Ángel Guerra by Benito Pérez Galdós
"Ángel Guerra," a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, was first published between 1890 and 1891 and is set against the backdrop of late nineteenth-century Madrid and Toledo. The story follows Ángel Guerra, a thirty-year-old widower and father, whose difficult upbringing and ideals lead him to align with revolutionary movements. His complicated relationship with his mother, Doña Sales, a wealthy and controlling figure, further shapes his character and choices. Ángel's life intertwines with a cast of morally ambiguous individuals from the Babel family, which adds depth to his struggles.
As the narrative unfolds, Ángel grapples with personal loss, societal expectations, and the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment. His journey leads him to consider a life devoted to the Church, spurred by his connection to Lorenza (Lere), a nurse whose influence prompts his search for meaning amidst his tumultuous relationships. The novel explores themes of religious faith, the impact of fanaticism, and the paradox of love and despair, ultimately reflecting Pérez Galdós' contemplations on social and political issues of his era. Despite criticisms regarding its emotional tone and character portrayals, "Ángel Guerra" is noted for its rich depiction of the human condition and the possibility of hope in the face of adversity.
Ángel Guerra by Benito Pérez Galdós
- FIRST PUBLISHED: 1890-1891
- TYPE OF WORK: Novel
- TYPE OF PLOT: Political and religious tragedy
- TIME OF WORK: Late nineteenth century
- LOCALE: Madrid and Toledo
The Story:
Ángel Guerra, thirty years old and a widower father of an adored daughter, Encarnación, had an unhappy childhood. An idealist, he had turned to the revolutionists, thinking that if everything were overthrown, life could be improved in the rebuilding. His mother, Doña Sales, disapproved of him and treated him like a child, even after he was married. A wealthy woman, she tried to starve her liberal-minded son into submission to her wishes. Still, she managed only to drive him into the company of advocates of violence, the Babels.
The Babel household contained an unsavory group. Babel lived with his brother, Captain Agapito, a former slaver, and his children, drunken Matias and slippery Policarpo. Babel’s family was also bad. Arístides, an embezzler, had fled from Cuba; Fausto had been dismissed from the post office for speculation; and Dulcenombre had love affairs from which the whole family profited. She became attracted to Ángel and lived with him for a year to escape her family, but he was too poor to marry her.
At last, the crimes of the Babels sent Ángel also into hiding, with a wounded hand that Dulce bandaged. After a month of skulking, he went home to find his mother dying. Lere, the twenty-year-old tutor of “Cion,” was nursing her. At first, she and Dr. Maquis refused to let Ángel see the sick woman, but finally, he was allowed to be with her during her dying moments. She left him a comfortable fortune, but when Ángel tried to use it selfishly, the convent-trained Lere shamed him into carrying out his mother’s desires.
Troubles mounted for Ángel. Dulce, his mistress, became ill. Cion died. Lere announced she was entering a convent in Toledo. In his loneliness, Ángel followed her. When Dulce came looking for him, he had already gone. Following the advice of her uncle, Captain Agapito, she sought solace in alcohol.
Ángel had both rich and poor relatives in Toledo. He became a boarder at the home of Teresa Pantoja, along with two priests. Lere was already working for one of the nursing orders. Discussing life with her and moved by his loneliness, his affection for her, and the religious atmosphere of Toledo, Ángel also found himself seeking the comfort of the Church.
The appointment of one Babel to a government post in Toledo brought the whole family, including Dulce, to that city. To escape them, Ángel went to live with wealthy relatives on the outskirts of Toledo. Lere demanded that Ángel marry Dulce or never see her again. When Ángel went to discuss the situation with Dulce, he found her disgustingly drunk. In the violent quarrel that followed, he almost killed Arístides. Again, at Lere’s bidding, he returned to Arístides to ask forgiveness. He learned that Dulce’s illness had cured her of her liking for alcohol and that she was planning to enter a convent.
Ángel’s many conversations with Lere caused considerable gossip, which resulted in the Mother Superior calling the girl in for questioning. Although she was declared innocent, the lack of trust angered Ángel so much that he declared his intention of founding a convent to be put in Lere’s charge. She declared that she would accept his plan only if he became a priest. Ángel agreed.
Padre Casado, a clear-sighted priest, whose preference for farming instead of books had prevented his advance in the Church, prepared Ángel for taking holy orders. One night, while he and Lere were nursing an ailing priest, Ángel felt a desire for the girl. Later, he confessed his carnal thoughts to Padre Casado, who could not understand any sexual attraction to a woman in plain nun’s clothing. They also discussed Ángel’s plans for the convent and his philosophy for improving humanity through a Christian revolution.
Ángel tried to prove his theories when Arístides, again caught in crime, and Fausto, also fleeing justice, begged him for help, and he hid them. Joined by Policarpo, they demanded money for a flight to Portugal. Ángel was stabbed during a quarrel over his refusal. Although badly wounded, he would not give the police the name of his assailant.
