The Function of Dates and Deadlines in Galdos' La de Bringas

M OST studies of La de Bringas have focused either on isolated scenes and incidents or on individual characters.' Essays which take a broader view of the work, such as those of Bly, Palley, and Gullon, give primary importance to distance and point of view, to its ambient, or to the parallelism between story and history.2 None, however, examines time as an agent that unifies and paces the narrative in a very special way. In a previous study I used the Rosalia-Refugio confrontation, which occurs toward the end of the novel, as an illustration, among others, of Galdos' penchant for the dramatic. I then focused on the scenic and histrionic elements in these chapters to explain how the two protagonists behave as actresses on a stage and said: mientras que la casi totalidad de la novela se desarrolla en forma lenta y morosa ... la confrontaci6n de las dos mujeres es movida y dramatica. 3 There is indeed a contrast here, but more needs to be said. Beneath the narrative and descriptive tone of the entire work exists a feeling of suspense and expectation that is also dra

Art · Early Modern Spanish Literature · Historical and Modern Theater Studies · History · Spanish Literature and Culture Studies