The Political Subtext of the Novel ‘Doña Perfecta’ by B. Pérez Galdós

Abstract

The article analyzes the political subtext of the novel Doña Perfecta by the Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdós. The novel, first published in 1876, just after the end of the Third Carlist War (1872–1876), tells the story of a young engineer Pepe Rey who comes to the fictional provincial town of Orbajosa to visit his aunt, Doña Perfecta. The ideological conflict between the protagonist and the inhabitants of Orbajosa leads to the death of the hero. The article reviews scientific works dealing with the novel. It is shown that some ideas about the political meaning of the novel that exist in literary criticism need to be corrected. Basing on the analysis of the text of the novel, it is concluded that the novel is set in April 1872, in the last days before the start of the Carlist uprising. An analysis is made of the images of Pepe and Doña Perfecta. Benito Pérez Galdós, who had liberal views at the time of writing the novel, endowed the protagonist of the novel with a similar worldview. The protagonist’s ideology is considered in the context of various social and political movements in Spain of the 1870s: Liberalism, Krausism, the ideology of the Cantonalist movement participants, and Anarchism. It is shown that Doña Perfecta and her entourage are supporters of the Carlist movement. The thoughts expressed by Doña Perfecta are analyzed in the context of the political discourse of the Spanish Carlists of the 1870s and compared with the memoirs of the era. The article refutes the notion existing in literary criticism that Doña Perfecta embodies the political regime existing in Spain. It is concluded that the novel can be interpreted as the author’s political manifesto directed against the Carlists, who lost the war of 1872–1876.