Lere came to nurse Ángel. The dying man had no regrets. Like Don Quixote, he felt that the approach of death restored his reason and solved his problems. He would not have made a good priest, he declared. Before he died, he apportioned his wealth, designating most of it for Lere’s project and some for relatives and servants. Stifling her sorrow, Lere returned to the convent, where she was assigned to nurse another patient.
Critical Evaluation:
Benito Pérez Galdós, a significant figure in late nineteenth-century Spanish literature, wrote thirty novels in addition to the forty-six in his series called National Episodes. Ángel Guerra belongs to a group of about eight that presents a picture of religious faith and the results of fanaticism in Spanish life. This group includes some of his best, Doña Perfecta (1876), Gloria (1876-1877), The Family Of Leon Roch (1878), and The Crazy Woman In The House (1892). Ángel Guerra is the story of a politician and a mystic, a character whose names, “Angel” and “War,” were intended to present his dual personality. As a result of environmental circumstances, Ángel is made a rebel who hates his mother, yet he receives from her the wealth that means his personal freedom. Not only does the novel depict the workings of fate, but it also presents a philosophy of religion and the influence of a deeply religious atmosphere on a man who was essentially destructive and modern. Besides the intermingling of human and religious love, the novel contains a realistic touch in having violence and crime cure idealism. As always, in the novels of this great local-color artist, the painting of the background is unforgettable: the summer houses in the suburbs of Toledo, the narrow, cobbled streets of the city, and the noble, austere cathedral.
Ángel Guerra is a pathological case study. It is the second-longest of Pérez Galdós’ novels, and its subject has been compared to William James’s The Varieties Of Religious Experience (1902). Some critics describe Ángel Guerra as the last of Pérez Galdós’ works that can be read with enjoyment, for it was the fruit of a spiritual crisis that had gradually been enveloping the author ever since he had written his masterpiece, Fortunata And Jacinta, in 1886-1887. Ángel Guerra was also written when Pérez Galdós was nearing his fiftieth birthday. At the time he wrote Ángel Guerra, Pérez Galdós feared that something was ailing Europe’s middle class, and he became convinced that politics was the key to the solution of social problems, while his anticlerical sentiments of younger years surged back, along with a propensity for Christian socialism.
Ángel Guerra gives a pleasant view of pure charity and a close-up view of one person, Ángel Guerra. The latter was seized with a vision of a better world but died when he came face-to-face with the iron reality of life and the world. Ángel is an agnostic at the novel’s start, but then, imbued with the “holy fire” of Christian charity, he decides to invest his resources in a Brotherhood of Mercy, whose male branch he is to head, and whose female branch Lere is to head. Ángel feels that man can triumph only through love and implementation of the Sermon on the Mount—a conviction that Pérez Galdós himself had recently acquired. A tolerance for human frailties, a deep spiritual charity, and Christian love are also expressed through the personality of Ángel Guerra. Having read Hegel, Schopenhauer, and many other German philosophers, Pérez Galdós had become convinced that poverty was man’s healthiest state, a conviction also mirrored in Ángel Guerra.
Ángel’s abnormality and frustrated dreams are best understood against the backdrop of Pérez Galdós’ sudden spiritual evolution. Ángel’s unhappy youth also supplies a vehicle for understanding his development, while Lere is so pathological that her eyes are like those of a mechanical doll. Ángel Guerra is often criticized for its lack of humor and imagination and for being riddled with too many neurotic types among its secondary characters. General morbidity is also supposed to be one of the novel’s faults, and it has been negatively compared to Dostoevsky’s better works; however, the novel leaves the reader with hope despite its neurotic flavor.
Principal Characters:
- Ángel Guerraa widower
- Doña Saleshis mother
- Encarnación (Cion)his seven-year-old daughter
- Lorenza (Lere)Doña Sales’s nurse
- Arístides García Babelan embezzler
- Fausto García Babelhis dishonest brother
- Dulcenombre (Dulce) BabelÁngel’s sometime mistress
- Padre Casadoa priest
Bibliography
Akiko Tsuchiya. "'Angel Guerra' de Benito Perez Galdos y Sus Criticos (1891)." Hispanic Review, vol. 61, no. 1, winter 1993, pp. 114–15. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=9308176566&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
"Ángel Guerra." Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, 4th Edition, May 2015, p. 88. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=102941393&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
"The Life & Works of Benito Perez Galdos." Spanish Literature, www.classicspanishbooks.com/19th-cent-realism-prose-galdos.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Medina, Jeremy T. "Benito Pérez Galdós." Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition, Jan. 2010, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=164538049&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Mujica, Barbara. "Benito Pérez Galdós." Critical Survey of Drama, 3rd Edition, Nov. 2017, pp. 3090–97. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=131064294&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.