in Ma drid, where he has lived practically all his life. His par ents belonged to the upper middle class, his father being a prominent doctor who specialized in children’s diseases. Some knowledge of the father will help us to understand the
X ' '' son* Of Bemvente * s father lazaro writes:
Gueatan qua su vida de estudlante fue «un poema de sufrimlentos, de prlwelones, de constancia y.de trahajo;), Estudlo en 'las bibliotecas p^blieas— »dloen #%e hld- grafos— ; llegtf haeta copiar los libros de text© por carecer de recureos para cop- tinuar sue estudlos; desde el segundo ano slrrio de profeeor a bus conaiBofpulos en el repaso de las asignaturas del ourso* Por fin llego< el preal© fue aereelaa su talento y eu woluntad. Turo la recompensa oflcial y el carino popular. 2n su gestion oomo mlembro de la Real Academia de Medial- na y del Cuerpo PacultativodeBenefieencIa Provincial, se distlnguld' freeuentemente en debates inlclativas. Posela dotes muy no tables de esorlter eientlfleo. Cuando murlS, los ninos de la Benefi- cenola cubrieron de flores su fdretro, y hoy tlene un senclllo mohumehto en Madrid- en un grato rinedn del Barque del Retire. Don Mariano Benavente’s influence on his son must have been great indeed. When Jacinto was a child, his father did
not leave Jacinto’s and his other two eons’ training entire
ly in the hands of his teachers, but personally directed and
supervised then.
«En eso y en nueetra instruecicn— ha dicho el dramaturge— intervenla directamen- te; no nos dejaba a mercefl de los maestros. Se preocupaba de todo. Jamas nos pegd. Bien es verdad quo al reprendernos lo M e l a eon ana cara y anas palabras, y en un ton# de tan imponente seriedad qua no quedaban r; ganas de repliear ni de reineidlr.^ Annie Russell Marble says: His father was a prominent
physician and the boy had a stimulating home environment.4
Jacinto Benavente’s devotion to his mother formed the 3 greatest l@Te of hi® llf#» It was she who shared his disap pointments and his triumphs. When interviewed hy Josef Marfa
Carreterb in 1922, Benavente gave evidence of his feeling for h#r* , - - - '-r.. ' ... %- . :... ■ — dCuales son eus mas granges amoresf ——Mi maflre y xina ahl jadita qne tengo allif en el puehlo, en Aiae&eabah@;§‘ ; .
Of his mother Benafente has said:
maflre*».pensah'a' -cee - el eerehre 4e ml ^dre, al que idolatraha, y si tenfa sm® ietoeIones fue portae a mi padre„no se le oeurrid irisinuar q,ue las dejara.6
Since Benavente came from a home in which conjugal love was strong* it is somewhat odd that such a lore was not sought after and experienced by the dramatist. Perhaps we have in this enigma, just as we have many years before in the chiId*s rebellion against going to mass and later against be ing a conscientious law student, an indication of his tenden cy to make his own decisions and to lire his life in a manner wholly suited to his owe desires, without regard for the opin ions of others. This attitude may be due in part to the 1m- fluence of the director of the Colegio de San Jose, don Carlo# de Miguel, who, according to Angel Xazaro, ”no era uno de esos 0 ■ maestrom terribles qua exigen la lecoion al pie de la letra, y propinan un palraetazo al educando cada vez que este omits ana eflaba del texto aprendido de memorla.n7 Lazaro further states: Benavente conserva gratfalmo recuerdo 4
tie aquel maestro. Explicate amablemente la leeelde, a»ealsMati®la con aneedotas y ame- nas tilvagaclones, proeurantio captarse la , slmpatfa y el carlno tie sae tiiscjCpulos,8 This master tioubtlees encouraged hts students to think for
themselves, anti one of the results is manifested in Benaven- te*s being one of the leaders of the nGeneration of 1898".
This group mas comprised of the young intellectuals of Spain, who, after seeing their country deprived of her colonial pos
sessions in the Hew Y/orld in 1898, were characterized by an
earnest spirit of self-analysis and revolt. Aubrey P. G.
Bell la his Contemporary Spanish literature says that they . were determined to do away with everything that savoured of hollow pretence and to make war on all surface values. He goes on to say: ■ >:/■ : Stripping away the pomp of rhetoric and conventional or hollow-sounding phrases, they made a cult of intellect and wor shipped thin lines and outlines, the art of El Greco, the primitive poets.9 George T. Horthup writes:
Haturally each author has his own idea as to what constitutes good writing; but all are united in the belief that the worst vices of Spanish writing, careless impro visation and pompous.inflation, should be avoided. In this respect there has been a sharp break with the past. They also avoid literary esnaBollsmo. Spanish writers, they feel, should be free to seek inspira tion abroad. Many of the group became mod ernists. Two main trends should be ^pted. First, the tendency toward precioslte in the poets following the lead of auodn Ba rf o, and in prose-writer® like Valle-InclanV Second, the reaction toward simplicity, of which the poetry of Juan Eamon Jimenez af fords the most striking example. Benavente, s
Azorlk, and Pfo Baroja -Bh'ow. a modern @#a* t«»ft for patterns. In general, they be- - H a v e that a play or novel should take the in haphazard course of the average human life.
Benaventels leadership In this group, according to John S®r- rett Underhill, the most -widely known English translator of
Jacinto Benavente?e plays, was responsible for the play wright’s coming into prominence.^ ^Evidently, then, Bena vente fs characteristic of unbiased and independent thinking was to play an important part in his acquisition of the know ledge of human nature that was to'-1 stand him in such good stead as a playwright. . ; : ' . ■; ';'1:'V, - ■ Between the years of twelve and fifteen* Benavente' learned three languages$ $>ench, English, and Italian. Years later he studied German.12 This knowledge of languages e- quipped him to. make a study of peoples and literatures which added to his estimate of the dominant characteristics of human nature.
As to his formal education, Billy Tante writes:
He studied law with little enthusiasm at the Wiveneity of Madrid until the death of his father, immediately whereupon he left the University without completing his course and traveled thru France, Germany, and fiusaia aa manager of a circus. It is said that he even enjoyed performing in the ring occasion ally. Since that period he has continued to travel extensively and is familiar with the language, customs, and literature of all.the countries of western Europe and America. Underhill writes:
As a young man he entered the Universi ty of Madrid and there studied law, without. s
however, completing the course. But no routine study fixed his attention. In par- .ticular, he was avid of intercourse with persons of all sorts and; conditions, es- . pecially with those whose lives were un couth and primitive in their surroundings, and who were simple and childlike in na ture, where the heert was never very far beneath:the surface and the emotions in- gemmeus and strong.*^ ; - .. With awkespeare and Moli^re as his masters, Benayente*s reading has been wide. lewis E. Brett writes: Shakespeare and Hollere have influenced;him more than lope and Calderon. Hie most i®- mediate models have, likewise; been European , rather than Spanish: Ibsen, Bjornson and, particularly in his d^but, Erench writers . • like Lavedan, Bdrinay and Captis. Ernest Boyd quotes Baroja to say that "Benavente got his inspiration from Shake speare, Husse t, and the French dramatists of his;timen.16 Benavente himself, in the inter view held with him by Carretero from which we have already quoted, says that Shakespeare is among his models.
— Cuando comenzo usted a escrlblr para el teatro, &que autores le gustaban mds? . 17 . — Shakespeare, Echegaray y algunos mas.
Sr. Julius Broute and Ernest Eerlmee refer to Benaven te rs study of the European stage.
Jacinto Benavente underwent a solid preparation before eventually launching out as a dramatic author. Hot only did he study conscientiously the foreign stage for years, up to the point of acquiring a know ledge , the solidity of which has probably been exoelied by no one in Spain, but he even became an actor and lived perpetually amidst theatrical surroundings, taking part in the pilgrimages of one and another of those nomadic companies which, as in Shake speare's times, journeyed from town to f
village throughout the eouBtrj,^-8
Ho is certainly indebted to foreign Sratna, whieh he knows well (he has tranBlated works of Shakespeare a M Holierel^ 'ba.t his own manner is very personal, and quite ih- ; .. imitahlell# , - ^ _ ,
Beeause of Shi* wide reading rather than in spite of it, Ben&vente is amazingly original. Prank Tf. Chandler expresses his opinion in this respect. y i The most stimulating and artistic of mod-. ern Spanish playwrights is Jacinto Bene- vente y Martinez. His contribution is hoith varied and original.' In it he de- parts from tradition and> expresses.him self with refreshing independence.
