Chapter 4

Galdós' only real comedy is distinctly a minor play, with a languid second act. The scene is laid in a wonderfully perfect Old Folks' Home. The hero is an inmate, once a jolly liver and spendthrift, who still enjoys every moment, while as a foil to him is placed a wealthy money-grubber, who at forty is ridden with a dozen plagues. There is much quiet humor, and some obvious symbolism,--perhaps also some not so obvious. That reformed profligates wish to restrict the pleasures of others, while the blameless allow them harmless freedom; that the money-seeker meets with torment, while the generous spender lives happily; that "peace, fraternity and innocent love of life are all God has given humanity, to make its passage through the world less painful"; these are the plain morals. It is thus united in spirit with Galdós' latest work. But the form in which this lesson is conveyed is not calculated to encourage a life of productive toil.

=16. _Zaragoza_,"= _"drama lírico en cuatro actos; música del maestro D. Arturo Lapuerta._ Saragossa, Teatro Principal, June 4, 1908.

This opera, only the libretto of which has ever been published, was given four nights during the centennial celebration of the siege of Saragossa, and was never performed elsewhere. The book is a mere scenario of the well-known _Episodio nacional_, and contains practically no spoken lines. It cannot be judged without the music. The chorus of citizens is the protagonist.

=17. _Casandra_=, _drama en cuatro actos_. Madrid, Teatro Español, Feb. 28, 1910. Adapted from the "novela en cinco jornadas" of the same name, 1905. The occasion of hot political demonstrations.

_Casandra_ is frankly anti-clerical, but with an Olympian irony, not bitterness. The central figure is an aged, childless widow, whose enormous wealth is eagerly awaited by a host of distant relatives. She changes her mind, and starts to give away her property to the Church, with natural disappointment to the heirs. Casandra, not an heir, but the mistress of an illegitimate son of Doña Juana's husband, is a woman without money-interest, but Doña Juana's desire to deprive her of her children and lover stirs her to stab the aged bigot. The novel is admirably genial, full of convincing characters and pregnant thoughts; the play much changed, and inferior to it. It teaches that Dogmatism is sterile and only Love is fertile. Only Love is powerful enough to drive away the specter that oppresses Spain. Unconscious well-doing alone aids humanity, not ostentatious aristocratic charity. It is doubtful if the elaborate allegory suggested by R. D. Perés (see above, p. xxii, note 1) was intended by Galdós.

=18. _Celia en los infiernos_=, _comedia en cuatro actos._ Madrid, Teatro Español, Dec. 9, 1913. Successful.

The story of a beautiful, good-hearted marchioness who, being an orphan, comes at the age of twenty-three into the free management of her enormous property. She soon becomes disgusted with society life, and, accompanied by an elderly confidant, disguises herself as a peasant girl, and visits the infernal regions of the slums, partly to learn how the other half lives, and partly to learn the fate of some former servants. After interviewing don Pedro Infinito, a half-demented astrologer and employment agent, who furnishes the best scene and the most interesting character in the play, they inspect a rag-picking factory. Celia buys it and promises to establish profit-sharing and old-age pensions, if all the workers will live decently. The project is hailed with delight, and the benefactress returns to her heaven. The rag factory is a symbol of Nature: "Nothing dies, nothing is lost; what we abandon as useless is reborn and again has a part in our existence." Only _silk rags_, the refuse of elegant things, are of no further use.

The plot of _Celia en los infiernos_ is romantically commonplace. In dramatic interest each act is weaker than the one before. The slums shown here would never appal an unaccustomed visitor. Moreover, Galdós abets in _Celia_ the vice of ill-considered charity which he condemned in _Mariucha_. Decidedly, the author's heart got the better of his intelligence in this play.

