Misericordia

Litterature essay: “Misericordia” (1897) Author: Benito Pérez Galdós Discuss Benina’s character in the context of the oppositions and dualities present in Misericordia. “Misericordia” tells the adventures of the main character Benina, an old servant to the widow Doña Paca. The plot happens in the streets of Madrid at the end of the nineteenth century after the Spanish revolution failed. Benito Pérez Galdós, the author, took part in the revolution in 1868. This realistic novel that is strewed with descriptions forms a new gender and is an analysis of the society. It tells the story of a group of beggars led by Seña Benina whose name has been carefully chosen by Galdós in order to question the reader about her importance in the book. Benina thus retains our attention. Doña Paca the mistress, who is physically unstable, a character that is in total opposition with Benina narrates the story. This typical form of the novel of the 19th century helps retaining the attention of the reader. Indeed, by adding an omniscent narrator it creates a perspective that is seen as a god-like figure. Benina distinguishes herself from the other characters by her attitude, and the features that describe her let us think that she might hide a mystery that will be reveal at the end of the novel; a novel that was first seen as a realistic one will become more symbolic or spiritual at the end. Excessive spendings have left Doña Paca without money and obliges Benina to beg secretly in order to provide Doña Paca with sufficient food. In the late nineteenth century the country suffered a period of recession. This latter divided Madrid into two parts; the North where the rich people lived and the South where the poor people lived. This brings us to the oppositions and dualities that arise in the novel. Galdós’ principle idea is that “El Pueblo”, is doing what the middle class, that of Paca should be doing. The working class is not mentioned in the novel since at that period the only two industrialised cities were Barcelona and Bilbao. Galdós’ use of metaphors and fictional elements leaves the reader the freedom to interpret the novel as he wishes to and this essay will try and depict Benina’s character in the context of oppositions and dualities that are employed by Galdós to criticize with irony the society. The principle idea that Galdós strengthens throughout the book is that the Bourgeoisie should change the society. In other words it means making the society evolve on an economical point of view. Naturalism and the realistic novel found their interest in the social condition and the ascendancy of the church. This trend is also embodied by Zola in “L'Assomoir” in which he criticizes the social classes. This idea is represented early in the book: “En 1870, Galdós ya habia escrito” (…) “Pero la clase media, la mas olvidada por nuestro novelistas es el gran modelo”[1]. In the novel, Doña Paca and Frasquito Ponte are the main representants of this social class. The novel is realistic and although it is not history the reader accepts it. Benina is a sixty-year-old servant to the widow Doña Paca. Although she is loyal and grateful she remains in the essence a beggar. As opposed to the other characters in the book Benina is described in a positive way. Her physical description is appealing and tells the reader that she might hide something. Although Benina is a beggar Galdós stresses the fact that she distinguishes herself from the beggars by using a specific vocabulary so that the reader will have a better image of her. This introduces the duality of appearance and essences that will be discussed later on. Galdós insists on the ugliness of the other beggars to contrast with the appearance of Benina. She has something on the forehand that let us think she could be a saint, Santa Rita. Not only is Benina very grateful in the beginning of the novel but she is also not self-centred. “Tenia la Benina voz dulce (…) y de buena educacion”[2]. figure in the novel. Also, her name Benina has been carefully chosen by Galdós and means blessed, benign, assuming that she is almost like a saint. Later on in “Misericordia” the character of Benina will differ from the beginning, as the novel will become more symbolic. This latter will be discussed in the analysis of Benina’s character in the context of dualities and oppositions. As mentioned earlier in the essay many dualities arise in “Misericordia”. Galdós used these latter in order to criticize with irony the society and more specifically his own social class, the Bourgeoisie through the characters. At the very beginning of “Misericordia” and more precisely the is fully immerged into the novel. Galdós wants to be sure that the reader is captivated by the story and therefore able to see “things” from a different perspective. It is widely held that to see is to believe to some extent. At the late 1890’s. As said earlier, Benina is very loyal and distinguishes herself from the other beggars by her appearance. Indeed, she is almost likeungrateful and cannot thank Benina for what she has done. Indeed, Benina begs secretly in order to satisfy Doña Paca for her needs. Benina’s character will begin to change at the end of the novel when she starts creating a fictional character called Don Romualdo. In fact, she pretends working for him because she does not want Doña Paca to know the real truth about her begging. The creation of the character Don Romualdo gives birth to the very important duality of fiction and truth. Indeed, lower bourgeoisie. There is an opposition here as the social class that is supposed to change the society is the bourgeoisie. In on the problem that Paca has in dealing with money. At the end of the novel Benina goes to purification and becomes spiritually superior. To conclude, “Misericordia” sees the character of Benina change throughout the story to eventually become a surrealistic or spiritual novel, which is contradictory to the beginning. Galdós’ criticizes of the society and his own social class is reflected onto the main characters Doña Paca and Benina. The use of dualities and oppositions helps emphasizing the distinction between the social classes. Through the novel there is a constant evolution of the characters that will affect the nature of “Misericordia”. Indeed it was a realistic novel that is transformed into a symbolic more spiritual novel. This latter is mainly due to Benina who will create a more “fantastic” ending by creating a mysterious character, Don Romualdo. She thus creates a fiction. After Paca was left without money Benina was forced to beg in order to provide sufficient food. Don Romualdo will then help Paca and eventually Benina will be confused as she starts believing her own lies. Naturalism and realism are very important in “Misericordia” as it is about a theory according to which litterature has to depict the human beings and the society. This change of the essence of the novel is mainly due to the character of Benina who evolves during the story and is, perhaps, responsible for the development of the novel. -----------------------