Concerning his individuality, Thomas H. Dloklnson says $
. With Bemvente Spanish drama definitely enters the world .field with head high. Benavente is first of all a cosmopolitan. Few men have heeh snh ject: to as wide a body of influences as he. Few have em ployed their influences witiL greater strength and individuality.
So important is the quality of originality that some critics have gone so far as to call it his chief character istic. Aurelio M, EspinosaWrites:
. In them may already be seen his chief characteristic, originality. He abandoned the beaten path of Ectiegaray. and of the :: nineteenth centxiry dramat'ietsV and he in troduced intg„Spain the: drama of modern social life.22
Williams Haynes joins his opinion to the foregolmglm acclaiming Benavonte's originality.
It would, however, be grossly unfair even to infer that Jacinto Benavente is an imi tator of Shaw. He is not even a disciple* -But there are very obvious similarities In the dialogue and technique of their plays. 8
anti the differences in their artistic ac tives and moral ideals are chiefly due to their different.environments anti national tradition®* It is most convenient, there fore, to compare these two great individu alists, although to compare; an unknown— and Benavente is all but unknown in America— with a known like Shaw, about whom such de batable opinions are so stoutly maintained,; is a critical device fraught with dangers of injustice. It demands at the outset fullest appreciation-of BenaventeTs robust originality, and it makes necesmry th# clearest possible definition of each be®!® of comparison,2® • . . ; Frederico de Onfs says:
Bio®* influences [of French, school] . may exist * and there is, beyond a doubt, a similarity between Benavente and other contemporary dramatists* as is invaria bly the case with writers of the same epoch; but the originality, the strength, the richness and variety of Benavente*8 Y/ork are such as to make it doubtful whether his equal exists in contemporary dramatic literature.^4
Gonzalez-Blanco says:
~Wmwm anos de fiebre de lectura y de prirae- ros tanteos, los que van de 1885 a 1892, en que Benavente se reeogloeaudal de culture y de vida para saturar sus ohras de os® con- tagioao calor de humanldad.^
Yet, as we may have concluded by Underhill’s foregoing reference to Benavente1 a interest in people, the playwright’s independent thinking, wide reading, and originality, although important, are not the primary factors in his acquisition of the knowledge of human nature, but rather his keen observation of the life and the people around him is more directly respon sible for this acquisition. Alexander Green says that Beoa-
▼eate is "Interested in everything and disturbed at nothing".** t
HartinezSierra goes further when he says:
Digo que. las oualldades que forman sii taleate son susceptihles fle cualquler pe- 'ealiar aSaptaeiiiu'' " ee» ellee? la ^•Iwira de Sodas: clarldad asonhrosa fle en» . ‘ tenaiaiento; pocas personas hay que com- prenaan tan pronto y tan M e n como Jacinto Benavente; dirlase que salts desde el pan to inicial a la conclusion* sin proceso de adtividad intermedia; hablar con el es el mejor Seecanso del espfritu: no neoesi- ta demeetraei@«@« , Compreride con la vista, = aua sinJieOesiftad de que la palabra llegme a sus olios. ”Te venir* las Ideas, loe aconteolmiemtos..#y a las personas. For see le asoobran pocas cosas, y si algunas le duelen, como a cada hijo de veclno* eu- pong© que no le' sorpreMe ninguna.27 — todo el mundo es su huert# y_teda la literatura del mundo su jardin.28 Respecto de exceleneias adquiridas,ponga- ®os ea primer lugar una eztensa y hien a- proveehada cultura. Benavente no es tin ermdito#..af©rtunada»ente; no es un huma- nista, per© es un vagahundo tapederaii© de • todos los caoinos, eendas, huertos, iar- dlaes, selvas, y aun estufas del eapiritu human©. Es tins, de las pocas intellgencias que en la EspaBa actual tienea perfeetamea- te trazado y eompreadldo el mapa, el es- quema, el cuadro sin6pticof o como quiera llamarse, del proceso intelectual y emo- oional del mundo.29
Isaac Goldherg says:
Oaee again, like Baroja, he produces the impreeeion of a man who has sat down upon the Banks of life to watch the stream flow by. 30
Frank W. Chandler says: Although Benavente he a master of iro ny, he is surely not a pessimist expressing "even in his earliest satiric plays the discordant note of bitter disillusion." %e is rather a keen observer ©emmemtlmg upon life agreeably and wisely, and imbued 10
with faith in the possibility of making it finer*31. . - : ;
X. A. Warren and John Van Horne also speak of Benrreii- te's keen observation. .‘ ■. :■
Benavente, an observant and analytical m ® , is a late development in literature; he has experience of life, and observing the way ef the world, sees that the wicked flourish; he is no spontaneous product of a primitive- minded society, but the ripe fruit of a so ciety decadent and corrupt.®2
However, the later periods of his career give evidence of ever-expanding powers and of increasing versatility. The early type of play does not disappear, but it becomes only one of a number of different genres, all of which are connected by their author's keenness ef observation, fidelity to life, genius for irony and universal human in* ■ : Ssrost»S8 : . .. .
Another factor which deserves to be mentioned because of its having helped to shape the trend of Benavente’s thinking, is his nocturnal life, especially as a young man*
In the nocturnal life of the Madrid cafes and greenrooms, where he spent hie youth, and which be wisely deserted as the years went on, he sharpened his wits and learned the swiftness and brilliance of a dialogue in which there is much of Shaw?o subtlety and of Barrie's sparkle.®* Although the cafd' life may have been at least to some extent discontinued, the fact remains that Benavente has continuea to lead a nocturnal life. He has been likened to Thomas A.
Edison in his sleeping habits.®6 Benavente himself speaks of this habit.