=19. _Alceste_=, _tragicomedia en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Princesa, April 21, 1914. _Succès d'estime._

The sacrifice of Queen Alceste, who dies in place of her husband, Admetus, was used for a drama by Euripides, and from his have been drawn many later plays, as well as a famous opera by Gluck. In his Preface Galdós details the changes which he introduced into the story, so many that his plot and characters may almost be considered original. Galdós has abandoned the surpassing lyric quality of the Greek, so far removed from his own genius, and set the theme down into a key of everyday humanity, at times half humorous. The figure of the queen has lost at his hands its poignant tenderness, but Admetus has gained in dignity, and the dramatic movement is much heightened. The realistic visualization of Pherés and Erectea, Admetus' selfish parents, the excision of the buffoonery in the rôle of Hercules, who restores the queen to life, are excellent adaptations to modern taste. Galdós' _Alceste_, mingling comedy and pathos with singular charm, power, and discretion, must henceforth take its place among superior modern interpretations of the story, beside Alfieri's severely dignified _Alceste seconda_ (1798). _Balaustrion's Adventure_ (1871) by Robert Browning is hardly more than a rude paraphrase of Euripides.

=20.= _=Sor Simona=, drama en tres actos y cuatro cuadros._ Madrid, Teatro Infanta Isabel, Dec. 1, 1915. Received with applause, but soon withdrawn.

The action takes place during the last Carlist war (1875) in Aragonese villages. Sister Simona is a runaway nun, thought slightly demented, who devotes herself to nursing the wounded of the war. She attempts to save the life of a young Alfonsist spy by declaring him her own son. This serves only to destroy her reputation for saintliness, and the situation is suddenly saved by an offer to exchange prisoners.

It will be seen that there is, properly speaking, no plot, and the ending is full of improbabilities. Once more Galdós, with characteristic persistence, has used the justifiable lie, which failed so signally in _Los condenados_. The work is saved by its poetic atmosphere and by the spiritual central figure. Charity is not to be imprisoned in convents; it is as free as the divine breath that moves the planets. God is reached by good works; the only fatherland worth fighting for is humanity; the only king, mankind. These are the teachings of _Sor Simona_. Her name is to be connected with Simon Peter, the cornerstone of the Church of Christ.

=21.= _=El tacaño Salomón=, comedia en dos actos._ Madrid, Teatro Lara, Feb. 2, 1916. (Sub-title, _Sperate miseri_.)

The scene is the modest home of a Madrid engraver who earns good wages, but is victimized by all who appeal to him for help. Stingy Salomón is sent him by a wealthy brother in Buenos Aires to assist his want if he will reform and acquire thrift. The engraver proves incorrigible, but, through his brother's death, receives the money nevertheless.

The play is of the same type as _Celia en los infiernos_, but is less interesting and even more improbable. In a way it is a complement to _Pedro Minio_, which taught the beauties of an open and generous life, while _El tacaño Salomón_ appears to preach thrift. But the author has hard work to become enthusiastic over that virtue, and at the close quite lets it slip away from him. Both _Celia_ and the present play are the work of a man who has despaired of accomplishing any good in society by logical and practical means, and resorts to the illusions of a child dreaming of a fairy godmother.

=22.= _=Santa Juana de Castilla=, tragicomedia en tres actos._ Madrid, Teatro de la Princesa, May 8, 1918.

A picture of the old age and death of Juana la Loca, the daughter of the Catholic Kings, and widow of Philip the Handsome. The Queen's mad passion for Philip is barely mentioned, her figure is idealized, and she is made a symbol of humility, self-effacement, and love for the humble. Closely guarded by a harsh agent of her son Charles V, she escapes for a day to a country village, where she talks in a friendly way with the peasants, discussing their problems with a simplicity which conceals much wisdom. To those who wish to use her name as a standard to restore the power of the common people, she insists that she desires nothing but darkness and silence in which to end her days. She had been suspected of heresy, because she read Erasmus, but the Jesuit Francisco de Borja, a man of saintly life, is with her at her death, and bears witness that her faith is untainted and that she will receive in the bosom of God the reward for her many sufferings.

As far back as 1907 Galdós was deeply interested in the life of this wretched Queen: "No hay drama más intenso que el lento agonizar de aquella infeliz viuda, cuya psicología es un profundo y tentador enigma. ¿Quién lo descifrará?"[14] In his interpretation of her last moments, Galdós has made the figure of the Queen vaguely symbolic of present-day Spain, like Laura of _Alma y vida_. But she embodies still more the soul of the aged author, blind, feeble, living in silence and obscurity, absorbed in contemplation of approaching death.

[Note 14: _Prólogo_ to J. M. Salaverría: _Vieja España_, p. xxxiv; Madrid, 1907.]

