LAS DOS ESPAÑAS: TWO APPROACHES IN THE NOVEL OF THE 1840’S

The Spanish nove!, which began showing signs of revival after 1833, was reborn during a time of great social and political upheaval. Romantic writers, seeing themse1ves on the threshold of a new age, reacted in one of two ways: they either took refuge in nature and in the exoticism of passed eras or faced the issues realistically. This duality is found in the novel: romantic fiction reflected a desire for escapism in historical romances and adventure novels while realistic fiction showed an interest in novels based on contemporary customs, The more liberal climate which prevailed after the death of Ferdinand VII and the long neglected problems which required immediate attention made these early Realists morally and socially conscious. In spite of the Romantic mood of the times, the intellectual elite of Isabeline Spain were rationalists who believed in the perfectibility of man and in the role of literature to achieve this end. The literary criticism between 1833 and 1850 stresses the utilitarian function of the novel and its transcendental value.' Novels of this type were known as novelas filosóficas or transcendentales, and their aim was to paint an objective picture of contemporary Spanish society.

The philosophic novel and the tendentious novel The Spanish nove!, which began showing signs of revival after 1833, was reborn during a time of great social and political upheaval. Romantic writers, seeing themse1ves on the threshold of a new age, reacted in one of two ways: they either took refuge in nature and in the exoticism of passed eras or faced the issues realistically. This duality is found in the novel: romantic fiction reflected a desire for escapism in historical romances and adventure novels while realistic fiction showed an interest in novels based on contemporary customs, The more liberal climate which prevailed after the death of Ferdinand VII and the long neglected problems which required immediate attention made these early Realists morally and socially conscious. In spite of the Romantic mood of the times, the intellectual elite of Isabeline Spain were rationalists who believed in the perfectibility of man and in the role of literature to achieve this end. The literary criticism between 1833 and 1850 stresses the utilitarian function of the novel and its transcendental value.' Novels of this type were known as novelas filosóficas or transcendentales, and their aim was to paint an objective picture of contemporary Spanish society.
The historical situation also served to crystalize the political outlook of many writers, and their works began to reflect the ideological battle between traditional and modern Spain. Novelists declared themselves in favor of a particular faction and used the geme to expound their political theses. These novels were known as novelas tendenciosas. In 1848 Antonio Neira de Mosquera, one of the period's most perceptive critics, wrote tha~the modern Spanish novelist should depict the growing dichotomy between the two SpaIn~by either taking sides or trying to reconcile the differences.? Neira seems to be referfIng to the opposing trends in Spanish prose fiction: the tendentious nove1 which ;ng~es in debate and the philosophic novel which scrutinizes contemporary mores. t: aruSh fiction before Galdós is characterized by the preponderance of the former and r e SCarceness of the latter. Nevertheless, some writers or the 1840's were less contenous: and they cultivated a novel of analysis and thus laid the foundation for modern pamsh fiction.

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The novel takes place during the 1830's after the death of Ferdinand VII when Spain was torn by internal strife and revolutions. Ros realized that he was living during times of change. He points out that revolutions alter not only political structures, but also the traditional mores of society: Una nación que se revoluciona, y una sociedad que se disuelve, se asernejan..... En uno y otro caso los más sagrados vínculos se rompen; domina Ia ambición; piérdense Ias creencias; Ias pasiones imperan; Ia ley sucumbe; se esconde Ia virtud, y Ia osadía triunfa de Ia razón y Ia esclaviza. (41) The main purpose of the novel is to study the shifting moral values taking place in Spain during hís time. Almost everyone in the novel is motivated by self-interest. Luisa arranged the marriage of her daughter to the Count for his social position, while the Count marries her for her money. Fernando casts aside his social and moral ideals for selfísh motives. When Teresa and the Count are imprisoned on grounds of conspiring against the govemment, Femando defends the Count in court, not because he believes that he is innocent, but in order to free the woman he loves. Ros also points out how immorality ís hidden beneath a shield of dignity and respect. Teresa has illicit relations with Fernando only after Gustavo has convinced her that it is morally acceptable: "A Teresa no sólo le pareció adrnisible, sino razonable y hasta moral Ia proposición de G~~.
her daughter, quickly seeks out a Baron and mames him.
