DEATH IN CONTEMPORARY NOVELS BY BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓS
DEATH IN CONTEMPORARY NOVELS BY BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓS

Summary/Abstract: In his eagerness to reflect life as faithfully as possible, Galdós could not have ignored the ending of it, that is, death. Many characters die in contemporary novels, at different ages and for various reasons. Infant mortality has a privileged place in Galdós’s literary canon, given the fact that it was very common for the 19th century society. Among the children who die, there are Fortunata’s first child, Ángel Guerra’s daughter, Torquemada’s son, Camila Bueno’s first child… Being afraid that her children might perish, Tristana says that she prefers not to have them at all. Alejandro Miquis is barely a young student when he dies of consumption, in El Doctor Centeno. Pepe Carrillo dies in Lo prohibido (“The Forbidden”) due to an illness unknown for the doctors of that time. Other characters perish after having lived enough. Doña Lupe and Torquemada, who earn their existence lending money with interest, die in their own beds. However, Francisco Viera, a young man of noble origin, but whose luck is practically inexistent, suffers a violent death in La incognita (“The unknown”); whether it was suicide or murder remains unsolved. In none of these cases does the author seem to be reluctant, but quite the opposite: he describes in a naturalistic way all the changes that the faces and the bodies of those who are in agony experience.

• Details
• Contents