"An Argentine "Dona Perfecta

Since Perez Gald6s published his powerful satire on small town prejudice and hypocrisy, Doiia Perfecta, some ninety years ago, it is surprising that his feminine paragon has produced so little literary progeny. It would seem that the idea of using a domineering matriarch as a central protagonist has not appealed to most Hispanic novelists. It has remained for the Argentine Catholic naturalist, Manuel Gailvez, to revive the spirit of Dofia Perfecta. This he has done in his recent novel, Perdido en su noche (1958), where he has also accomplished the feat of presenting an unfrocked priest in a sympathetic light. The apostate Jesuit in question is the son of just such a domineering matriarch as Perfecta. Their resemblance is

Art · Comparative Literary Analysis and Criticism · Spanish Culture and Identity · Spanish Literature and Culture Studies