The construction of the play is flawless, of diaphanous simplicity, the dialog is pure and brief, the characters are delicately outlined in a few sure touches. "A mournful, somber triptych," says Luis Brun of its three acts, "the central panel of which is lit by a ray of light." An atmosphere of serene melancholy broods over this admirable drama, fitting close to the career of a well-poised spirit.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

No definitive critical study has yet been made of any side of Galdós' work. The following list, by no means complete, does not include general histories of Spanish literature, encyclopedia articles or reviews in contemporary periodicals of first performances. The best of the last-named are those by Gómez de Baquero in _España moderna_. Criticisms dealing only with the novels of Galdós are not cited here.

_1. BIOGRAPHY_

Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), "Galdós" in _Obras completas_, tomo I, Madrid, 1912.

L. Antón del Olmet and A. García Carraffa, _Galdós_, Madrid, 1912. [Contains the most information.]

"El Bachiller Corchuelo" (González Fiol), "Benito Pérez Galdós," in _Por esos mundos_, vol. 20 (1910, I), 791-807; and vol. 21 (1910, II), 27-56. [Important.]

William Henry Bishop, in _Warner's Library of the World's Best Literature_, vol. XI, pp. 6153-63.

"El Caballero Audaz" (José María Carretero), _Lo que sé por mí_, 1ª serie, Madrid, 1915, pp. 1-11.

E. Díez-Canedo, "La Vida del Maestro," in _El Sol_, Jan. 4, 1920.

Archer M. Huntington, "Pérez Galdós in the Spanish Academy," in _The Bookman_, V (1897), pp. 220-22.

Rafael de Mesa, _Don Benito Pérez Galdós_, Madrid, 1920.

Emilia Pardo Bazán, "El Estudio de Galdós en Madrid," in _Nuevo teatro crítico_, agosto de 1891, pp. 65-74. (_Obras completas_, vol. 44.)

B. Pérez Galdós, "Memorias de un desmemoriado," in _La esfera_, vol. III, 1916 (especially the first two instalments).

B. Pérez Galdós, _Prólogo_ to J. M. Salaverría, _Vieja España_, Madrid, 1907.

Camille Pitollet, "Comment vit le patriarche des lettres espagnoles," in _Revue de l'enseignement des langues vivantes_, Feb. 1918 (vol. XXXV).

Camille Pitollet, "Le monument Pérez Galdós à Madrid," in _Revue de l'enseignement des langues vivantes_, Feb. 1919 (vol. XXXVI).

Luis Ruiz Contreras, _Memorias de un desmemoriado_, Madrid, 1916, pp. 10, 65-72.

_2. CRITICISM_

J. M. Aicardo, _De literatura contemporánea_, Madrid, 1905, pp. 316-50. [A Catholic point of view.]

Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), _Galdós_, Madrid, 1912. [Already a classic.]

Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), _Palique_, Madrid, 1893.

Rafael Altamira, _De historia y arte_ (estudios críticos), Madrid, 1898, pp. 275-314.

Rafael Altamira, _Psicología y literatura_, Madrid, 1905, pp. 155-56 and 192-98.

Andrenio (Gómez de Baquero), _Novelas y novelistas_, Madrid, 1918, pp. 11-112.

Anonymous, "Benito Pérez Galdós," in _The Drama_, May, 1911, pp. 1-11 (vol. I).

Azorín, "Don Benito Pérez Galdós," in _Blanco y negro_, no. 1260 (July 11, 1915).

Azorín, _Lecturas españolas_, Madrid, 1912, pp. 171-76.

R. E. Bassett, in _Modern Language Notes_, XIX (1904), pp. 15-17.

Luis Bello, _Ensayos e imaginaciones sobre Madrid_, Madrid, 1919, pp. 95-129.

Christian Brinton, "Galdós in English," in _The Critic_, vol. 45 (1904), pp. 449-50.

Manuel Bueno, _Teatro español contemporáneo_, Madrid, 1909, pp. 77-107.

Barrett H. Clark, _The Continental Drama of To-day_, New York, 1915, pp. 228-32.

Barrett H. Clark, in _Preface_ to _Masterpieces of Modern Spanish Drama_, New York, 1917.

