Benito Perez Galdos

Benito Perez Galdos, 1843 – 1920, is one of Spain’s greatest writers. He has been called the Iberian Dickens, but I find his writing has much more depth and is vastly more detailed. I don’t believe any of his works are currently available in English translation unless you search used/out-of-print bookstores. I was fortunate to find what is considered his masterpiece, Fortunata and Jacinta, at such a store and I’m enjoying it immensely.

I’ll probably include passages from it from time to time (it will take me a while to finish it) since it isn’t readily available. Feel free to roll your eyes and skip these posts if you’re not interested.

The following takes place as Juanito Santa Cruz and Jacinta are returning from their honeymoon. During the trip, Jacinta has badgered Juanito (also nicknamed ‘the Dauphin’) to reveal details of his pre-marital tryst with Fortunata. Juanito grudgingly revealed facts little by little until one night, while drunk, he poured out everything that had happened between them. I find this passage amusing for the conflicting feelings Jacinta feels:

Jacinta let herself be caressed. She wasn’t angry. But in her soul, a phenomenon very new to her was taking place. She felt two different feelings shuffling, superimposing themselves, one, then the other. Since she adored her husband, she was proud that he had scorned the other woman for her. This pride is primordial and will always persist, even in the most perfect of beings. The other feeling stemmed from the virtue underlying her noble soul, and it inspired her to protest against his having abused and pitilessly abandoned the unknown woman. Try as he might to deny it, the Dauphin had abused humanity. Jacinta could not pretend that he had not. The victory of her vanity didn’t prevent her from seeing that underneath the trophy lay a crushed victim. Perhaps the victim did deserve it; but whether the woman deserved her fate or not was not Jacinta’s concern, and on the altar of her soul there was a tiny flame of compassion burning.