Two Nineteenth-Century Female Bildungsromane by Fernán Caballero and Pilar Sinués

Abstract

This article analyzes two female Bildungsromane published by nineteenth-century authors, Las dos Gracias by Fernán Caballero (1867) and La vida íntima by Pilar Sinués (1876). The female Bildungsroman in Spain explores different educational and developmental opportunities open to women since the middle of the nineteenth century. Fernán Caballero and Pilar Sinués, who have been—and still often are—dismissed as anti-feminist and conservative, created a very nuanced vision of female Bildung in their novels. Far from being mere propaganda pieces aimed at keeping women in subjection, these novels discuss the obstacles that society places in the way to female development and offer ways of overcoming these obstacles.

Keywords:

• Bildungsroman
• female literature
• nineteenth century
• Spain

Notes

¹Gracia López is a carpenter's daughter, while her fiancé Ramón belongs to impoverished nobility.

²When don Ramón finds himself in exile as a result of fighting on the side of Carlos el Pretendiente in the first Carlist War (1833–40), he is rewarded with a job and a loan by a kindly benefactor who is impressed by his sense of honor (55–56).

³Sinués was frequently accused of leading an immoral lifestyle because of her separation from her husband and financial independence. Such accusations are responsible, in part, for the oblivion that this best-selling author suffered after her death (Sánchez-Llama 55–56).