Ros also comments on the different political factions which were struggling for remacy in the 1830's. The three male characters, Fernando, Gustavo, and the Count, each represent a different political ideology. Fernando is a rebel who sides with thẽ berals since he sees a need for social and political change, but like many young men of jus generation, he suffers from the mal du siécle. By allowing his emotions and his ersonal interests to govern him, he sacrifices his social ideals. The Count represents the fraditional ruling class which, due to the historical situation, found itself in a precarious and awkward position. When Ferdinand VII died, he named his infant daughter, Isabel 11, as hís successor, but Ferdinand's brother, Carlos, claimed the crown, invoking the Salic law which prohibited a woman from inheriting the throne. A civil war immediately broke out in which the ultra-conservatives sided with the Carlist faction. The Queen Regent, María Cristina, and the aristocracy, in order to protect themselves and their comfortable, influential positions, joined the liberals against the Carlists. The oligarchy became "liberalized," but they really sympathized with the ideology of the conserva tive Carlísts.? Ros understood this ambivalence of the Spanish aristocracy: "Si en el riãón de Ia monarquia y desde Ia residencia de Ia corte hubiese partido el pronunciamiento carlista, yo no sé si todo Ia parte de Ia nobleza que se encuentra hoy ligada a los intereses constitucionales, 10 estaría"( 44). The Count ís a member ofthe "liberal" oligarchy, but he secretly opposes moderation and social change.
Gustavo is also a symbol. From hís strange appearance in the novel, the reader senses his satanic qualities. As Fernando is seated at his desk, "con Ia frente reclinado en Ia mano derecha, el codo apoyado sobre Ia mesa," Gustavo appears. This scene was probably inspired by a similar one in Cervantes' prologue to the first part of Don Quixote where a "friend" appears to offer advice to the ,frustrated author. But while Cervantes' friend gives him constructive guidance, Gustavo's appearance only serves to upset Fernando's ideals and moral values. Gustavo represents the devil. He poses as Fernando's friend, but rather than dissuading him from pursuing an impossible love affair with a married woman, he makes it possible for Fernando to have a rendezvous with Teresa. L~te~, Gustavo turns against his friend to help the Count plot against Fernando. Viewed WIthm the syrnbolísm of the novel, Gustavo, metaphorically a devil, also represents those apathetic and uncommitted individuals who lack ideals and support the party in power. As he tells Teresa: "Soy Ia víctima y el producto de Ia embustera sociedad en que vivimos, condenado a! indiferentismo" (58).
. .Once it is established that each character represents a segment of Spanish society, then mteraction in the novel takes on a symbolic and allegorical meaning, Teresa may bẽ e~n as symbol of Spain. Through religion and moral tradition she ís bound to the Count lib e traditional, conservative oligarchy), but she secretly desires Fernando (modern, c er~ideas). The power struggle between the two men to possess Teresa represents the ontmuous conflict between conservatives and liberals which characterizes nineteenth-(:~tury Span~sh political history. The Count is victorious only through the aid ofGustavo th e uncOillmItted masses). Ros obviously felt that apathy, disloyalty, and hypocrisy were e most serious problems facing Spain, since Gustavo is the force majeur of the novel who disrupts the values and ideals of the characters. Ironically, Teresa is killed rather thill Fernando. Ros implies that Spain will eventually be destroyed by discord and civil war.
