Doña Perfecta
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Doña Perfecta (1876) is a 19th-century realist novel by Benito Pérez Galdós from what is called the first of Galdós's three epochs in his novels of social analysis. Plot summary.
Doña Perfecta : novela original | Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. - I - ¡Villahorrenda...!, ¡cinco minutos...! - II - Un viaje por el corazón de España. - III - Pepe Rey. - IV - La llegada del primo. - V - ¿Habrá desavenencia? - VI - Donde se ve que puede surgir la desavenencia cuando menos se espera. - VII - La desavenencia crece.
- Introduction
- Chapter I
- Chapter II
- Chapter III
- Chapter IV
- Chapter V
- Chapter Vi
- Chapter VII
- Chapter VIII
- Chapter IX
The very acute and lively Spanish critic who signs himself Clarín, and is known personally as Don Leopoldo Alas, says the present Spanish novel has no yesterday, but only a day-before-yesterday. It does not derive from the romantic novel which immediately preceded that: the novel, large or little, as it was with Cervantes, Hurtado de Mendoza, Queve...
VILLAHORRENDA! FIVE MINUTES!
When the down train No. 65—of what line it is unnecessary to say—stopped at the little station between kilometres 171 and 172, almost all the second-and third-class passengers remained in the cars, yawning or asleep, for the penetrating cold of the early morning did not invite to a walk on the unsheltered platform. The only first-class passenger on the train alighted quickly, and addressing a group of the employes asked them if this was the Villahorrenda station. “We are in Villahorrenda,” an...
A JOURNEY IN THE HEART OF SPAIN
When they had proceeded some distance on their way and had left behind them the hovels of Villahorrenda, the traveller, who was young and handsome spoke thus: “Tell me, Señor Solon—” “Licurgo, at your service.” “Señor Licurgo, I mean. But I was right in giving you the name of a wise legislator of antiquity. Excuse the mistake. But to come to the point. Tell me, how is my aunt?” “As handsome as ever,” answered the peasant, pushing his beast forward a little. “Time seems to stand still with Señ...
PEPE REY
Before proceeding further, it will be well to tell who Pepe Rey was, and what were the affairs which had brought him to Orbajosa. When Brigadier Rey died in 1841, his two children, Juan and Perfecta, had just married: the latter the richest land-owner of Orbajosa, the former a young girl of the same city. The husband of Perfecta was called Don Manuel Maria José de Polentinos, and the wife of Juan, Maria Polentinos; but although they had the same surname, their relationship was somewhat distan...
THE ARRIVAL OF THE COUSIN
When Rosarito left him so abruptly the Penitentiary looked toward the garden wall, and seeing the faces of Licurgo and his companion, said to himself: “So the prodigy is already here, then.” He remained thoughtful for some moments, his cloak, grasped with both hands, folded over his abdomen, his eyes fixed on the ground, his gold-rimmed spectacles slipping gently toward the point of his nose, his under-lip moist and projecting, and his iron-gray eyebrows gathered in a slight frown. He was a p...
WILL THERE BE DISSENSION?
A little later Pepe made his appearance in the dining-room. “If you eat a hearty breakfast,” said Doña Perfecta to him, in affectionate accents, “you will have no appetite for dinner. We dine here at one. Perhaps you may not like the customs of the country.” “I am enchanted with them, aunt.” “Say, then, which you prefer—to eat a hearty breakfast now, or to take something light, and keep your appetite for dinner.” “I prefer to take something light now, in order to have the pleasure of dining w...
IN WHICH IT IS SEEN THAT DISAGREEMENT MAY ARISE WHEN LEAST EXPECTED
Suddenly Don Cayetano Polentinos, Doña Perfecta’s brother-in-law, appeared at the door, and entering the room with outstretched arms, cried: “Let me embrace you, my dear Don José.” They embraced each other cordially. Don Cayetano and Pepe were already acquainted with each other, for the eminent scholar and bibliophile was in the habit of making a trip to Madrid whenever an executor’s sale of the stock of some dealer in old books was advertised. Don Cayetano was tall and thin, of middle age, a...
THE DISAGREEMENT INCREASES
“Perhaps you think,” said Doña Perfecta, with a tinge of conceit in her tones, “that Señor Don Inocencio is going to remain silent and not give you an answer to each and every one of those points.” “Oh, no!” exclaimed the canon, arching his eyebrows. “I will not attempt to measure my poor abilities with a champion so valiant and at the same time so well armed. Señor Don José knows every thing; that is to say, he has at his command the whole arsenal of the exact sciences. Of course I know that...
IN ALL HASTE
A little later the scene had changed. Don Cayetano, finding rest from his sublime labors in a gentle slumber that had overcome him after dinner, reclined comfortably in an arm-chair in the dining-room. Rosarito, seated at one of the windows that opened into the garden, glanced at her cousin, saying to him with the mute eloquence of her eyes: “Cousin, sit down here beside me and tell me every thing you have to say to me.” Her cousin, mathematician though he was, understood. “My dear cousin,” s...
THE DISAGREEMENT CONTINUES TO INCREASE, AND THEREAFTER TO BECOME DISCORD
Close beside the black cassock was a fresh and rosy face, that seemed fresher and rosier from the contrast. Jacinto saluted our hero, not without some embarrassment. He was one of those precocious youths whom the indulgent university sends prematurely forth into the arena of life, making them fancy that they are men because they have received their doctor’s degree. Jacinto had a round, handsome face with rosy cheeks, like a girl’s, and without any beard save the down which announced its comin...
Apr 28, 2005 · The same ignorant or stubborn religiosity, negative for good, working evil for all affected by it, has been studied by Galdós in two subsequent novels, La Familia de León Roch and Gloria, which are generally reputed to be, with Doña Perfecta, the greatest of his works.
Doña Perfecta is an 1876 fictional, realist novel written by Spanish realist novelist Benito Pérez Galdós, who is considered one of the most prominent and most influential...
Apr 28, 2005 · A classic Spanish novel about a woman who marries for money and power, but faces social and political conflicts in 19th century Spain. Read online or download for free in various formats, including EPUB, Kindle, and plain text.
Espectacular personaje el de Doña Perfecta, quien siendo una perfecta antagonista supera en mucho por su profundidas al menguante protagonista; y gran telón de fondo el de una invasión militar que simula cómo las facciones del pueblo adquieren un carácter nacional.