— Por lo regular, l cuantas horas a- costumbra listed a iorelrf — Pocas. Generalmente, cuatro, y mu- chas temporadas, s^lo dos. 11
-«eSiitoncee se. acuesta > ueted nray tarde? — S£, hago la vifla. fle noohe ; por Benavente^s travel throughout many of the countries of &irope, of Horth and South America,, and even in Egypt'has afforded him more than a fen opportunities to see life at close range outside his native Madrid. Walter Starkie says that "he trmvelled In foreigi countries in order to learn • # 1 ' ' ' ' ■ " • ' other languages and assimilate new ideas,1,37 Annie Russell Marble says that "he has travelled widely, seeing his plays performed and making friends in Russia, England, South America, and the Waltel States"*^0 Concerning his travel, Lewis 1* Brett writes: ^ It is not surprising, therefore, that when left independent by his father's death in 1885 he renounoed bis law course, first to travel in England, France and Russia, where it is said that.he served as circus manager, later to become a prolific playwright, who could fill on occasion the rdle of actor and director. In 1922, while on a trium phal tour of both Americas, he was awarded the Motel prise for literature, and on his return he received a great public tribute at Madrid as "prfnoipe de los modernos in- genioe espe&oles". He had already been e- lected to the Academy (1912),39 It is intere#ti% to note that many of the critics speak of Benavente as having been an actor as well as a playwright. However, although as a very young boy he played at acting,4^ and although he himself said he would have preferred to be a great actor,41 the fact remains, as is pointed out by Frederic© 12 6e On£s, that his acting experience ie negligible* Benavente is now fifty-six years old. Already strange tales have begun to circu late abroad about him, which tend to make him a legendary sort of figure. It is said that he began his career as a clown and ac tor, and from these humble beginnings as cended to a more respectable social position on the ladder of his literary triumphs. It must be known, in the interest of truth, that Benavente has never W e n a profession al actor* If occasionally he has appeared on the stage it has been as an amateur, and— be it also said in the interests of truth— without striking success.^ Even though this observation be somewhat beside our main point, it does bring out the fact that Benavente did, if only to a limited extent, mix with circus and theatrical people and, learning of them, add one more bit to the store of his knowledge of human nature. Thomas H. Dickinson quotes Bena vente as saying that in clowns you have "all the epic of human laughter from Aristophanes to Courtellne".43 He have considered, up to date, Jacinto Benavente*s home environment, his education and wide reading, his travel and subsequent association with people of many classes and typos, and his keen observation and independent thinking. From a knowledge of these things, we feel It safe to assume that even at a very early age the man*s astounding insight into human nature was in the process of formation, for the factors just mentioned could not but be broadening in their effect. " - ■ ; - - ■ ; Let us now go one step further in supporting our point 13 that Jacinto Benavente floes possess a remarkable knowledge of human nature* Aid this support v/e shall find in the state- meats of the critics. Benaventeto knowledge of human nature is attested by the critics in their statements that he has the knowledge, that he makes his plays realistic, anfl that he represents his characters as being neither wholly good nor wholly bad. fhe critics1 general statements regarding BenaventeTe knowledge of human nature are many and varied. John Van Horne, of the University of Illinois, sayst Hush intercourse with varied types of peo ple has supplied him with the knowledge of human nature evident in his dramatic pro- • [email protected] ...... -;v ' v' _ ■ . - . It is a genuine comfort to find that the scientific observer of human nature, the man who can make acute comments on the most diversified subjects, can occasional ly, give way to a noble passion, and even to a pardonable prejudice; not too often, but just often enough to prove that he is human. One cannot turn away from Bena vente without feeling that he has been en riched by communion with a master spirit and benefited by association.with a.broad, clear-thinking, sympathetic natureV46 John Garrett Underhills ^ ^ ^ Although a performance may be visualized from the printed page, the effect of the performance cannot be felt, too many ima ginative and constructive processes inter vene, yet these effects of the unwritten setlon are precisely those in which true drama lies. tPo disengage them and endow them with ea emotional language of their own, through coherence of mood, is to open up new reaches in the theatre. This is done by Benavente through the cre&tlea of an unwritten plot, which is founded upon the bread truths of human nature, which z 14 are universal, so common to all experl we as to be sensed from the.situations, like a pervading presence...46 • Benavente1s theory of art, as well as his philosophy of life, were fully developed before he began to write, and have undergone since mo fundamental change, but here we encounter the master of the t eatre, of the heart and [IE. In another magazine article, entitled "Benavente as a Modern" Underhill statesi In Benavente there is a strangely insin uating quality which is never absent; he seems invariably to be subjective, and without visible means, or-the mppearmae# of doing so, to turn his characters inside out, and to view them with us from all sides at once, andTat the same time to see through them.48 is the most versatile of dramatists* This is not only true upon the technical side, but in the extraordinary range and complexity of human feeling and motive which is invariable throughout his theatre....But he was born with the gift of character, of penetration into man's mind, insight. He always displays an un usual faculty of interpretation. xhis ap pears In the beginning. With the lapse of years, it has become more pronounced,... For, in the final analysis, the thea tre of Bssaveste is a theatre @f character, in the heart, im the will, in the mind, and la the spirit, which vitalizes them and in which they become audible in mysterious undertone. He is an unsurpassed observer of mem. He comprehends them; and not only this, but he comprehends them at a glance. And he comprehends woman at a glance.: The machinery of life - and in life the machi nery for the most part appertains particu larly to what is distinctively man's life - plays small part in his scenes. Heq penetrates to essential character,.. Concerning Benavente's dramas, Walter Stark!e writesi fhey might ho called dramas of thought, for In them we see the representation of_A vast psychological problems of humanity*50 In his book.entitled Jacinto Benavente. Federico de On^e has written: A traves de lo qxxe dlcen los personajee de si znlsmos y de los demas, y no de. lo aue oourpe, muestra Benavente el caraoter psl- coldglco de geres ordinarios y oonoeidos, pen#trend* sutllmente en bus vlcloe y de- [email protected] Pero Benavente era mucho.mas q.ue un satiric** Huy pronto la vision del autor *e haoe mha amplia y mas profunda, y bus dramas altuierea un sentido mas moral y humano. Bay en ellos no solamente una amena burla de la sociedad que nos rodea, sino el ideal de. una humanidad mejor. Bajo el cruel sa- tlrioo hay un poeta lleno de ternura per todo lo qu* es debil en la humanidad, por las mujeres, por los niSbe y por aquellos seres que llevan sobre si el peso del fra^, easo o de la maided. Su ironia se haee mas amahle y tolerante, y aunque aiempre nos veaos invitados a reirnos de lo que es rl- dieulo y a despreolar lo que es ma ruin, hay en estae obras xm cierto esp/ritu de simpatia humana que 90s incllna _n la__ tolerancia y la compasion. y Fue entonces euanflo su teatro empezo a diversificarse y a adquirir la riqueza y variedad que muestran la profuntidad Se su tmlento dramatico. Las mas diversas ten- denoias del teatre eederno, todo genero Se emooiones, tipos socialee y conflictos del alma, ban encontrado ezpreeion en obras maeetras.52 < In an article which appeared in The Borth American Re view in 1923, On^s states concerning Benavente: This type of broad comprehensive inter pretation of life, which seeks out the low er forms of humanity and existence to find in them moral and aesthetic beauty, is the w •seence of the co-called Spanish realism; it is Velazquez’s and Cervantes’s aesthetic eeaeept. Benavente’s work is a modern expression of the same principle, and there fore essentially Spanish in spirit*53 Jose Hogerio Sanchez says: ^enavente, Jacinto, nuestro gran poeta dramatico contemporaneo, del cual en otra parte decimos: % el teatro moderno eapa- Sbl hay un nomhrc que solo el vale para ilu- strar una literature.: date es el de Jacinto Benavehte, conocedor eomo pooos de las in quietudes y anhclos de los homtres de nues tro tiempo, de las mieerias de la vida, de los grandee saorificios de los humildes, de los poderosos, de las preocupaeloaee dm la olase media de la sooiedad*... solo el nomhre de Benavente se eternizara en nuestra historia literaria, porque en los grantee genios su obra no es nunca aoeidental y oir- cunotaneial, sino universal y externa, Ha buscado en el alma humana y ha expuesto en la aceion teatral, a toda luz, lo que habla pasado inadvertido para todos los .que no se llamaron Shakespeare; y aun para este las catastrofes rasionales lee deslumbraron en demasia. Solo Benavente ha tenido vista de lince para ahondar en los pequenbs conflic- tos, en las contrariedades y deafallecimien- tos de todos los dias, que con tanta fre- cuenoia engendran tempestades ' calladas, de mand© Hondo curco e indeleble hue11a en nuestra vida.54 / Speaking of Loo intereses creados. Rogerio Sanchez says $ Hnhlar de osa comedia es hablar de la joya mis preciada de nuestra literature actual; es toner que recorder a Bocoacio, a Shake- speare, a Cervantes y a Quev que ma las malias.... que“ an.