In literature chemistry, Benito Galdos (1843-1920) was a Spanish realism novelist noted for []
Overview
In 1887, Galdos, published his Fortunata and Jacinta, which, supposedly, according to Hispanic literature scholar Vernon Chamberlin, is derived or based on the realism philosophy contained in German polymath Johann Goethe’s 1809 physical chemistry based Elective Affinities. [1] Chamberlin describes Galdos’ position as follows: [4]
“Evidence suggest that Galdos remembered his reading of Die Wahlverwandtschaften when he set about to depict determinism in love as one part of his vast panorama of the human life cycle in Fortunata y Jacinta.”
Although Galdos does not, supposedly, cite Elective Affinities directly in his Fortunat and Jacinta, he does refer explicitly to not only Goethe, but also to his novel Werther and the drama Faust, and it is known that he possessed the French translation by Camille Selden (Paris, 1872) of Goethe’s Elective Affinities. [2]
Galdos’ Fortunata Y Jacinta together with Spanish novelist Leopoldo Alas’ 1885 La Regenta (The Judge's Wife) are said to be the most popular and representative novels of Spanish literary realism. [3] Alas, likewise, is said to have based his 1890 His Only Son on Elective Affinities; some claiming that it is a so-called successor of the former.
References
1. (a) Chamberlin, Vernon A. (1986). “The Importance of Goethe’s Die Wahlverwandtschaften in the Creation of Galdos Fortunata y Jacinta” (abs), Hispanic Review, 54(4):443-55.
(b) Books similar to Elective Affinities – GoodReads.com.
(c) Vernon Chamberlin (faculty) – University of Kansas.
2. Pattison, Walter T. (1975). Benito Perez Galdos (pg. 166). Cengage Gale.
3. Fortunata y Jacinta – Wikipedia.
4. Chamberlin, Vernon A. (2002). The Perils of Interpreting Fortunata’s Dreams: and Other Studies on Galdos, 1961-2002 (pg. 166). Cervantes.
External links
● Benito Galdos – Wikipedia.
