UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Death and Decay: The Religious, Aesthetic, and Philosophical Underpinnings of Ramón del Valle-Inclán's esperpentos Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/69x5n27h Author White, Jared S. Publication Date 2015 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Death and Decay: The Religious, Aesthetic, and Philosophical Underpinnings of Ramón del Valle-Inclán’s esperpentos DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Spanish by Jared Spencer White Dissertation Committee: Professor Gonzalo Navajas, Chair Professor Juan Villegas Assistant Professor Santiago Morales-Rivera 2015 © 2015 Jared Spencer White DEDICATION To Max, Sean, and Dylan, my three boisterous and beloved boys, so full of life and love; Emily, my patient, beautiful, and inspirational wife, for always seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, even when I couldn’t; friends, mentors, and colleagues, too numerous to count. I couldn’t have done this without you. “Le miroir brisé, il ne reste rien qui puisse nous servir pour répondre aux questions du siècle.” Albert Camus L’Homme révolté “The contemporary theatre is an eruption, a vile sickness of the cities. We need to expel that sickness, sweep it away with a broom.” Anton Chekhov, “Letter to I.L. Leontiev-Shcheglov” dated November 7, 1888 “¡Es pesada como una tesis doctoral!” El Bravo, puppet primer galán in Valle-Inclán’s La cabeza del dragón, while hoisting the titular cabeza ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................v CURRICULUM VITAE ................................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ..................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION: Decadent Quixotism I. A Hopeless Quijote ...........................................................................................................1 II. A Decaying God ..............................................................................................................5 III. Lost in Memory..............................................................................................................9 IV. Corruption and Conversion..........................................................................................13 V. Distorted Mirrors...........................................................................................................19 VI. Destructive Renewal ....................................................................................................22 CHAPTER 1: A Setting Son: Religious Decay and Secularization in Spain I. Sunset..............................................................................................................................25 II. Sonset ............................................................................................................................28 III. Carlism .........................................................................................................................33 IV. Militant Catholicism ....................................................................................................36 V. An Incorrigible Clergy ..................................................................................................41 V.1. Clerical Concubinage. ..........................................................................................43 V.2. Sacrilege ...............................................................................................................45 V.3. Superstition ..........................................................................................................46 VI. The Death of God ........................................................................................................51 VI.1. Cyclical Time......................................................................................................54 VI.2. Gnosticism ..........................................................................................................57 VII. An Accelerated Demise ..............................................................................................64 CHAPTER 2: Past Prowess, Present Impairment: Disfiguring the Don Juan Myth I. Deforming the Archetype ...............................................................................................67 II. The Original Don Juan ..................................................................................................69 III. A Devil in Disguise ......................................................................................................75 IV. Division in the Rakes ...................................................................................................79 V. An Aging Don Juan: Las sonatas .................................................................................85 VI. Don Juan Defeated .......................................................................................................94 VII. What Comes Before ...................................................................................................96 VIII. Glory in Defeat..........................................................................................................99 IX. Don Juan Disfigured ..................................................................................................103 CHAPTER 3: Clans, Caves, and Condemnation: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra and the Demise of hidalguismo I. Revolutionary Reform ..................................................................................................105 iii II. Mass Mentality and Ignoble Nobility..........................................................................110 III. Plato’s Cave ...............................................................................................................121 IV. Christian Reformation and Revaluation ....................................................................128 V. Nietzsche’s Spanish Reception at the Turn of the Century ........................................131 VI. Zarathustra’s Cave .....................................................................................................135 VI.1. Nietzsche’s Zarathustra ....................................................................................136 VI.2. Valle’s Zaratustra............................................................................................. 141 VII. In Conclusion ...........................................................................................................147 CHAPTER 4: The Phoenix’s Ashes: The Death of Melodrama and the Birth of the esperpento I. Engulfed in Flames .......................................................................................................150 II. El Fénix and Mass Appeal ..........................................................................................155 III. The Death of Tragedy and the Rise of Echegarayan Melodrama ..............................160 IV. Beyond Benavente .....................................................................................................165 V. From Above, Looking Down ......................................................................................168 VI. Concave Mirrors ........................................................................................................173 VII. Othello cornudo ........................................................................................................178 VIII. The Ashes of El Fénix .............................................................................................183 CONCLUSION: Death, Decay, and Transformation I. The Rat in the Armor ....................................................................................................186 II. Esperpentic Destruction ..............................................................................................189 III. Death and Decay ........................................................................................................192 IV. Valle’s Modern Relevance ........................................................................................195 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................198 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express deep appreciation to my committee chair, Professor Gonzalo Navajas, who has provided me with ample room to explore, grow, and develop as a scholar. A project that began with its roots firmly planted in Spain’s illustrious Siglo de Oro has found a home in its dynamic Generación del ’98. Without Professor Navajas’s extensive help and excellent advice, I could have never made that journey. Mil gracias. I would like to thank my committee members, Professor Juan Villegas and Assistant Professor Santiago Morales-Rivera, whose generous encouragement, support, and conversations helped move this project along. I cannot thank Professor Villegas enough for the opportunity he offered me to work alongside him with Gestos and am indebted to Professor Morales-Rivera for his encouragement and careful guidance. In addition, a heartfelt thank you to Professors Dale Pratt and Valerie Hegstrom,