-la S: Don Julio Ce^ador y Franca, who is not especially compli mentary in much of his criticism of Benavente, nevertheless says concerning this matter of She dramatist1® knowledge of human nature: Vf Onanto al flloe^fico razonar, eon dlfioul- tafl as hallari autor de cuyae ©bras pudie- ra compilarse mi breviario de sentencias tan hondae aoeroa del vlvir humano, tan in- genleeaeeiite rodeadas y tan galanamente diehas. Aeaso no tenga q.uien en esto le %enza,...56 . *■ Bensvente ee un hombre de gran talent®s parece ha panado por todo, lo ha viBto to- do;...')? Ernest says: Bat his originals form a penetrating stady of contemporary society,...Bat he is a ter rible observer of every weakness, folly, hypocrisy and blemish; he has at service a creative imagination and a style of sing ular precision. Monica Barry O’Shea, in The Drama for November, 1917 write#; ■ • : ' One of the significant things in Benaven- te*s art is the keeping to the medium; there is no break in the illusion of life. He uses few stage directions and gives mo descriptions either of places or persons; the stage is set by a keen observation of mental processes which in themselves give the environment - and the result is a pio- tarenas vivid and living as a Zuloaga can- Isaao Goldberg expresses hiaoplnion thus; But - and this is the important considera tion - he has projected into his best works just this instable, aloof, yet inquisitive attitude toward life, and drama can do lit tle more than vivify an attitude.60 His restlessness, his cynicism, his emo tional dualism, are part and parcel not only of our peculiar modernity, but of every richer nature that has.brooded upon the tragl-eomedy of life.61 Concerning one of Benavente’s first plays, lewis B. 18 Brett writes: SI nido ajeno, however, affords an inter* esting opportunity to study, his art in its ■beginnings. More conventional in form than the majority of his works, it nevertheless anticipates some of his later moods where a serious theme is treated neither didac tically nor satirically. -It already am- veals his insight- into the human heart and that poetic touch which is one of the most delightful if surprising features in a num ber of his works*62 ; """" " ' - The Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada states: - Aylas cualidades de expertd oonocedor de la mallei# del corazon humano,- cuando este obra .impulsado p o r o u s .anto Jos y, no recono- ce ninguh freno, a m d l d meaavernte la de un no menos coneiamrado aplitiador de los re- cursos essenioos de toda ley, llegando con t su perspicaz coaoclmlentb de los resortes teatrales mas alltf de In qua hasta el pre sents habla llegado ningun autor dramatic© . esWoi.# ; : Concerning T va de cuento. Valentfn de Pedro writes: A nosotros nos ha dado esta obra la sensacion de una plenitudespiritual; ser adivlna en ella quesu autor, tras muoho ahondar en la ingrata materia humana, ha llegado a esa region proftmdisima donde tie eneuentra la serenidad.64 Para nosotros, qua oreemos quo la la bor del artista debe eer uh largo trabajo para llegar a darnos la emocidn desnuda qua dl ha sentido y visto, lo que parece tan M o i l y es tan diffoil, este es otro signo de. la g^enitud ©spiritual de Jacinto lens- Medora Loomis Ray states: r His great talent lies in his power to ana lyze human emotions and to depict the petty vices of society* He seeks his characters in every avenue and by-path of life.66 J M. Bomera-Eavarro writes of Los interesescreados: w Es esta ultima una comedia de merit© «x- "oeptional, por eu valorjBii&^lieo, esedal- co y artifstico; es la ^sfntesis mfie perfeeta del geiiio de Benavente,1 ee deoir, el pro- &ucto m^s acatado de bus facuitaeee distiti- tivas; eenoillez en la trama, comprensidh fntima de la naturaleza humana. y de Ice re- sorteo que mueven el mundo,-ironia y es- ceptioiEmo, telleza en lbs pedeamientos, y, en menor escala, un tog.ue de idealismo y de ppesjfa;...^? Practically all the critics agree in attributing to Be- narente a singular knowledge of and insight into the feminine heart. Mariano Alarcon-voices this for Us: We must turn to the drama of Benaven- te for the purest and finest of all emo tions - intellectual apprehension of and sympathy with the soul of woman.®® Coram populo > Benavente has made it easy for every one of us to enjoy in imagina tion - for at heart man is an inveterate dreamer - the pleasures and passions, the tender sympathies and confidences which lie hidden in our souls, in the depths of our being, waiting for expression with the woman of our choice, but which we are able to enjoy in hie plays vicariously with the and Idiosyncrasies of us each.**9 Federico de Onfs reiterates this: Already in this last he reveals himself as the keen analyst of the feminine soul.70 $he perspicacity of his analysis of the feminine soul, and his entire freedom from sex prejudice, constitute one of the In novations of his art.7l That Benavente * s audiences and readers recognise and respond to this knowledge of their hearts Is verified by the Historla del Teatro Bspanol, whose joint authors are Sarelse D^aa: de. Escovar and Francisco de F, lasso de la Ve ga, and alsd by Andres Gonzalez-Bianco. iEra Espana, que sargfa a la voz del poeta, tne, s ^ e expreear eri la supreme formula plastloa del arte y la belieza el comuh eentlr, que apenas salia a flor de lablo, medroso ante el desmayo implacable, im- pueeto por la fuerzadela fatalldad!72 Aquf estamos ya eh pieno domlnlo del drama^-^':-:'-' del drama que goIpea en eloorazon como urn yunaue, del drama que se dlrlge a las en- tranae humanas, al corazon sangrante y pal pitant* de las multitudes; al corazdh y al instlhto popular, por los^cuales el puebl# se asocla con el artiste.73 lllllaii® Saymea wrlteei . : He is content to mh&m ussome particular phase of life as he himself sees it, and then he leaves us to draw our own conclu sions. He does this deliberately, not as a refuge for mediocrity, but because ha la convinced that the true function of the drama is to picture life on the stage, and he accomplishes his purpose so well that he wins at once extravagant blame and praise. Be is blamed unjustly for lack of a Serious purpose, and so lifelike are his portraits that he has been over-praised as a student of character.74 Edgar Holt, in The Bookman for September, 1951, says: But the technical angle is hardly the one from which to approach him; he should rather be viewed as a wise and witty delineator of human character, who has ohosen the dramatic medium as the most suitable way of express ing hie various reactions to contemporary life .75 ' ' Ernest Boyd, in his Studies from Ten Literatures, writes concerning Bemavente's treatment of universal human traitsz the people satirized were themselves the audience of the early Benavente, but gradually the seeps ef the dramatist extend ed until it included themes of more universal appeal...He uses the conventional.forms of the theatre to exprese his opinions upon love and morality, politics and education, or human nature, in a word. He does hot reproduce a milieu realistically, but fre- ; quently combines realism and symbolism, the background is perhaps the same as in the earlier plays, but now he introduces or f u n ^ e n - Stark Young somewhat poetically writes: This drama of Benavonte’s has all in all a kind of glamor of exaltation, descending in the amre eignifleant, lifted to a sense of life like a light reflected over human be ings and among them, and of love binding life to its own depths.77 Stora Jameson very aptly states Benavente’s conception of what the artist’s attitude toward the understanding of life should be when she sayst It must be said that there is vents a divine sanity which does not often allow the poet to overwhelm the dramatist, and insists always that it is better to understand life, even if to understand be to suffer, than to take her loveliness to build a dead city of the