Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

Publication Date

7-3-1978

Abstract

Emilia Pardo Bazán, a Spanish novelist of the nineteenth century, used her talents to portray women realistically. This dissertation describes her grasp of their psychology and the ways in which she discerns those differences between men and women which are sex-linked and those which are socially determined. Her novels and short stories are analyzed to define her views. The introduction sketches doña Emilia‘s own complex personality; then two antithetical currents of thought concerning women are traced through Spanish literature. The first part of this study depicts her best integrated female characters in all their variety and conveys the many differences between individual women. In the second part, the social forces governing women's lives and the choices offered to them in Spain a century ago are described. These factors tend to minimize variations in personality and enable us to recreate a composite portrait of the Spanish woman as seen by doña Emilia. The third part delineates conflicting themes in later novels and indicates a progression of thought during Emilia Pardo Bazán's advancing years. Her partial and seemingly contradictory solutions to the problems of women are typified by her dual admiration for the "new woman," working and independent, as well as for St. Catherine, withdrawing into the religious world. The conclusion synthesizes doña Emilia's total vision of the women of her time and points out similarities and differences between her views and those of some other women writers of her era. We believe that she understands, better than any other leading figure of the nineteenth century, that sexual differences in personality are not innate, but cultural. Her contribution to the nineteenth-century novel lies not only in her esthetic descriptions of female characters, but also in her intuitive knowledge of their psychology. Her concept of androgyny, in particular, is still valid today and espoused by social scientists. Her personal courage and articulate stand against some of the sex-role stereotypes of her culture and her efforts in the field of education have contributed much to the improvements of women's lives in the twentieth century.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

First Committee Member (Chair)

Sabine R. Ulibarrí

Second Committee Member

Dinko Cvitanovic

Third Committee Member

Raymond Ralph MacCurdy

Fourth Committee Member

Garland Dee Bills

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