As a work of art, El diablo Ias carga is marred by its loose structure and lackp roportion. It seems to have been written hastily and carelessly, judging from the man) unc1ear sentences and sketchy paragraphs. The cryptic nature of the work and its affectes tyle add to its obscurity. But in spite of these shortcomings the work contains originf e ature s. As a Romantic, Ros tended to view reality in abstract terms, and he expressei the political conflicts of the times in a symbolic formo However, unlike other Rornant] novelists, he did not use the geme to defend his own liberal ideol ogy. Instead he tried t( account for the failure of the liberal revolution and prognosticate the future of Spain. In Dos mujeres (1842-43)8 Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda compares the livest wo women in the life of Carlos de Silva: his wife, Luisa, and his mistress, Catalina. Luis is destined from childhood to marry her cousin Carlos, and their union is happy in iu innocence and simplicity But Carlos is Iorced to leave his wife to attend to legal matten in Madrid. There he is thrust into Madrid society, and in spite ofhis attempts to avoid iú temptations, he falls under the spell of the vivacious Countess Catalina. Their love has ai of the passion and excitement missing in his marriage. His stay in Madrid is prolonged and finally Luisa follows Carlos to the capital. She immediately senses her husbandi indifference toward her and soon leams of his love affair. Her love for Carlos is so grea that in order to see him happy she tolerates his illicit relationship with Catalina. Thl latter, moved by such a humble act, realizes that it ís she who must yeld and commit suicide. Luisa remains with Carlos but she is deeply hurt and disillusioned by hil infidelity.
In his review of the novel, Neira de Mosquera noted that La Avellaneda had brought the two Spains face to face by contrasting the worlds of Luisa and Catalína.? Luisa is a product of the traditional beliefs of Leonor, her overpowering mother. With her rigid morality and austerity, Leonor represents conservative Spain. Her whole life has been dedicated to upholding the principies of the Spanish church and state and to resisting the permissiveness of French morality. She is a woman of tremendous power and determination who is capable of maneuvering others to her way of thinking. She is responsible for setting the novel in motion by prohibiting Carlos from going to Madrid to gain worldly experience before his marriage. Consequently, he is easily tempted later in life. Unlike her callous mother, Luisa possesses a keen sensibility which makes her highlr impressionable. Since she has been taught that a woman's place is to obey, she lacks self-confidence. For these reasons she is a pathetic figure; she is the victim both of circumstances and of a rigid, moral eduction which did not prepare her to handle the problems of life.
Before we actually meet Catalina we hear of her liberal French attitudes and Ia!' morals. Only later do we discover that she is a sincere and generous woman who refu seS to be subjected to the rigid moral laws of the 1840's. La Avellaneda places CarIo s between the permissive world of Catalina and the restrained world of Luisa. He vacilla teS between his duty to his wife and hís passion for his mistress. On another level, Carlo s lS tom between tradition and revolution. La Avellaneda was careful not to manifest heI own liberal inc1inations by representing one world more attractively than the other. BOW en possess strong sensibilities, and both commit mortal sins: Luisa condones adultery wo; Catalina eommits suicide. The reader's sympathies remain divided; we feel that the [ove between Catalina and Carlos should have triumphed because it is sincere and s~ontaneous, yet we accept that, legally, Carlos should remain with his wife.
La Avellaneda uses the conflict between the two Spains to analyse the relationship between ethics and religion. She appears to question a moral code based on religious doctrine:

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No es vivir Ia eterna lucha de Ia naturaleza con Ias leyes humanas. Carlos, amigo mío, no hay, no puedc haber crimen para el corazón sino en Ia falsedad y en Ia perfidia; no puedc ser virtud Ia hi pocresía. Arrojemos su máscara cobarde, y pues no hemos podido ser ángeles, sepamos al menos ser hombres. Amamos es una desgracia; pero enganar sería una infamia. (V, 149) Ihese ideas expressed by Catalina are not revolutionary; they are frequently found in sentimental fiction. Avellaneda's originality lies in the way she developes a simple love problem; by solving it rationally she exposes the fallacy of the moral code. Furthermore, the author does not resolve the problem; Catalina's suicide raises more questions than it answers. It is left to the reader to probe further.