arts.78 She also sayai • His first play - Gente Coiaoclda (Familiar Faces) - was a satire on the habItsof the upper classes. The words have the thrust and glint which marks his dialogue through out. This early work is not blurred by crudeness, and already he is very nearly master of the irony and philosophic insight that light up not one aspect of life alone, but all life and all the striving of men.75 the foregoing statements prove conclusively that the arltles attribute to Jacinto Benavente a knowledge of human nature, let us now consider their statements as to his mak ing this knowledge manifest in the realistic aspect of his plays/ especially In characterization. Aurello M. Espinosa says; He is a true artist in the sense that his realism is^true. He presents conditions as they are.80 ■ . ; Charles Alfred Turrell: C In other words, he has come nearer than anyone else to the theatrical ideal ex pressed hy Bails Zola, that the stage should portray life without moralizing, hut teaching merely hy the picture shown. This ideal neither Zola nor his succes sors in France were able to attain. Bena- vente does not preach, as do Brieux and Kervleu, hut simply puts.pn the stage people as he finds them.81 John Tan Horne: That is to say, Benavente wished to un fold a picture of life as it is, in a series of photographic soenes, Bueh a epeeles^of play has always been preferred kr.UK**; ■ : . Coneeralng Rosas de otono, characterized hy Tan H o m e as "the most striking of the problem plays" and about which he makes the remark that "some critics who deny a thesis else where admit it in this production". Van Horne states: Moreover, Benavente is not too partisan; although frankly defending a cause, as a follower of Shakespeare he cannot forget that he is depicting human life.85 Medora Loomis Bay writes that "it has been stated that Benavente uses the world to populate his dramas."84 Isaac Goldberg asks: "Yet who shall blame overmuch if he depicts his people as they are?*®® Frank W. Chandler states: In play after play, the meaning lies quite iipon the surface, the characters are the folk of every day, grouped without any deep am# mysterious significance, C Ruten Darfo, an ardent admirer ofBenavente. writes % Benavente. niega que haya tornado sus tipos del natural; pero el pareddo es tan per- ■ fe^t® :.'que - lefts ::pNtessa' ee' iesMce #m ana - - . . ■ . ;;s®nrisa,8f y Concerning this same question^ Martinez Sierra writesi Clare es que otras veces, porque ael se le antoja, models figures de indiscutlble se me janza humana...88 Rafael Marquina says: Como un homhre que sonrfe porque esta de- s . masiado triste, Benavente ha tejido am# fahulas con criaturas de c a m e y hueso.,. T si a zveoes las ha recortadd de las be lles laminae policromadas - La copa en- cantada, Meflstofela. Y va decuento', la Cenicienta - las ha moTfcTd' como T'c/hturas : huMiBs* Con hilos de oro las tenia ata- das a sub munecas, podrfa deeirse con ®Sm- laoion. Has exacto serfa d e d r con ar- terfas y venas sutiles a la vggta red que emerge del corazon del mundo. Annie Russell Marble writes: The methods used by the S^rnleh playwright to embody this principle ^expressionism] are. to "generalize" both the action and his characters, so that they become sym bols of real life, appealing .to the sub jective, . element in i' ' readers.50 ■■ , _ ' ■ - Aubrey F. G.Bell says concerning Benavente: He holds up the mirror to life, life as it commonly appears, and most faithful ly reflects it as a passing.show...For him literature must be the exact representation of life, and it is perhaps by a natural re action from this somewhat dreary creed that 24 he takes refuge in romantic or fantastic ©eemsB* or* without ever losing his hanity, goes out into the village56E of Castile, as in Be Cerca.9! But in not emphasizing his characters Senor Benavente acts fleliherately. He concen trates ,internally. Superficially they.do not seem to impose themselves, hut is not this on* ef the ingenious traps set for us hy Sefior Benavente?..»One comes to see more in-his characters than,one had at first sup- 'peaei' them to contain. They have a way of growing and becoming, and may prove changing, - vague , inconsistent,* a * # # * # # *%e#st' eesven- ;. tlonal stage heroes and hcroines.92 Jose isogerio Sanchez sums the whole point up briefly when he says$ Benavente pocas races ha preconizaic una conclusion f l l o s d f i c a l e hasta con ana- llzar almas y haoerlas vivir como ellas realmente vives an este mundo; cada cual puede resolrer lo q.me le plazca.^s In additiOB to the criticsf.asserting that Benarente has a knowledge of human nature and that he makes this knowledge manifest in the realism of hie plays, they have also shown his knowledge of human nature by pointing out that he repre sents his characters as being neither wholly good nor wholly bad. Williams Haynes writes: Much of the success of his satires is due to the skill with which, in the same play, he will balance frailties and vices with strengths and virtues* M s eharasters are always an intimate mixture of goodness and badness, and while he never leaves a doubt as to their exact place in his satire, still they are easily recognizable as peo ple from the workaday world.His sincerity and keen insight into Spanish character enable him to reveal human beings that we m reeegaise readily under their unfamiliar : national eostumes«S4 : . Hamilton Field says: : . ' His people are real and so compounded of good and evil as to keep" the development of the plot open to as many variations as are human Impmlse and ^111.95 Alexander Green: : Witness his masterpiece, n$he Bonds of In terest 11 , that profound comedy of masks re- : oently produced in Hew York, in x?hich be tween smiles.and guffaws we soberly recog nise our ©wm dual selves, even as fartarin of the Alps discovered what a strange com pound he was of the heroic Quixote and the cowardly Sancho.96 In commenting upon this same drama. Severino Aznar writes: ; - : ■ , - • " ... .' , . , Ese dualismo fatal q.ue hay en cada hombre, el esplritu que sube y la ca m e q.ue arras- tra a los bajos fondos con su peso de muer- te y de pecado, Benavente lo ha acentuei® sin dar en la caricatura, y luego, por ena lieencia que e6lo al ingenio se perdene, ha disaeociado, ha separado los dos seres qua parecen hablar en cada hombre, y del uno ha heche un picaro dc novela, todo, treveeura, ingenio, ambiclon y deeverguen- ea, y ha hecho del otro.^un gran senor de altivos pensamlentoa, capaz'de todo 16 grande y de todo lo bellow, algo debil a las sugestlones del primero, come lo es el esplritu a lo quo hay en nosotros de in- noble, pero siempre vuelto a lo ideal, pre- tee tende contra lo bajo y ruin aun en el memento de ceder y de caer«97 Bamon P^res de Ayala, very hostile to Benavente1s dra matie technique, nevertheless agrees with our opinion in this; . ■ - ■■ . ' : BeJos de.prooeder asi, el senor Benavente ha id# a busoar en un ambiente de circo noma6a lo universal y duraflero de las toabree, a fin de oostrarnos una como si- nepsls etimarla de la sooledad humana, y de demostrarnoe gtuQ loo hombree, dondequisra qae #*Wh, son Iguales y se mueven a 1m- QR puleos de unos pocos inatintos prlmitlvea.- Aubrey F. &* Bell says that ”there is In fact perhaps * little Baseness about the characters, despite the author's abundant variety and versatility.°9y If this be true, it is due* no doubt, to this universal quality in characterization referred to above by Perez de Ayala. John Van Horne writes: ^ ; It is to be noted that no charaeter • in any of these early plays is represented as utterly bad. That would be contrary to the author's eonoeptisa of human nature. Benavente insists that no man or woman can be regarded as entirely perverse or entire ly admirable. Although his attitude is nearly always objective, and his general method satirical or ironical, he evinces ' upon occasion the ability to sympathize with the very weaknesses of the persons whatt he ridicules. If we will t r y ,to for get for a moment that Benavente is/making fun of an idle aristocracy vainly seeking relief from boredom, we shall understand that v/e are brought face to face with in dividuals drawn from real life, whose, principal attributes are a discouraging mediocrity and^inability to rise above a, John Qarrett IMderhill adds his opinion to that.of the V ■ ■ ■ • v . '■ : - • . ' . /• ' ' ' ; other critics. / \ A H classes of men and women are reproduced in his work, but there are no typesV * r • ' ... Through all his astounding product one •. will search in vain for one villain; and;/ • one will search in vain for one hero^ Ka^p tare dose not mark off from others- her fa^ \ ▼SPjLtO' ■ '101' ' t : . 