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Made famous by Buñuel's film version, Galdós' Tristana remains one of the novelist's most controversial works. Critics disagree over whether the two central characters are positively or negatively portrayed, and whether the work is inspired by feminist sympathies or is, on the contrary, an ironic critique of feminist aspirations. We seem unable to locate the message of the novel with any degree of clarity. This article looks succinctly at key aspects of character-portrayal and at the use of an unstable narrator to argue that Galdós has pre-empted any one-sided conclusions, whether psychological or sociological, about the central issues raised by the novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mystical or spiritual turn of Benito Pérez Galdós in the 1890s is well known and was remarked upon by his contemporaries. How did this shift towards the non-material dimension of human existence accommodate itself to the still powerful positivist predilection for explaining psychological phenomena in terms of physical and physiological causes? Nazarín (together with its sequel Halma) is a good example of an apparently spiritual quest (or rather quests, since several characters are involved), yet Galdós' treatment of the spiritual cast of mind is anything but straightforward. Dostoyevsky, whose interest in abnormal mental states and behaviour was a dominant characteristic of his fiction, is a useful precedent with which to gauge the extent of the shift between 1868 (The Idiot) and 1895 (Nazarín). This essay compares the spiritual outlook of the protagonists of these two works and the way such an outlook is presented and handled by the respective authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay looks at two of the best-known Golden-Age plays from the point of view of moral behaviour. More particularly it considers the way in which the conduct of the major characters is represented conceptually, that is to say, the justifications offered for their actions. A comparison of the two plays suggests that the Calderonian concept of moral conduct is more in tune with emerging concepts of the self in the seventeenth century than is Lope's. Whereas Lope appeals to the emotions and to traditional codes of social status, Calderón, in dealing with similar issues, relies far more on reasoned argument than on emotional response, drawing on Plato and St Augustine for his presentation. Virtue is seen not as attached to a class or social group but as inhering in the self and revealed through reason. In particular we observe how a private and traditional code of behaviour is superseded by a new universal contract and by the idea of good citizenship based on the appeal to the intrinsic moral worth of the person, which was one of the central ideas to emerge in the political philosophy of Renaissance and post-Renaissance Europe: the entitlements of a good citizen were increasingly seen to be more important than those of birth or social status. Compared to his famous predecessor, Calderón seems fully modern in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including an examination of Antonio Coello's play "El conde de sex," Spanish literary historiography and the impact of Golden Age-plays on contemporary theater audiences.

This article discusses the contribution of literary critic Donald Shaw's to historiography of early seventeenth-century Spain. His work ranged from Spanish Romanticism at one end to Spanish-American post-boom and postmodernism at the other, and few cultural phenomena in between have escaped his attention, sharp analytical mind and precise expression. The Romantic period in Spain has remained a central interest throughout his career. Donald's inveterate curiosity also leads him to look into neglected areas of literary production and interpretation.

This article discusses that literary critic Donald Shaw pointed out philosopher Immanuel Kant as the originator of the crisis of confidence that gripped the later nineteenth century. Kant shattered forever the rationalist foundations of eighteenth century optimism. The writers of the 1898 generation, much given to the study of modern philosophy, felt keenly the erosion of confidence in conventional ways of thinking that Kant's critique of rationalism and his resolute circumscription of the human mind's ability to know the world had initiated.