While La Avellaneda examines the moral values of the two Spains, Jacinto Salas y Quiroga compares the ethical standards between materialists and idealists. In EI Dias dei siglo (I 848r o he contrasts the character of two men: the capitalist and miser Don Sisebuto de Soto, and the journalist and lawyer Don Félix de Montelirio. The two men are brought together accidentally; both fali in lave with the beautiful Otelina, daughter of Don Carlos de Zúüiga. They also confrant one another on a professionallevel. Montelirio has a client, Angustias, who has inherited some money from her deceased uncle, Sardina. The will states that Soto is to pay Angustias some money which he owed her uncle. Angustias, who knows of Soto's disreputable character, realizes that he will never pay her, and she seeks Montelirio's legal help. Montelirio investigates the business relations between Soto and Sardina and suspects certain shady operations. When Soto finds out that Montelirio may turn up some information which might point to his complicity with Sardína, he USeshis money and power, together with the help of the scheming Condesa de Florseca, to have Montelirio imprisoned for conspiring against the governrnent. While Montelirio is in solitary confinement, his probe ís pursued by Zúãiga and Angustias.~g ustias final1y discovers that Sardina is stilI alive and is, in fact, a prisoner in the same jail where Montelirio is confined. Sardina possesses the necessary documents to disclose Soto's . . I cnnuna and illegal operations. The conflict between Soto and Montelirio symbolizes the opposing forces of good nd evíl,~irtue and vice, spirituality and materialism, but not specificalIy the dichotomy et~een hberalism and conservatism. Montelirio, however, represents the liberal, not radical, cause, yet his battle cuts across party lines. As Salas states, Montelirio "quería Iã~g eneración de Espafía; pero al rnismo tiempo apetecía el imperio dei orden y de Ia b I~rtad, no para el vencedor, sino para el vencido también" (212). He ís a pacifist who e leves in non-violent social revolution organized by the people: "La revoIución, para ser santa ... debe ser hecho por Ia voluntad y con Ia cooperación de todos" (215).
Unlike most young Romantic rebels, Montelirio does not suffer from mal du siécl e , He is always able to think clearly, and he is governed by reason rather than by hU emotions. Although he falls in love with Otelina, he does not allow his personal feeling! to conflict with his social and moral commitments. His willingness to help Angustias recover her money is symbolic of his struggle against vice, bigotry, and corruption. However, Montelirio can not fight the forces of evil alone, and he appears to be losing 1he battle when he is unjustly imprisoned. While in confmement, he goes through periods oí extreme disillusionment, but he is steadfast in hís belief that good will eventually triumph over evil.
Soto, on the other hand, believes only in the power of money, which he feels is 1he "dios del siglo." He is unscrupulous and utilizes base and cruel tactics to acquire wealth, He makes most of his money illegally from speculation and counterfeiting, but he also exploits the poor and the innocent. Soto is confident in the power ofmoney. But when he discovers that Montelirio is delving into his business operations, he becomes uneasy, and his self-assuredness begins to waver. He realizes that his money can not buy everything. Zúüiga will not give him Otelina's hand in marriage, in spite of the high price he is willing to pay for her. He even offers Angustias the money which he owed her uncle if Montelirio will drop his charges, but the virtuous manola does not accept. Soto realizes that talent is as important as money, and he asks the clever Condesa de Florseca to help: "Instintivamente buscaba a un auxiliar en el talento, descubriendo que el oro no es suficiente elemento de guerra en una sociedad de organización tan complicada, donde tantas son Ias armas de ataque, y por consiguiente, tantas necesitan ser Ias armas de defensa" (289).