'X ' ■ If Having shown that Benavente’o knowledge of human nature can be asemaei from our acquaintance with his training and experience, and that this knowledge is attested by the crit ics, we now have only to look into the mind of the author himself to discover his conviction that the primary prere quisite for a playwright is an understanding of and sympathy for his characters. Inasmuch as Benavente definitely states such a conviction, it follows that if he did not feel him self to possess such a knowledge of human nature, he would certainly make no attempts in the field of drama.' His article entitled "fhe Playwright's Mind", found in The Yale Review for October, 1923, makes this position clear, and is worth quoting In some detail. The prime essential of the playwright, for this reason, is universal sympathy for whatever is human, curiosity, a bent for disinterested observation which must not be allowed to stop short of complete a- morality. In other words, the playwright must detach himself from any consideration of moral ends as he studies the characters which he creates. All of them have an equal right to dramatic life•..102 The playwright, accordingly, is a dis< interested observer, much in the position of God turned artist, in whose sight there can be no secrete because the author has lived the lives of them all by virtue of his gift of sympathy. He has loved with the lover, committed crimes with the crim inal, grown now sublime and now vulgar, now passionate and now serene. It is In cumbent upon him to be capable of every virtue and of every vice. Popular opinion is not far wrong in its attitude towards authors who create odious and repulsive characters, the embodiment of debased, perverted passions and ideas, snnpeeting 28 uneasily that the thoughts and feelings of the characters may be those of the au thor himself, ^hen a character expresses himself vulgarly In order to be in char acter, it is the author who finds that his manners are assumed to be cheap. Hence the maxim that even fools should be clever upon the stage. In order to obviate the embar rassment of bavins their folly imputed to the playwright...103 This Interpenetration of author and characters, which is so essential In the playwright, this Identification with and sharing of the imagined life of each, is not complete until the characters take on life of their own and come to be Indepen dent of the author, reducing him at last to the position of a mere medium, amazed and astonished at his own conceptions as at something utterly foreign to himself. Ifhen thin point in reached, and he no Ion, cr recognizes himself in his work, we are in the presence of the phenomenon of in spiration - what the ancients termed the familiar demon of Socrates. I m believer in any other inspiration. 1/bat we call inspiration is nothing more than labor previously stored up, capital of the mind and of the heart, which we are accumulating continually without being eoaeeious either of its quantity or its worth. The dulse amargura of Cervantes was in hie case no rhetorical contradiction. Out ef the bitterness which life drops into the cup and the sweetness which, either through natural goodness or the discipline of resignation, we are able to add our selves, the spirit itself is refined, and that mellowness of temper Is produced which is the fulfillment of its promise, and which manifests itself as tolerance In our daily lives and as humor in literature...1UD Is it proper, then, to say that this unconscious labor, which breathed life and soul Into Don Quixote, was something alien to the mind of Cervantes? Is the work, as Miguel de Unamuno has maintained, superior to its author? Host certainly not. It g» was accumulator capital,' riches of the spirit, which Cervantes himself had never stopped to take into account,, hut which .were; treasured up in him as I have said, toe eoul of Don Quixote; was born of the injustices suffered by the .unhappy^ one- handed soldier of Lepanto, of the miseries and wanderings of his life• of his cap tivity in Algiers, his struggles as a tax- gatherer, of his imprisonment in the Se ville jail, of his family misfortunes, the disdain of the great, of experience of the world and disillusionment, of the bitter- ness of life, and out.of the kindliness of a generous heart, which, when all these things have been heaped upon a soul which is great, becomes aivunderstanding and forgiveness*8 forfar all*all^IOS /;/■: /' toe subconsciouB is never strange, it is never external to ah author, it is not a supernatural gift which descends into hie intelligence like divine inspiration* It is always and everywhere the product and result of impressions which have been garnered and stored. Ed work was ever written into which the author did not put something of his life. As Bernard de Palissy cast tables and chairs into the oven in which M e jars were to be baked, so that with the saerlfloe he might main tain its heat, the artist casts fragments of his life and,of his_soul into the oven of his imagination.»*• As a famous French actress exclaimed when she acknowledged her admirers * applause: ®toey do well to applaud me, for I have given them my life." 2?o write like this, with the nerve®, with the cry of the heart, with one's very blood, out of the intimate soul of oneself and one's neighbor, is precisely this: to give one's life.108 ( toe psyche of the dramatist, therefore must be completely detached from the pre occupations of his own personality* He is himself a spectator of himself, and it is his mission to observe in his own passions and feelings the possible passions and feel ings of all mankind, and in the passions and feelings of other men, possible --- ' ana feelings of hie own. His life life of all men, and the aife of al HI*..; his life.109 y - ^ v V y : • . CHAPIER II , gHE EXPRESS I OH OF TE1S KHOV/LEDQ-E IH CEARACTERIZATIOB It would-be a task Impossible of fulfillment to treat in a work of this kind all the plays of Jacinto Benavente, In- asmuoh as these plays iww naaher overone hundred. It is difficult, too, to classify the plays, for ae John Van Horne has pointed out, Benavente*s featro "includes nearly all varieties of dramatic output: one, two, three, and four act plays, monologues, dialogues, translations, adaptations^ zarzuelas, farces, fairy-dramas, comedies, and tragedies. •■■■. ■ - • ■' - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■. ■ . ■. . Yet, after all, it Is not necessary to look Into all the - • : :■ ■ • ■ ' . .■ -'y ' \- plays of Jacinto Benavente to see that the dramatist has ex pressed his knowledge of human nature in his characterization; a treatment of the characterization in some of his most rep resentative plays is sufficient for this purpose. In order to facilitate our study, let us group Benavente*s plays as follows: dramas of the provincial and Madrid aristocracy, or the privileged class, dramas of the middle class, dramas of the lower class, rural drama, and fanciful drama. Dramas of Provincial and Madrid Aristocracy T/e shall deal with ten plays which treat Madrid and pro vincial aristocracy. They are El hido ajeno. Gente conoclda, El prlmo Roman. Rosas de otono, A1 natural, Alma triunfante. la comida de las floras, Abuela y nleta, Do cursl and Dos malhechores del bien. 32 Although wo shall not attempt to follow any chronologi cal orier In treating Benavente‘b plays, it may he interesting to begin our study with an analysis eif the characterization in his first prodmeed play. El nldo ajeno. We find in it a pissag® which might almost he taken as the keynote of Bena- rente's characterization, a passage which immediately gives as some understanding of the playv/right ’ s theory of life and writing. Jo b Hay oosas aue no pueden expresaroe hien si no se han sentido. - ' Manuel: Pero hay dos vidas ea nosotros, paralelas siempre. Una, la q.ue vivimos, urdimhre de la casualidai y del destiho, en la ^ue somos juguete de circunstancias, de acoi- dentes imprevistos, inevitables...Otra, la %ue soSemes, rompiente de" luz q,ue abre la imagihacion a otros muhdos, donde somos ; Buperiores a la fatalidad de nuestro des tine, domde la trama de la vida se teje eon hillllss de luz irisada. Lo aue en sets vida segunda sentimos, por sspirl- tual e inefable, no deja sehsacion menos heads que lo sentido en la primera^..T de las dos. es mejor la imaginada que la vi- v i d a . m . : It is this idealistic esmeeption of life joined to his keen observation and acute reasoning faculty that has been res ponsible for Benavente1s well-rounded insight into the human heart. B1 nido ajeno sets before us three well-defined charac ters: Jose, the husband of Harfa, and his brother, Manuel. Manuel, who for many years has not seen his brother, comes to pay him a visit. Jose's distrust of him is immediately ap parent, and his presence affords one more cause for complaint to the ailing, ill-tempered husband who is sternly righteous 33 and amazingly selfish* far a time Marfa, who respects ana love# her huehand heeause she unierstands M e weaknesses as well as his inherent goodness, is able to effect a recon ciliation between her husband and her sunny, lovable brother- in-law. the reader is drawn almost immediately to an ad miration for Manuel, in spite of the fact that he has been regarded a# the black sheep of the family, for in him we immediately sense a kindness and understanding that is lack ing in his brother. Jose': To ns lo fu£ nunca* Manuel: Porque nunca fMate joven. Porquo en ti se alteraron las leyes de la vida. Pug xina rebeldfa tambien, a tu modo. jPero ya ves lo mal que te ha probado. Creelo, la naturalsza es muy sabla. Hemos de ser nines, jsvsmes, hombres, viejos por fin; a su tiempo oada cosa, con las pasiones, vicios y virtuies propios de oada edad. Tan mal parece unnino reflexive y jui- cioso como un vejete travieso y casqui- vano; y tan impropie es de un muobashe eontentarse sin protestas con el cooido caoero, osmo en un hombre de juioio irse de bureo a la fonda. Hay que distinguir la maldad permanent# de oada uno y las maldades propias de cada edad, pasajeras eon ella. Hi go esto, porque en m f toma- stels por maldad las llgerezas de la ju- ventud. 