José Díaz, _Electra_, Barcelona, 1901.

Havelock Ellis, "_Electra_ and the progressive movement in Spain," in _The Critic_, vol. 39 (1901), pp. 213-217.

Havelock Ellis, "The Spirit of Present-day Spain," in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. 98 (1906), pp. 757-65.

A. Gassier, _Théâtre espagnol_, Paris, 1898, pp. 308-13.

J. Geddes, Jr., _Introduction_ to edition of _Marianela_, New York, 1903.

Georges Lenormand, "A propos de l'_Electra_ de D. Benito Pérez Galdós," in _Revue hispanique_, VIII (1901), pp. 567-73.

J. León Pagano, _Al través de la España literaria_, Barcelona, 1904, II, 77-112.

Eduardo de Lustonó, "El primer drama de Galdós," in _Nuestro tiempo_, 1902, I, pp. 155-65.

E. Martinenche, "_El Abuelo_," in _Revue latine_, IV, 419-28.

E. Martinenche, "Le théâtre de M. Pérez Galdós," in _Revue des deux mondes_, 5me période, vol. 32, pp. 815-50 (1906). [This is, as far as it goes, by far the best study yet made of Galdós' drama. It appeared in a Spanish translation in _España moderna_, no. 210, pp. 118-58.]

Antonio Maura, _Necrología de D. Benito Pérez Galdós, discurso pronunciado en la Real Academia Española_. Madrid, 1920. [Contains as appendix a useful _Catálogo sincrónico_ of Galdós' works, compiled by Cotarelo.]

M. Menéndez y Pelayo, "Discurso leído ante la Real Academia Española en la recepción pública del 7 de febrero de 1897" (reprinted in his _Estudios de crítica literaria_, 5ª serie).

Luis Morote, _Teatro y novela_, Madrid, 1906, pp. 59-75, 259-70.

E. Pardo Bazán, "_Realidad_," in _Obras completas_, vol. VI, 197-239. [A splendid interpretation written in 1892.]

R. D. Perés, "_Casandra_," in _Cultura española_, 1906, pp. 135-38.

Ramón Pérez de Ayala, _Las máscaras_, Madrid, 1917, pp. 17-102. [By a fervent admirer.]

J. Pérez de Guzmán, "_Electra_ en América," in _La Ilustración española y americana_, 1901, II, pp. 230-31.

Ricardo Rojas, _El Alma española_, Valencia, n.d., pp. 87-106.

Boris de Tannenberg, "B. Pérez Galdós," in _Bulletin hispanique_, II (1900), pp. 340-50.

C. A. Turrell, _Introduction to Contemporary Spanish Dramatists_, Boston, 1919, pp. 10-12.

F. Vézinet, _Les maîtres du roman espagnol contemporain_, Paris, 1907, pp. 41-128.

R. W. Waldeck, "Benito Pérez Galdós, Novelist, Dramatist and Reformer," in _The Critic_, vol. 45 (1904), pp. 447-49.

Elizabeth Wallace, "The Spanish Drama of To-day," in _The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. 102 (1908), pp. 357-66.

José Yxart, _El arte escénico en España_, I, Barcelona, 1894, 309 to end, _passim_. [Objective and historical.]

MARIUCHA

COMEDIA EN CINCO ACTOS

Estrenada en el Teatro Eldorado de Barcelona el 16 de Julio de 1903

PERSONAJES

MARÍA SRA. GUERRERO FILOMENA, Marquesa de Alto-Rey SRTA. CANCIO VICENTA PULIDO, alcaldesa SRTA. VILLAR TEODOLINDA, viuda americana, millonaria SRA. MARTÍNEZ CIRILA, criada SRA. BUENO MENGA, jovenzuela, vendedora en la plaza SRTA. BLANCO SEÑORA de González SRA. SEGURA SEÑORITA SRTA. TORRES ÍDEM SRTA. VILLAR (D.) LEÓN SR. DÍAZ DE MENDOZA (D.F.) D. PEDRO DE GUZMÁN, Marqués de Alto-Rey y de San Esteban de Gormaz SR. MEDRANO CESÁREO, su hijo SR. DÍAZ DE MENDOZA (D.M.) DON RAFAEL, cura párroco SR. CIRERA CORRAL, plebeyo enriquecido SR. GUERRERO EL ALCALDE de Agramante SR. JUSTE EL POCHO, mayoral y alquilador de coches SR. URQUIJO BRAVO, juez municipal SR. SORIANO VIOZCA ROLDÁN, contratista SR. MANRIQUE GIL

