DON JUAN IN THE GENERATION OF ’98 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University 37 STEPHEN HAMILTON ACKERMAN, B. A., M. A. The Ohio State University 1955 Approved by: Adviser Department of Romance Languages ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should like to express my deepest appreciation to my adviser, Carlos Blanco. In his helpful guidance and more parti­ cularly in the generous giving of his own time, he has demonstrated the finest qualities of the true teacher who places the needs and aspirations of his students above any personal considerations. I have made a sincere effort to provide adequate treatment of the subject material involved in this study and in the course of this work I have received invaluable suggestions from many colleagues and friends. It may well be, however, that the reader will detect what he considers to be errors or lacunae and in such case, it goes without saying that I assume full responsibility. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................. ii INTRODUCTION.................................... 1 Chapter I. RAMON DEL VALLE-INCLAN.................... 8 II. RAMIRO DE MAEZTU......................... 66 III. ANTONIO AND MANUEL MACHADO................ 79 IV. MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO........................ 129 V. JOSE MARTINEZ RUIZ (AZORIN)........... 101 VI. PIO BAROJA............................... 16^ CONCLUSIONS............................. 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................... 183 AUTOBIOGRAPHY................................... 188 xii INTRODUCTION The perennial literary and popular interest in Don Juan Tenorio has raised this figure to the realm of legend and myth. Since his literary debut in Tirso de Molina1 s El burlador de Sevilla , he has long ceased to be the property of any one author and has been recreated and transformed by many writers both inside and outside of Spain.^ Tirso *s drama presents an active, irresponsible debauchee who ' could not fail to catch the public*s eye. Don Juan is a proven ,!box office success11 and as such cannot fail to attract the playwright who must look to his profession for his livelihood. There is, however, another side to this immortal figure which is essential to a serious consideration of any aspect of the Don Juan theme. Tirso’s deline­ ation of the libertine does not probe deeply into his character. The dramatist shows us what his protagonist does but does not say why Don Juan acts in such a manner. Nor does he dwell upon the long range worldly consequences of the burlador * s anti-social activities. The essential focus of this drama is upon theological considerations. Tirso presents an archtype evil-doer, then poses and finally resolves the question of his salvation or perdition. Motivations and social implications are of secondary or no importance to Tirso and are there­ fore only superficially developed in his drama. This fact combined comprehensive bibliography of the Don Juan legend is to be found in: Armand Edwards Singer, A Bibliography of the Don Juan Themes Versions and Criticism (Morgantown: West Virginia University, West Virginia University Bulletin, Ser. Sbt no. 10-1). 1 with the necessarily episodic structure of the Burlador de Sevilla created a fertile field for further literary developments of the figure of Don Juan. Tirso had crystallized a legend into literary formj the popularity of his and subsequent renditions of the story of Don Juan expanded this legend and gave it renewed strength. In a sense each new version presented a new Don Juan. Each author provided additional epi­ sodes in the libertine's tumultuous life and increased the wealth of interpretations of his character. In the Romantic period Zorrilla re­ suscitated the theme in his Don Juan Tenorio3 and likewise in the "Generation of *98" the character and legend of Don Juan appears in a number of works. For its part, the public— readers or spectators— accepted or rejected the various literary offerings, selecting even within the in­ dividual works those elements which particularly appealed to its 2 imagination. The aura of promiscuity and lawlessness which came to surround the figure of Don Juan has even attracted the attention of investi­ gators outside of the purely literary world. Unamuno gives a succinct resume of the fate of the libertine at the hands of the sciences: o Ramiro de Maeztu indicates that a possible reason for Zor­ rilla's eventual distaste for his own drama, Don Juan Tenorio, was the tendency of the public to demonstrate great enthusiasm for the protagonist's licentious character: "...el publico aplaude los peores sentimientos, porque es regia que la galeria se entusiasme cuando dice Don Juan: *Yo a los palacios subx— y a las cabaftas baje— y en todas partes deje— memoria triste de m£.tsicj Don Quijote, Don Juan 2 Is Celestina (Buenos Aires: Espasa-Calpe, I 9I4B), Vo. 3 Hanse apoderado de la figura historica de Don Juan, y hasta han pretend!do ac otarsela, los biologos, los fisio- logos, los medicos— y hasta, entre estos, los psiquiatrasl— , y hanse dado a escudriiSar si es— no si era— un onanista, un eunucoide, un esteril— ya que no un impotente— , un homo­ sexual, un esquizofrenico— £que es esto?