With money and ingenuity he succeeds in imprisoning Montelirio but he is unable to prevent other virtuous people from working to uncover his illegal operations. Soto's only remaining recourse is to kill Montelirio, and he arranges for a jug of poisoned wine to be placed in his cell. At this point in the novel, a supernatural force begins to operate upon the characters. Montelirio, seeing himself helpless, turns his fate over to the will of God: "Convencido de Ia pequenez deI hombre, de Ia insuficiencia de Ia razón, de Ia necesidad de Ia fe en un poder desconocido. .. . Entregóse en manos de Dios, cerró Ias ojos antes Ias mil dudas" (240-41). As a result, Montelirio does not drink the wine and instead gives it to Sardina. Before dying, Sardina reveals Soto's complicity in Zúniga'S murder. The intervention of a supernatural force is not merely a device used by the author to bring the novel to a happy conclusion. Salas' intention is to show that the "god of the century" is not money or talent: Soto's money is unable to stop Montelirio, ant he latter's talent is incapabIe of controling Soto. The true "Dios del siglo" ís faíth an virtue. Only if one has faith in God will vice and corruption finally succumb.
Salas does not offer solutions to remedy the sad state of affairs, but he does bIaJ1\e the moral imbalance in Spanish society on the conflict among social classes: E1 pobre sin moralidad se erige pronto en sefior deI pobre honrado, y el desnivel engendra en aquél soberbia, en éste rabia. De aquí esa sorda y constante lucha entre Ic 1asestodas de que se compone el pueblo: impotencia de parte de Ia víctima y jactan C1a de parte de aquellos que hallan abrigo entre los que debieron rechazarlo con desprecio. (315) He protests against a class system based on wealth and titles. The author would prefer one based on ethical values: La educación social, repartido aios hombres en grupos de casta distinta, sofoca todos érrnenes de dignidad en el corazón, y nos rebaja hasta el punto de oscurecer a nuestros jOSIa verdad santa de Ia igualdad en Ia pequenez humana. (197) The tragícconsequencesof Angustias' love for Montelirio stem from class differences. She understands the educational and cultural differences between her and Montelirio and feels that for this reason they could never be happy. Unfortunately, she does not realize that they are ethically and spiritually equal.
The characters of El Dios deI siglo are direct1y affected by the political and social clirnate of contemporary Spain. Zúíiiga becomes a cesante, in spite of his successful record as an ambassador, because of petty political intrigues. Meanwhile, pretendientes who are unqualified for the positions which they seek are given employment out of obligation for previous favors. Corruption is rampant. Soto is able to have Montelirio imprisoned by bribing the police officials. The judicial system seems to work against the individual since a suspect ís considered guilty until he is found innocent. The courts are not under the direct supervision of the govemment and have fallen into the hands of corrupt judges and jurors who can be bribed. Salas shows the bureaucratic system of the Spanish govemment at work. While Soto waits two hours to see an official in the Department of the Treasury, the receptionists are reading the newspapers, smoking, and talking. In order to convict Soto, Montelirio had to consult notaries, solicitors, attomeys, prosecutors, constables, and judges -"cadena interminable que suele empezar en Ia verdad y acabar en Ia mentira" (405). Journalism, which Salas believes to be the most effective way to bring about social and political change, has unfortunately become "una mera especulación, nacida de un deseo ambicioso y que termina por el desánimo o el triunfo." Joumalists must please those who fínance the newspapers, "y si por un tiempo logran conservar su sagrada independencia, más tarde ... se postran como esclavos" (148). Other social problems are also exposed in the novel. Antonio, who works as a page boy in a government offíce, does not receive his pay on time; his fellow employees inform him that the payrolIs are often six months late. The Cárcel de Corte is old, dirty, and run-down. The prisoners are all kept together without regard to the nature of their crimes. The better, private quarters are reserved for those who can pay. The description of the monotonous and cuIturally sterile life of the workers in Hermenengíldo's import shop may constitute the first portrayal of working conditions in the Spanish novel.
Salas sees a divided Spain and attributes it to the conflict between idealists and materialists. The latter, whose on1y aim was self-interest, were destroying the moral fiber of the country. He suggests a return to spirituality -the on1y force capable of Overcoming the perverted ethics of a scientific age. The author sympathizes with Montelirio's moderate ideology, which represents the ecIectic ideal so typical of Spanish politics and letters of the 1840's and 1850's, a system that all Spaniards could agree to, at eastin theory. The evil in EI Dios dei siglo is not tied to a particular political faction; mstead it represents a negative force which perverts the ethical standards of liberals and conservativesaIike.

