Life and works

Benito Pérez Galdós was one of the best representatives of the realist novel of the 19th century. Some experts and scholars even consider him one of the greatest Spanish novelists, second only to Cervantes. 

He became the most significant author in Spanish Realist literature, enjoying great prestige among his contemporaries. He wrote 31 novels, 46 Episodios Nacionales, 23 plays, and the equivalent to 20 volumes of short fiction and journal articles. As an author, he achieved a deep understanding of human beings and their passions. He continuously offered reflections on the Spanish society of his time, which he tried to dissect in his writings. The author reproduced like no other the social reality of his age, and created environments, costumes, situations and events. To do so he observed carefully, took notes and compiled information on his surroundings.

Galdós was born 10 May 1843 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as the youngest of ten children. His father was a lieutenant colonel in the army and his mother a Basque woman with a strong temper. He received a strict and religious education, but it was not an obstacle for him to get acquainted, at a very young age, with liberalism, a doctrine that would guide the first steps of his political career. 

Galdós' musical talents and his interest in drawing were noticeable early on in his life. He was not a particularly  brilliant student, but his memory and observation skills were remarkable. He seemed to be interested in everything and he liked to later recount the information he gathered. Because of that he was quickly introduced into the journalistiic circles in the islands. 

 The author moved to Madrid in 1862 in order to study Law, but became more interested in the literary and political circles in the capital. Galdós would eventually choose to pursue a career in writing, especially after finishing his first novel, La Fontana De Oro (1870), which was influenced by his journalistic style. Francisco Giner de los Ríos introduced him to Krausism, a doctrine clearly reflected in his works.

Galdós wrote articles for several publications, like La Nación or La Ilustración de Madrid. He was the director of La Revista De España. In 1868 he travelled to Paris and became the first person to translate the novels of Charles Dickens, an author he deeply admired, for a Spanish audience.

Galdós discovered Naturalism through L'Assommoir, by Émile Zola. Reading it made him change the way he wrote his novels, and he started to incorporate in his work the typical methods used in this literary movement, more advanced than realism. One of them was the scientific observation of reality, especially through psychological analysis, and always presented with a hint of humour. 

The publication of the Episodios Nacionales began in 1873 with Trafalgar. The last one, Cánovas, would be published in 1912. The Episodios Nacionales are a set of 46 not very extensive novels divided into 5 series. Galdós tried to narrate the history of Spain in the 19th century in a novelistic way. These novels mix historical and fictional characters, as well as significant political and military events with private and everyday occurrences, which results in a dynamic history that appears close to the real lives and sentiments of his contemporaries.

The novels La desheredada (1881) and Ángel Guerra, are imporant within the world of Galdós. They are the starting point of the"Spanish contemporary novels" cycle, in which the author created a universe of his own that runs parallel to Spanish society. These texts are also his first attempt to use the teachings of naturalism in an a more original and creative way.

Galdós' most celebrated novel is  Fortunata y Jacinta, published in four volumes between 1886 and 1887. It is considered the most important narrative work written in Spanish after El Quijote. The plot allows the author to represent some of the geographical and historical landscapes in the city of Madrid, as well as the sociological traits of the citizens that inhabit it. 

From 1886 to 1890 Pérez Galdós was a deputy in Sagasta's party, even though the ultra-catholic opposition kept attacking him for writing Doña Perfecta (1876), a novel they considered an anticlerical pamphlet. 

After his candidacy was rejected a few years priors, he finally became a part of the Real Academia Española in 1897.

That same year, Galdós published Misericordia, one of his best novels. It is set in Madrid and it tells the story of the pitiful lives of two beggars. In this book the author delves into the underworld, presenting it through a Natualistic style of writing that he combined with spiritualism, which softens the harsh environmets he describes. The main character, Benina, is the most authentic evangelical character in Spanish literature, as she confronts the egotism that surrounds her.