81, Marfa, t6, como todos, ha- bras ofdo hablar de mf a mis padres, a Jose luis; sabres lo quo de mi pensa- ban...Yoblen lo sd. Era el Judas de la easa.112 Then, speaking of the severity of his father, and of the ter ror and strained atmosphere which his presence in the house hold Inspired, Manuel goes on to say: Yo me rebclaba contra su severidad injus- ta, protestaba en mi corazdh...contra a- quella farea de carino, y por eso era el 34 malo, el Judas, porque..,por mtfs q.ue hacfa, m pod£a querer nl respetar a ml padre*113 We see, then, that from the very first of his life Manuel has gained his reputation for being had from what is in re ality an admirable quality - an Inability to override an honest conviction. Benavente very subtly brings in at this point his be lief that there are two natures, the good and the bad, in every man* Marla: (Con Infantll eoaflanza*} Yo soy may eacpan- slva*,, (Ba jo.) Josd'Luis es otro cardo- ' ter.^.En el fonio es muy bueno. Manuel: /En el fondo! Eso deoian de mi padre, c. Clue'' me imports qua en el fondo de xm pozo haya un^teSoro, si para llegar a €l he de ahogar- Benavente puts a clever remark concerning people in general into Manuel's mouth when he has him say: Hay personas asf, como algunas vivien- das: oon magnifleas habitaciones y mala es- calera.119 The reconciliation between Manual and Jose'is summed up in Manuel's wordss _ Entre en tu easa, desoonfiado, reoeloso. Tu, por tu parte, me reclbiste lo mismo. /Bah!, pense; cumpllremos eon este debar de familia, estare tma semana^i^y a vagar otra vez; mi destine es dse. Y, ya lo ves, loe receloe se desvanecieron; hoy con- flamos en nuestro carino y no pienso en mareharme*../So qulero pensarlo! Vivo fe lls en el nido ajeno* Pues tpdo ello es obra de Marla; sin ella hubieramos enoo- nado los pasados rencores. /Sabe Bios come hubieramos roto para siempre! Yo eonozco ml genio, oonozco el tuyo...iMotrla ha hecho qua seamos por fin hermanos!11^ 36 For a time there Is exchange of confidences between the brothers, and the author shows us the lovable side of Jose'' Lui®* ' ; . . :: : j©seyi Es que, a voces, plenso que Maria no es fe lls a mi lado, /Sabe Dios si la quiero eon toda el almaI / Fero no expreaarlo? - fiferes otro cardster; segurp estoy Se qua While hablado de mf. te ha dicho? Manuel, q Cs dichosa conmigo? 81 no 1© es, yo prometo enmendarme, no puedp ser por maided mia; no soy malvado, sera . per defeotos que desoemeseo* por algunoe que veo en mf y procure veneer..«, per eo* sas asf, pequeneces, que estard'enrol mano ^ evltar..*D£melo todo. aQud' no harfa yo por verla diohosa? : , . . Manuels^Por qud' ho ha de serlo? /Defeotos! & Quien me ios tiene? A ro^nada roe ha dicho.H? . Marfa show® her understanding of Manuel when she says: Marfa: (a Jose luls) /Tu madre deefa blen! Hay loemraa de la cabeza y loouras del cora-r mdn* Manuel es loco de corazdh. / Hermosa locura capaz de todo lo bueno y de todo lo grande, puesta en ocaslones de realizarlo! Pero no se pretends enoerrar a estos locos, traerlos a la razon ml a la mediae de las almas vulgares. d One hubiera sido de ^ Manuel a vuestro lado? Ios Impulses ero- prendedores de su esplritu se hubleran re- sueIt© en luchas mezqulnas contra la au- . torldad paterna, en calaveradas indlgnas de su anlmo generoso. Eh medio a proptf- eito donde explayar su gonio, ha logrado fortuna, consideraoion. Y frente a fren te com su conolencla, ha sabido educaree por la conciencla propie, que es la mejor edu- cadora cuando el corazon esta sano.118 The reconciliation between the two brother® is short lived because only too boob Jealousy of the affection between Marfa and Manuel grips Josefe soul. It is in the depletion of this situation that Benavente shows more than in any other part of the play, his knowledge of human nature and of the struggle 36 which goes on when one nature of a man wars against his other nature. Marjfa: jEstin clego, Jos^ Luis; estas loco; 6 Como naclo an tl esa Gospecha?*..Solo en celoso flesvarlo pudlste sospechar de tu. . hermano.. md2ero da ml? /Tan cruel es la Ofensa, que ni por locura puedo perdonar- laJ - - ,-iSi no he vlvido mds q.ue para til 6 Sacrlficada?.•.Ho; porque el carino no se sacrifice nunca...; eomplaolda, porque era mi unica dicha verte dlohoso a ml lado... - - / lor Dios y por mi madre, soy horn- rada.* ■ . : Joeei jlo eres, sll jHo podria dejar de creerloj Para tl no huho ofensa, ..Es que se" euanto vales y lo poco que valgo... S& que no te merezoo y temf que me robaron tu carino... /Tu no sabec cdmo te quieroj yHuncasupe declrteloJ...Soy asi..\Ho qulslera que na- dio conoeiera lo que vales...'ml t € mlsmal ...Por eso nunca te lo d1je...,/ que fuera yo solo a quererte...y a nadle mas que a mi debieras carino I .* .^goxBmo, si'...;/ pero . es que para ml no habla mas que tu carino en el mundo!.. .Besconfianza en m5f, eso eran mis celos...Ho debf dudar, lo seC.. ___ Perdona.*.Es maldicldh mla dudar de todo...11. & e crisis comes when Josd' can no longer refrain from hurling hie accusations in the face of his brother. In the anger of the moment, the effort to excuse and justify this outbreak to himself as well as to his brother prompts him to express a belief which has embittered his whole life and which has been largely responsible for the hatred he bears his brother. Be .aoeuses Manuel of being the eon of don Gabriel, a friend of their mother's. Manuel's first reaction is a natural one, that of anger, but immediately a nobler impulse triumphs, and he shows himself to be a much bigger person than is his brother. Manuel: iOh, pobre hermanoj ;He»yeo te dlgol Si ahora es cuando me das lastime.•.IDudar de tu madreI iToda la vida enroscada al ST / , corazon esa. Boepecha, envenando la sangre gota a go^aI»«< Badar de tu raadre y aborre- @ep en mi au memorial Sjf^ ya entlenflo q.ue no pudierac aer feliz* qae tu vlda fuera perpetua condenacion; sin fe en el amor, aln eonflanza en el earlno, sin nada de lo q.ue alivla la carga abrumadora de-la rlda,, .Si dlgo q.ue me das eompaalon, que ahora te qulero come nimea te qulse... iCondenado eterno do una duda Infernali... ven atttl, v@n2... jSi yo soy a salvarteli20 Kanuel tries to restore Jo b ^’b faith In his mother by telling him that don Gabriel on his deathbed, foreseeing jnst aioh an accu-Batlon, had snorn to him that the parting kiss that he had given their mother, the kiss which had caused their fa ther to doubt their mother's fidelity, had been no more than a kiss" of pure friendly affection. But Jos6 is unconvinced, for he says that his father's opinion is worth more to him than don Gabriel's word donoerning the matter. Mar/a enters to request of Manuel a farewell kiss, and asks her husband to judge the innoeeaey ef his mother by the innoceney of their kiss. It is now that Benavente executes a master stroke and shows an indisputable knowledge of human nature in bringing out the fact that, as in Manual's case, there are oftentimes within us potential emotions and reactions of which not even we ourselves are conscious until they are awakened by some event or crisis which has a very direct bearing on our lives# Marfa: (Muy oonmovida. ) -.MamieII la mano...; -.Tin beso! (le besa.) . Asl, en la frente...jEl de tu madre...Jose LulsI mira...(Afrontan- do su 8ktrade#) Si hubo pasion culpable de nosotros...; matame, duda de mi..*, duda de 38 tm naSre, Hanuel: {Anonaflado,} {c'Qu^ es esto?.*.Que^sentl^al hesarme? cBabo culpa en mlf?,,.Iob oelos de ml hermano,& vieron mejor quo yo mlsmo en ml alma? /El alma dejo *1 eepararme do ellaj*.. /Era amorJ Sf, el unlco de ml -rlda; Slento al do Jar la lo que no eentl' nunca.../Corazdh traldor!.../Oh, lejos, lejosS) Sod muy diohoEos...Ber- Sonad al ave do paso si turboy la tranqul- ' . Kldad 4e.wueetro nido... J®sei (eomovld®,) /Adio's, hermanoi (Le abraza.) Harfal M id st Ho para Biempre...' Manuel: slempre, no2,,.Hasta; quo seamos muy vieJos y no quepan desconflahzas nl recelos ' entre noBotros.