21
One of the worst failings of Galdosian criticism, even in the instances of those whose investigations have been extensive and illuminating such as Antonio Regalado García in his book Benito Pérez Galdós y In Novela Histórica Española: 1868-1912 (Madrid: Ínsula, 1966), is that far too often critics have confused the ideas of Galdós' characters with those of the author himself. This kind of critical myopia led the Generation of 98 to confuse garbanzos, petty bourgeois types, and the devastating view of Spain presented by Galdós, with the writer himself and his ideals. A careful study of the arbitristas, anglophiles, and other utopian dreamers of Galdós novelistic world reveals an attitude towards them very different from the one most critics have seen. To document the extent of Galdós' interest in this character type, the following list of typical utopian dreamers in the non-historical novels is presented here: Pepe Rey in Doña Perfecta, Federico Cimarra, principally in La familia de León Roch but also in five other works, Juan Bou and Melchor Relimpio in La desheredada, José María Manso in El amigo Manso, Moreno-Isla in Fortunata y Jacinta, D. Carlos de Cisneros in La incógnita and Realidad, Jacinto Villalonga in Realidad and five other works, Joaquín Viera in Realidad, José Bailón in Torquemada en el purgatorio, Fausto Babel and don Suero in Ángel Guerra, el alcalde de un pueblo pequeño in Nazarín, the don Romualdo of flesh and blood in Misericordia, Senén in El abuelo, Zenón and Alfonso in Casandra, Cucúrbitas, Pánfilo and Hipérbolos in La razón de la sinrazón. The most obvious example with reference to Miau, Federice, Ruiz, will be studied in the body of this essay. Ruiz is revealed as a full-fledged arbitrista or anglophile in El doctor Centeno and Fortunata y Jacinta, as well as here.
22
Eoff, The Novels... p. 30.
23
Fidela, in Torquemada y San Pedro, says just before she dies: «Me siento bien; respiro sin dificultad, y... ¡qué cosa tan rara!, se me ha refrescado tanto la memoria, que todo lo veo clarito, y mil cosas que había olvidado, insignificantes, se me presentan ahora en la imaginación como si hubieran pasado ayer.» (V, 1142) Another similar example is found in Torquemada's death scene in the same novel (V, 1192).
24
Maxi's auto-description is found in Fortunata y Jacinta (V, 522).
25
In effect, Galdós' contemporary, Conrado Muiños Shenz, failing to recognize Victor's psychological motivation wrote: «Pero bastará citar el Víctor de Miau, personaje incomprensible cuyas infamias no tienen explicación, ni el Sr. Galdós intenta dársela siquiera.» «Realismo galdosiano», La Ciudad de Dios, XXI (1889), 470.
26
Weber, The 'Miau' Manuscript... p. 69.
27
Anatomy of Criticism (New York: Atheneum, 1967), p. 48.
28
Weber, The 'Miau' Manuscript... pp. 12-13.
29
El porqué de los dichos (Madrid: Aguilar, 1955), p. 408.
30
See «Ángel Guerra», Polémicas y estudios literarios, in her Obras completas (Madrid, n.d.), VI, 159-196.