The tendentious novelists: the feuiUetorists and Femán Caballero
Ros de Olano, La AvelIaneda, and Salas y Quiroga strove to explore the causes of contention in Spain. Although they hinted at solutions, they maintained a certain objectivity and thus kept the novel from becoming polemic. But their novels, which wer, early attempts at Realism, were not destined to serve as models for the next generation of Spanish novelists. In the early 1840's the social radicaIism of'Eugêne Sue, expressed in lengthy, declarnatory feuilletons, caught on in Spain like wildfire.l ' Their popularity can be easily understood. The feuilleton, with its complicated, melodrarnatic plots and strong social thesis satisfied both the committed and escapist sides of the Romantic temperamento FolIowing Sue's example, the feuilletons of Ayguals de Izco, Martínez Villegas, and Ramón de Navarrete used the novel as a pulpit to disseminate their sometimes radical social ideas.l ? Navarrete, for example, preferred the novels of Sue to those of Balzac because of their social utility, that could "facilitar Ia misión grande y santa de Ias legisladores y de los filántropos; así puede coayudar a Ia obra de Ia regeneración moral necesaria en nuestros días."! 3 Ayguals' Maria o Ia hija de un jornalero (1845)14 is a good exarnple of this typ 01 tendentious nove!. Ayguals sees the conflict between the two Spains as a battle between the rich and powerful against the poor and deprived. The novel's main theme is the oppression of the lower classes by the aristocracy, the church, and the governrnent. Fray Patricio, as a member of the clergy, carries weight with those in power who bend to his will. Ayguals would enact laws which could give social equaIity to everyone: "Lo que deseamos es igualdad ante Ia ley; castigo contra el delincuente, no contra el pobre, [usticía en pro de Ia inocencia, y no consideraciones aI rico; derechos sociales para todos Ias espaãoles; voto en todas Ias cuestiones para los pobres honrados" (I, 93). Ayguals calls for the establishment of unions which will help and protect the working man like Anselrno. who is able and willing to work but cannot find employment. Ayguals does not advocate a proletarian revolution to achieving social harmony, not by erasing the barriers between the rich and the poor, but by granting the lower classes alI the rights and opportunities afforded the rich. He sees poverty as the root of alI social evils. The poor man, unable to find work, succumbs to crime and vice when faced with hunger. The governrnent has no programs of rehabilitation and treats the victim as a criminal, putting him in pri son , which dehumanizes him even more. The remedy for this never-ending cycle is to insure equal opportunity and to educate the lowe classes to utilize their resourceS and understand their civil rights.
AyguaIs' most bitter attacks were reserved for the clergy.Fray Patricio is por~ayeã s perfidious and licentious. He stops at nothing to satiate his sexual desire for Mana an uses his political power to manipulate people for his selfish motives. According id AyguaIs, Fray Patricio was not an isolated example but a symbol of all the clergy an their traditional historical influence in Spain: "Su carácter, sus crímenes, su ambición, SU hipocresía, forman el tipo histórico de Ia mayor parte de 10s enemigos de~ues~: prosperidad" (11,340). He also condemns the tyrannicaI monarchs for oppressmg t a people: "Los sacrificios de los reyes seméjanse a los de los frailes, que ai abandonar se da suerte de placeres en medio dei lujo, de Ia opulencia, de los tesoros y de Ias~m odidades, solían exclamar compungidos: 'Todo sea por el amor de Dios' " (I, 224).