_Villa de Agramante 1903_

MARIUCHA

ACTO PRIMERO

Sala en el palacio de Alto-Rey. El soberbio artesonado es el único vestigio de la antigua magnificencia. Las paredes desnudas; el mueblaje moderno, poco elegante; algunas piezas, ordinarias. Puerta al fondo y a la derecha. A la izquierda, ventana o balcón. Cerca de éste una mesa de escribir. A la derecha, sillón de respeto, sillas. Es de día.

ESCENA PRIMERA

CIRILA, arreglando y limpiando los muebles; CORRAL, EL POCHO, que entran por el fondo. Corral viste con afectación y mal gusto, ostentando brillantes gordos en la pechera, cadena de reloj muy llamativa y sortijas con piedras de valor.

POCHO. ¿Dan su permiso?

CIRILA. Adelante.

CORRAL. ¿No han vuelto de misa los señores?

CIRILA. No tardarán. (_Displicente._) ¡Vaya, otra vez aquí estos moscones! 5

POCHO. Otra vez, y cien más, hasta que...

CORRAL. Perdone la señora Cirila, yo no vengo a cobrar.

CIRILA. Viene a fisgonear, que es peor, y a meter sus narices en las interioridades de la casa... 10

CORRAL. Ea, no despotrique, señora.

CIRILA. (_Aparte._) ¡Farsante!

POCHO. Yo no hago papeles. Vengo por el aquél de mi propio derecho. (_Saca un papel y lo muestra._) El Sr. D. Pedro de Guzmán, Marqués de Alto-Rey y 15 de San Esteban de Gormaz, es en deber a Francisco Muela, apodado _El Pocho_, la cantidad de...

CIRILA. Basta.

POCHO. Por cuatro servicios de coche...

CIRILA. ¡Agobiar al señor por tal porquería!... 20

CORRAL. Ya cobrarás, Pocho. (_Dando largas._) Ten paciencia...

POCHO. ¡Paciencia!... que es como decir hambre.

CIRILA. (_Incomodada, señalándoles la puerta._) Hagan el favor... Tengo que hacer... 25

POCHO. Yo espero al señor.

CORRAL. Dos preguntas no más, señora Cirila, y perdone. Aún no hace un mes que estos señores Marqueses vinieron acá de Madrid huyendo de la quema. ¿Es cierto que se encuentran ya en situación tan precaria 30 que...?

CIRILA. Para nadie es un secreto que los que ayer fueron poderosos hoy no lo son.

CORRAL. Sí: ya saben hasta los perros de la calle que la casa de Alto-Rey es casa concluida. Hace más 35 de veinte años que viene cayendo, cayendo, y por fin... (_Con afectada pena._) ¡Las volteretas que de este mundo loco!... En la villa se dice que los señores Marqueses han llegado a carecer hasta de lo más preciso para la manutención. 40

POCHO. Y que se ven y se desean para poner un puchero.

CIRILA. ¡Eh... habladurías!

CORRAL. (_Queriendo internarse por la derecha._) Déjeme, déjeme ir a la cocina a ver qué es lo que guisan... 45

CIRILA. (_Deteniéndole._) Alto ahí... ¡Qué desvergüenza!

POCHO. ¡Si ni tan siquiera tendrán lumbre!

CORRAL. Hay que ver...

POCHO. (_Por Cirila._) ¡Cómo les tapa la miseria! 50 Ésta no les abandona en la desgracia.

CORRAL. Eso es nobleza.

CIRILA. Gratitud. Les quiero...

CORRAL. Particularmente a la señorita María.

CIRILA. ¡Mi niña del alma! Yo la crié; la he servido 55 desde que vino al mundo. Más que cariño, por ella tengo adoración.

POCHO. Y qué re-bonita, y qué re-maja, y qué re-salerosa es la niña, ¡Cristo con ella! No le faltará un ricacho que la saque de pobre. Anímese, don Faustino... 60 Usted rico, usted el más elegante caballero de nuestra villa... ¡Qué mejor proporción...!