— , acaso un suicida frustrado, un ex-futuro suicida. A partir, en general, de que no busca sino el goce del momento. Ni siquiera conser- varse, menos reproducirse, sino gozarse. Proceso catabolico, que diria un biologo.3 Don Juan, subject to so many literary, popular and scientific interpretations, has consequently outgrown the possibility of strict definition. To attempt to define this character is but to add more material to the already vast legend. There can be no single absolute interpretation acceptable to all. Don Juan will continue his career, always tempting and eluding those who would attempt to fix him in a single concept, and providing a vehicle for the expression of personal ideals and thought. For this reason a comparative study of the liter­ ary interpretations of Don Juan are an invaluable aid to a greater understanding of the author's themselves. The specific problem of this thesis is the reaction of the members of the ''Generation of *98" to Don Juan Tenorio and the legend surrounding him,^4- In the course of this work, we shall necessarily become involved in a general way with another important subject* There has been a common tendency among teachers and scholars to accept the "Generation of ’98" as such, that is to say, as a generational ^Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, El Hermano Juan (Madrid: Espasa> ^For a listing of the works devoted to Don Juan by these writers, cf. Singer, op. cit. unit. Reputable works have gone far toward establishing this theory. We might mention in particular Lain Entralgo's excellent study,-* to­ gether with Pedro Salinas1 essay^ which applies an exacting definition to this group of writers. The polemic, however, is still far from a definitive resolution. As Salinas has pointed out, even within the group, there was no agreement as to the existence of the generation: Pxo Baroja y Ramiro de Maeztu, en libros y en artlculos, han negado la existencia de esa generacion, en la que se les colocaba. Tenemos, pues, a individuos que fueron primeras cabezas de ese movimiento literario, Azorxn y Baroja, como re- p resent antes de las dos actitudes: la afirmativa y la negative de la existencia de la generacion del 98.7 Certain objections notwithstanding, the term ’'Generation of ’98” has been firmly established and will continue to be employed if only as a useful literary division and teaching tool. This need not be harmful if we are careful to avoid one prime danger, and this peril will cer­ tainly be intensified if and when the existence of the ’’Generation of *98" is fully established. The course of time will raise certain authors to immortality while it eclipses others. This is not to be regretted and is, in any event, inevitable, but we have no right to hasten the process and destroy the individuality of a literary artist, relegating him to the relative anonymity of membership in a group. This is a danger which we face, given our proximity to the period in question. 5Pedro Lain Entralgo, La generacion del noventa j ocho (Buenos Aires: Espasa-Calpe, 191*7)• 6pedro Salinas, ’’EL concepto de la Generacion Literaria apli- cado a la del 98” in his Literatura espaftola siglo XX (Mexico: Antigua Librerxa Robredo, 19l*9). It would be unfair to the writer— and possibly a sign of mediocre scholarship— to immerse him in an aggregation before we have thoroughly studied and understood his work and thought. Nevertheless, the possible relationships which may exist be­ tween writers are of paramount importance. When we are led to believe that strong bonds exist between certain authors, we are obligated to study this apparent literary kinship in detail. It may best be done by examining certain common themes or interests in terms of each individual and then relating the results to the group as a whole. Thus, it is our purpose to investigate the attitudes toward the Don Juan theme as they are expressed by certain writers of the early twentieth century commonly included in the "Generation of '98." Perhaps one of the major reasons for questioning the existence of the "Generation of *98" is the inability of the critics to come to an agreement on the exact membership of this group. This has compli­ cated our task, since it has been necessary to establish certain limits in this investigation. Among all of those who have been cited by various critics and historians, we have selected the four names most commonly associated with the "Generation of f9 8 " i Unamuno, Azorin, Baroja and Antonio Machado. Maeztu and Valle-Inclan have also been included in this study as writers frequently linked with this group and authors of well-known works touching on the Don Juan theme.