At the end of the 19th century the author spent long periods of time in Santander, where he organized interesting gatherings that the greatest figures of culture at the time attended. 

Although he wrote more than 20 theatre plays, Galdós barely achieved any success in this field. However, the premiere of Electra (1901) became a national event.

He returned to Congress as a republican in 1907, and two years later, alongside Pablo Iglesias, led the "Republican-Socialist Conjunction". He was not awarded the Nobel prize, perhaps due to his rather liberal ideology.

Galdós never married, but he is said to have had multiple love affairs. The most popular might be his relationship with the writer Emilia Pardo Bazán, whom he considered one of his most sincere confidants and collaborators, as shown by his letters.

In 1912, the author ceased both his political and literary activities beause he became ill with arteriosclerosis and a progressive blindness. He died 4 January 1920 in Madrid, ruined and victim to his ailments. More than 20,000 people walked alongside his casket on his way to La Almudena cemetery.

Episodios Nacionales: 

The Episodios nacionales are a set of 46 historical novels written between 1872 and 1912. They are divided into five series and encompass the history of Spain from 1805 to 1880, approximately. Galdós recounts the most important events on Spanish history in the 19th century through the eyes of fictional characters, from the Spanish War of Independence to the years of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain.

They started being published in 1873 with the generic title of Episodios Nacionales, which was suggested by José Luis Albareda, friend of the author. In one of his studies Ricardo Gullón (Galdós, novelista moderno), defines the intention of the Canarian writer with these words: «the first idea Galdós had was to narrate for everyone the stories of History».

In the first series the majority of the episodes follow the adventures and love affairs of Gabriel de Araceli throughout Spain, between the years 1805 and 1812. There are ten titles, all published between 1873 and 1875: Trafalgar, La Corte de Carlos IV, El 19 de marzo y el 2 de mayo, Bailén, Napoleón en Chamartín, Zaragoza, Gerona, Cádiz, Juan Martín el Empecinado and La batalla de los Arapiles.

The main character (although not always the protagonist) in the second series is Salvador Mansalud, a soldier under the orders of Joseph Bonaparte. His girlfriend Jenara, who represents traditional Spain, and Soledad, who symbolizes the Spain of the future, appear with him in these episodes. This second series was published between 1875 and 1879 and it is also composed by ten episodes: El equipaje del Rey José, Memorias de un cortesano de 1815, La segunda casaca, El Grande de Oriente, 7 de julio, Los cien mil hijos de San Luis, El terror de 1824, Un voluntario realista, Los Apostólicos and Un faccioso más y algunos frailes menos.

It seems that Galdós thought the second series would be the end of the Episodios Nacionales, but after the Disaster of '98 (Spanish-American War) and the significant historical context the country was living in, he decided to continue almost 20 years after the publication of the second series, writing 3 additional ones. 

This time, as a mature author, much more experienced in the art of narration, the writing of the ten episodes that comprise the third series took him less than three years. They were published between 1902 and 1906: Zumalacárregui, Medizábal, De Oñate a la Granja, Luchana, La campaña del Maestrazgo, La estafeta romántica, Vergara, Montes de Oca, Los Ayacuchos and Bodas Reales.

The fourth series encompasses the events that happened between the revolutions of 1848, the misfortunes of Isabel II's reign, and the eventual triumph of the Revolution of 1868. This time the main character is a rich young man from la Alcarria, José García Fajardo. This series includes the following episodes: Las tormentas del 48, Narváez, Los duendes de la camarilla, La revolución de julio, O’Donnell, Aitta Tettauen, Carlos VI en la Rápita, La vuelta al mundo en la Numancia, Prim and La de los tristes destinos.

The fifth series's time period is marked by the Glorious Revolution and the years of the Restoration at the beginning of the century. The last six episodes are characterized by an ironic, mocking and sarcastic tone that defines the literary style of the author in his late career. This last series includes: España sin rey, España trágica, Amadeo I, La Primera República, De Cartago a Sagunto and Cánovas.