Ayguals supports divorce, equal rights for women, and free medical service for all; he opposes capital punishment, imprisonment without trial, and the celibacy of the clergy-He calls for prison reforms, better hospitals, and more efficient philanthropic institutions; he condemns the public officials, userers, and businessmen who exploit the poor. Maria could serve as a reference book on mid-nineteenth-century Spanish liberalismo The Spanish public of the time was more attracted by the melodrama, adventure, and sensationalism of the feuilleton than by its social message. As the geme developed into the 1850's and 1860's these elements eventually over-shadowed the original social motives of Ayguals and his followers. Ayguals' works, nonetheless, were extremely popular in its day and they posed a serious threat to traditional Spain. The novels of Fernán Caballero represent an ideological and technical reaction to the feuílleton.' 5 If Fernán Caballero artistically surpassed Ayguals, their intentions were identical; both saw the novel as a vehicle for ideas.
Fernán Caballero's works are firmly grounded in French and Spanish traditionalism, which was a doctrinal philosophic system and not merely a political stance. Traditionalists like De Bonald, De Maistre, Lamennais, and Chateaubriand had opposed the liberal ideas of the French Revolution, and they sought to prove the inefficacy of reason, since rationalism had led the French to conceive of political freedom and equality. The traditionalists made God, not the individual, the point of departure for their epistemological studies, since they claimed that revelation is transmitted directly frorn God to man and from ancestors to descendants. Truth, therefore, depends on authority and tradition rather than on reason. Laws are promulgated by God, not by man-made political systems. They insisted on the authority of the Catholic church and the monarchy, both of which formulate the ghidelines for social, moral, and political conduct. These ideas also forro the ideological basis of the thought of Jaime Balmes and Donoso Cortés.
Fernán Caballero learned of French conservatism from her parents. Her mother had been a friend of Chateaubriand and had shared his respect for the Catholic church and the monarchy.16 Dona Cecilia's correspondence is filled with praise for French traditionalists, and she regretted that they were not better known in Spain: 199 Esto es mi sempiterna desesperacíón, que no hay en Espana hombre que lea que no COnozca a Voitaire, Rousseau, y los enciclopedistas y sus sucesores, y que estes mísmos no conozcan a Bonald, de Maistre, Lamartine, y aún a Chateaubriand completo. 1 7 d Se~e~al of Fernán Caballero's major novels written before 1850 18 contrast liberal tradlhonal ideas, always showing the superiority of the latter. In La família de to vareda, Rosita's lack of respect for authority, morality, and tradition causes the nove! kiUe~~tragically when she plays up to Ventura's overtures causing her husband Perico to arnb'~m In La Gaviota, the author's intention is to show how modern urban life breeds oní lho~,~hich in turn leads to corruption and immorality. Virtue and goodness can y thnve in the simple life of the country. As one character forecasts when Stein and Estudos Ibero-Americanos, IV ( 1978) Marisalada arrive in Seville: "Estas gentes vivían contentos y sin ambición, y desde ahoẽ n adelante no podrán decir otro tanto" (I, 66).
In E/ia, the conflict between traditionalism and liberalism ís shown in several waYI Clara, Isabel's niece, who has lived in France, returns to Spain and tries to change th, antiquated customs and attitudes of her aunt. Clara, like most of Fernán CaballerO'1 "liberal" characters, is an agnostic and a skeptic who rejects established traditions anQ insists upon change for its own sake rather than for social and political reasons. Isabe\ who has great respect for Spanish customs, warns Clara that "Ia más pequena mudaIl1.l me ha, no sólo de disgustar, sino de afligir" (III, 19). The conflict is also seen in CarlO! and his brother Fernando. The latter does not feel that CarIos should marry Elia becaus she is not of noble birth. Fernando's argument is that "hay árboles con tales raíces qUt aunque logren cotarIos, vuelven a brotar con más fuerza, porque su savia está en Ia! entraãas de Ia tierra madre" (III, 47). The quotation is significant; while Fernando u referring primarily to Elia's background (she was the illegitimate daughter of a bandit), his words are typical of alI conservatives: a person who repudiates his values anQ traditions destroys his very essence and being. In spite of the sincere love between Elil and CarIos, Dona Cecilia agrees with Fernando that their different backgrounds would b! an obstacle to their marriage.