CORRAL. (_Pavoneándose._) Verdaderamente, no es uno saco de paja... De menos nos hizo Dios.

POCHO. Pues si yo fuera don Faustino del Corral, 65 cualquiera me quitaba a mí esa niña, ¡Cristo con todos! Si tuviera yo esos diamantes en la pechera, esa cadena de reloj y esos anillos refulgentes, y lo que hay en casa, ¡Cristo conmigo! los dinerales que diz que tenemos en el Banco, ¿eh?... aguardando colocación... 70

CORRAL. No es tanto, Pocho. Algo se ha trabajado y no falta para unas sopas. (_A Cirila._) Ahora, la última pregunta si usted no se incomoda.

CIRILA. Diga.

CORRAL. ¿Es cierto que el propietario de este palaciote 75 de Alto-Rey lo cede gratuitamente a los señores Marqueses?

CIRILA. Así lo entiendo.

POCHO. ¡Y luego dicen...! ¡Vaya, que estos nobles tronados siempre caen de pie! Vendió el Marqués este 80 caserón hace diez años por un pedazo de pan...

CORRAL. ¿Hase visto mayor locura? Si hubiera estado yo en Agramante, no se me escapa esa ganguita... Compró la casa el sastre Diego López, que ha sacado ya triple del coste con el producto de las estancias bajas y 85 altas que tiene alquiladas. Y ahora, el hombre puede permitirse un rasgo: cede al Marqués las habitaciones mejores...

CIRILA. (_Que ha mirado por el fondo._) Los señores vienen. 90

CORRAL. (_Aparte al Pocho._) Ten comedimiento, Pocho. Hazte cargo de la pobreza...

POCHO. ¿Pues y la mía? ¡Cristo con...! (_Corral le manda callar. Se apartan a la izquierda._)

ESCENA II

Los mismos; DON PEDRO, cabizbajo: detiénese en la puerta como esperando a alguien. Conserva en su miseria la nobleza de la figura. El traje, aunque revelando bastante uso, es de corte y telas elegantes. Acude Cirila a recogerle el abrigo y sombrero.

CIRILA. ¿Y la señora Marquesa? 95

DON PEDRO. Detrás viene con María y el señor Cura. (_Entra despacio, abstraído._) ¿Qué... hay visitas?

CORRAL. (_Oficioso._) Señor Marqués, ¿cómo va ese valor?

DON PEDRO. Tirando, amigo, tirando... (_Sobresaltado, 100 al ver al Pocho._) ¡Otra vez este maldito Pocho!

CIRILA. ¡Desdichado señor!... ¡A lo que ha llegado! (_Vase por la derecha._)

POCHO. Vuecencia me dijo que hoy...

DON PEDRO. (_Con arrebato de cólera, bastón en mano._) 105 Dije a usted que le avisaría...

POCHO. Perdone vuecencia... pero...

DON PEDRO. Es mucho molestar... ¡Es grande impertinencia...!

POCHO. Necesidad, señor. Soy un pobre. 110

CORRAL. Paciencia, Pocho. Puedes volver...

DON PEDRO. Cuando se le avise... Espere... (_Se sienta en el sillón._)

POCHO. (_Con entereza._) Podré alimentarme de tronchos de berza, de cortezas de chopo; pero no de las buenas 115 palabras de vuecencia. Págueme, o de aquí me voy al Juzgado municipal...

CORRAL. ¡Pocho...!

DON PEDRO. (_Variando de tono ante la amenaza._) ¡Qué injusta desconfianza!... Pocho, venga usted aquí. 120 (_Llamándole, cariñoso._) Mi buen amigo... (_Le toma la mano._) ¿Cómo puede dudar...?

POCHO. No es duda, es pobreza.

DON PEDRO. (_Dolorido, con afectada mansedumbre._) Vaya, vaya, sosiéguese el buen Pocho. (_Dándole palmaditas 125 en la mano._) Y no dude que, con el pago, tendrá una buena gratificación... Es muy justo. (_Entran por el fondo Filomena y don Rafael._)

POCHO. Yo cedo a vuecencia la propina si hoy mismo... 130