*»Cuando no podamos dudar... nl. de nosotros mlsmtis...Entonoes volvero : a bUBcar un rinodh donde morlr en el nldo : ajeno. (Sale).121 Benavente has written many satiric dramas treating the Madrid aristocracy, and one of the best of these, one in which there are characters which are typical of the decadence of that society, is Qente conoolda, The characters In this play which are moot typical of this decadence are Enrique, the worldly-wise and unprincipled son of the Buquesa viuda de Gerellano,and Petra, an attractive young widow who uses all available means, legitimate and otherwise, to advance herself materially and socially, Enrique’s sister, Harfa Antonia, although a minor character in the play. Is also of their clan, as me can see from the fact that she is married to a man whom she neither loves nor respects, Fernanda, Enrique’s fiancee, who Is the more or less helpless victim of her mother’s, the Condesa de Fondelvalle’s, scheming, is a rather colorless character, whom gossip declares to be the real daughter of Hi lari o Montes, a man who uses his wealth to buy himself social position and recognition. The only wholesome 39 characters of the play are the Duquesa fle Garellano, and a mtural Saunter of Hllarlo Montes, Ange" 11 ta. % a DttQ,tteeB';v,lufla de Garellano, the mother of Marfa Antonia and teclfne, is the only character of noble birth whose actions are consistent with her aeeestrf# Her son: says to her: : " ' c Como has espapaflo tti? Segtiro estoy de q m nunca llego hasta tl.’ Tu excesiva bonded niega credit© a lo que.para ti es increible. ; j Fobre mama! (hi sf que eres un tfngel*. *e se yo come hnbieras pasado^ si no, par el windo; sin perder esae iltisiones angelicalesl1^ %iriqn# ie one of the many titled but peiSttesB young madrilenos who is faced with the problem of a livelihood. (The solution which he anticipates by marrying a wealthy girl is indicative of the character of the man. Ho estoy dlepuesto a soportar en el matri- monio la vida humillante del aristocrata tronado._ Ya la soporto soltero a duras penao,123 Although we may feel some sympathy for him when he decides^ because of what he considers necessity, to marry for money alone, we lose what respect we may have retained for him when we discover that he has never had any ideals regarding the seriousness of matrimony, - Duquet j Y,un eopeno tu en hacer serias las cosas mas trivialesl... Duquesa: dEs trivial decidir para lo porvenir? o. Dleponer de tu eerazdn para toda la vida? Duque: ; Ho ee ningtin acontecimientoJ (Dodo el mundo se casa, iSi fuera uno a trastornar su vida por esol,.. Duquesa: j Ahi 6 Dlensas llevar de oasad© la mlsma vida que de soltero? 40 Duq.ue: Iilevar^ mi vifla. Ho pienao cambigr mi modo cte ger; ,y como cada uno vive segun es, sere j vivire exaotamente lo mismo ^ue he YiYifio siempre.-1-'24 Benavent® show® here his knowledge of a man’s fundamental character, in that marriage does not reform him. Enrique, although not an admiral)le character, is a clever man who has the holdnees to look his true nature in the face, and we can muster up some admiration for his frankness concerning him self. Helther does he deceive himself concerning the worth of the girl he is to marry* luqu®s tFernanda? Ttea chiquilla como todasl Buquesa: cComo todas? cAsl estimas a la que ha dc llevar tu nomhre? y Buque: Ho ve© por quc razon ha do ser Fernanda una ©rlatura erfcraordinaria, ideal, lo pro bable os que sea como somos todos; ni buenos, ni malesj regularcillos. . fttonewi Fernanda es una • criatura angelical. . fuquos Si te digo que me parece muy bien, que no hay btra muchacha en Hadrid que me guste tanto como ella para mujer propia* Esta bien educada...He observado una cosa, mama: he observado que las madres...ligeras son las que educan mejor a sus hijas.l25 ' Enrique breaks off his engagement with Fernanda when h® finis out that she will not, as Montes’ goddaughter, inherit his money, fhis unexpected turn of events is the result of Montes’, through Petra’s persuasion, having recognised his natural daughter, Angelita, whose existence has hitherto re mained a secret. Petra, the Duke’s match in cleverness, has effected Angelita’s recognition because of her love for the Duke, her hatred of his fiancee’s mother, and her desire to get hold of Montes’ money. Petra persuades Montes not only to recognize Angelita, M t to make her M b heir, and to bring her out into society. By playing the role of foster mother to the girl,.Potra-sttoeeedp In getting Eontes to earry her* She even go#® so far as to hint to the girl that she is her mother. Angelica’s response to her is at first a sincere one, tint the girl does not have to be long in the artificial ct- sosphorc of the home into which she is brought to see clear ly that she is surrounded by deceit and by people whose sole desire is to use her for whatever profit may accrue to them selves* ' Too passages are sufficient to give us an insight into the girl’s character* In talking to Fernanda, to whom she is instinctively drawn perhaps because there Is a possibility of relationship between them or perhaps only because both have been pawns in the hands of the unscrupulous people who are trying to use them, she says: ilo dices de veras? Entonces eras may ino- cente; poro tu inoeencia da frio* Be todos ttodos, or^emo, no tc cases jiasta qae no quicres a un hombre,.**, aei coao tu dices, como cl hub!eras vivido con el toda la vida, corns si le hubieras conocido desde que naciste. Y basts cuando, por verle ponreff eiquiera, te iznporte poco ver llorar a tu madre, hosts entonces, nina aia, creelo, no te cases; te lo aconseja una ehiquilla como tu en.la Cara, paro eon la cebesa y el corason muy viejecitoa, iporque ha sufrido y ha pensado macho a ■alselM . ... When Angel!ta.thwarts Petra’s plan to marry her to the Buqne, she analyzes very well the society of which they are members* 42 1 Ahl yYa cab fa yo q,ue no arrostrarfa listed el eseandalol Le terns usted, como el ase- slno teme la sangre. Y aqtu, entre esta genief qua trama y comenta maldades es- candalosas, cuchioheando, Bonriendo; que no aseiina nl mata de un golpe, slno muy poco a po@®, en fuerza de alfilerazos, que suBados bien valen una punalada, si de ^ pronto se vlera sangre vertida.,*, / que extraneza* que" espanto* qu€ verg&eazaS J3 o, no lea asustemos! Basta que sepa usted que si Petra con su astucla...* su talento, ha p@#ld@ jugar con uated, con ml padre; si tlene en au mano, para disponer de ellos, loe blasones del uno y las rt»■ quezae del otro, no he eontado con algo que podfa opoaerss a sus planes: conmlgo, Una sola conciencla Sespiarta entre Santas con- 0 ien@ia|2|ormidas, Estoy sola, pero soy Strangely enough, in this girl, the natural daughter odf a man who has sought to advance himself socially by means of his wealth, in this girl who because of her birth and ances try would not be expected to be in every sense a lady, we find all the qualities that we might rightfully have expected te find in the Madrid aristocracy. And so once more Bena- vente shows hie knowledge of human nature in not laying un due stress on heredity, but rather on the character of the individual. the setting of El primp Roman is in a town of Castilla, and the play affords us a very interesting character study in the form of the young political aspirant, Roman, In this drama, as in many others, Benavente by his eharaeteriaatlon points out the fact that there is in every man both good and bad, and, while we see this most clearly in Roman, Dona Salo me' also exemplifies the same point. Die heroine, Cristeta, 45 Shows only admirable qualities.1 Bon Homualdo, Bona Salo me's steward, and her sister-in-law, Amalia, are the fawning, flattering type who seek to benefit from Bona SalomeTs wealth, the former by trying to marry his son to the foster daughter, ' '■ ■ ' Grlsteta, and the latter by playing on Dona SalomeTs sympathy to get money for her lAmallaTs) son. Bona Salome is a shrewd but righteous person who l#es not have much of the milk of human kindness in her make-up, but who has a very strict sense of duty. Perhaps the only real love of her life is that which she bore her husband* " In any ease, when she promises him on his deathbed that she will rear his illegitimate daughter, we admire her broad mindedness, even though her promise be the result of self- righteousness. Don Romualdo reeounts the incident when pro posing to hie wife that they effect a marriage between their son and Cristate, the illegitimate daughter* Romualdo; Era un delirio por el de que no tienes idea. Yo iba entonoes a Madrid muchas voces y lo vela. ; ftue eocenas de celoel / Que" escan dal##! Se murlcu Otro dona Juana la loca. vQue extremoel ; Que llantos!...Besae en tonoes vive aqui retirada, despues de re cover a Grlsteta, fruto descarriado de s% senor marido**.Fooo quiere a la pobre nina; peroes precise oomprender lo que ella sufre cada vez que la raira delante. Se acuerda de su esposo, y hace todo lo po- sible per querer a la ehica, pero no pue- de. Por eso me oonsta que es su intencidn pa^tr eon su fortune la deuda de carino que ella. cree tener con su esposo. A sus pa- rientes nunca los ha querido, y_$or lo mismo que ahora le hacen la rueda...128 Amalia, dona Salome's sister-in-law, also calls to our 44