Traditionalists did not believe that society could be governed on1y by man-made laws, since these were fallible. Religious laws, on the other hand, which stemmed from God, were irrefutable. In Clemencia there is a discussion between the central character, Clemencia, the alter ego of Dona Cecilia, and the English rationalist and agnostic, Sir George, who believes in the perfectibility to mano Clemencia, an arch-conservative, answers her opponent saying that "el cristianismo, pero sobre todo el catolicismo, siende un sistema completo de represión de Ias tendencias depravadas deI hombre, es el mayo elemento de orden social."! 9 The rejection of reason is at the core of doctrinal traditionalism. Consequent1y, ali of the virtuous and redeeming actions in Fernán Caballero's novels are motivated by piety and patriotism rather than by intellectual impulses. Fernán Caballero could not condone social reforms which were not sanctioned by the church. Furthermore, she believed that the equality which revolutionaries spoke of could be achieved on1y through religion: Nivelados así por sus virtudes [Ias hombres], se conseguirá esa igualdad decantada por Ia que cJaman inutilmente Ia soberbia y el orgullo ... así habrá progreso ... en Ia senda que le trazó el Evangelio, fuente primera y única de todo progreso moral. (11,224) Her repudiation of reason also affected her novelistic techniqu~by cau~ing her. to;: aside objective observation for an idealized interpretation of reality. In Elia she saldo dJ "todas Ias cosas de este mundo tienen dos modos de mirarse; el uno con Ia helada m~ra dJ de Ia razón, que todo 10 enfría y 10 rebaja ... y el otro con Ia ardiente y simpática mira del corazón que todo 10 dora y vivifica como el sol de Dios" (III, 46). dítí ai ideo1og)" Fernán Caballero's novels are a literary expression ofher own tra I ion .

Conclusion
The dichotomy between the two Spains manifested itself essentially in two types of novels: (1) a polemic novel in which authors took sides endorsing one faction and stigmatizing the other, and (2) a more objective, studious novel which explored the mores of contemporary society to discover the causes of contention. Examples of the latter type of novel, which was leading toward Realism, are few. What took root in Spain was the former, both in the form of the feuilleton and the neo-Catholic novels of Fernán Caballero. These tendentious novels established the geme as a battlefield for ideologies, which on1y served to stratify an already divided country. It is not surprising that Galdós, Pereda, and Alarcón, who began to write novels in the 1870's, continued this tendentious trend. 21 Of course, the September Revolution of 1868 helped to crystalize the religious and political outlook of many writers, but they had a well established novelistic tradition to expand upon. Galdós first novel, La fontana de oro (1870), which depicts the reactionary regime of Ferdinand VII and its uneven odds against the liberal faction, was rebutted by Pereda's defense of conservatism in Los hombres de Pro (1872). Galdós' indulgent attitudes towards marriage expounded in Gloria (1876-77) were also rebuked by Pereda in De tal pala tal astil/a (1879). Even Alarcón took up his pen to defend Cánovas and the ultra-Catholic cause in El escándalo (1875) and El nino de bola (1880).
In the 1870's we can also see a new trend taking shape in the novels ofGaldós. In DOM Perfecta (1876) he explores with mastery and insight the irresoluble conflict between Pepe Rey's liberal ideology and his aunt's traditionalism. Like Ros de Olano, he depicts the failure of both factions and sees Spain as the ultimate victim of the strife. In M~rianela (1878), Galdós questioned the values of positivism which Salas had done nearly thirty years earlier. And as La Avellaneda, Galdós refrained from influencing his reader or drawing clear-cut conclusions. Galdós, like these novelists of the 1840's, was still culti~ating a thesis novel of ideas, but he was beginning to realize what these ear1y Realísts had already discovered -that the problem of the two Spains could best be served, not through a tendentious novel, but through impartial, perceptive analysis.

D~partment of Foreign Languages
Rider Colleg e Lawrenceville, New Jersey -USA