Summary: Dona Perfecta by Benito Perez Galdos
Dona Perfecta
Throughout Benito Perez Galdos’ novel, Dona Perfecta, Galdos uses his ability to draw his characters, in such detail, that he allows the audience to relate with his main characters, Don Jose “Pepe” Rey, Rosario, and Dona Perfecta. By the order of his father, Pepe Rey has left his home to visit the small town of Orbajosa where his aunt, Dona Perfecta, lives. Pepe Rey has recently graduated as an engineer. He is a man of the new generation, inspired by Darwin, German philosophy, and the miracles technology promises. He has little time and less inclination for the stoic, small-minded Catholic zealotry of his aunt and of Orbajosa in general. While in Orbajosa, Pepe Rey causes conflict within the town and his family because of his modern thinking. This thinking has terrible consequences, especially later when Orbajosa becomes embroiled within a terrible uprising against the Spanish government. Ultimately, due to his beliefs and modern thinking, Pepe Rey is killed by the order of his aunt, Donna Perfecta.
As the novel begins, the opening chapters spend some time describing the major characters in impressive detail. This narrative device could spell the doom of the novel almost immediately. The usual technique of writing a novel is to create fluency in order to allow the reader to remain interested in the plot. Therefore, nothing disrupts flow more than excessive description, particularly at the beginning of a novel. Yet Galdos masterfully provides the reader with a sense of tangential exposition. Consider the stunning paragraph describing Rosario as an example of Galdo’s skillful writing. Galdos tells,
“Rosario was a girl of delicate and fragile appearance, that revealed a tendency to pensive melancholy. In her delicate and pure countenance there was something of the soft, pearly pallor which most novelists attribute to their heroines, and without which sentimental varnish it appears that no Enriquieta or Julia can be interesting. But what chiefly
Throughout Benito Perez Galdos’ novel, Dona Perfecta, Galdos uses his ability to draw his characters, in such detail, that he allows the audience to relate with his main characters, Don Jose “Pepe” Rey, Rosario, and Dona Perfecta. By the order of his father, Pepe Rey has left his home to visit the small town of Orbajosa where his aunt, Dona Perfecta, lives. Pepe Rey has recently graduated as an engineer. He is a man of the new generation, inspired by Darwin, German philosophy, and the miracles technology promises. He has little time and less inclination for the stoic, small-minded Catholic zealotry of his aunt and of Orbajosa in general. While in Orbajosa, Pepe Rey causes conflict within the town and his family because of his modern thinking. This thinking has terrible consequences, especially later when Orbajosa becomes embroiled within a terrible uprising against the Spanish government. Ultimately, due to his beliefs and modern thinking, Pepe Rey is killed by the order of his aunt, Donna Perfecta.
As the novel begins, the opening chapters spend some time describing the major characters in impressive detail. This narrative device could spell the doom of the novel almost immediately. The usual technique of writing a novel is to create fluency in order to allow the reader to remain interested in the plot. Therefore, nothing disrupts flow more than excessive description, particularly at the beginning of a novel. Yet Galdos masterfully provides the reader with a sense of tangential exposition. Consider the stunning paragraph describing Rosario as an example of Galdo’s skillful writing. Galdos tells,
“Rosario was a girl of delicate and fragile appearance, that revealed a tendency to pensive melancholy. In her delicate and pure countenance there was something of the soft, pearly pallor which most novelists attribute to their heroines, and without which sentimental varnish it appears that no Enriquieta or Julia can be interesting. But what chiefly