THE CHARACTER OF DOÑA GUILLERMINA PACHECO IN GALDÓS’ NOVEL, FORTUNATA Y JACINTA

Abstract

Of all the vast assembly of characters that Pérez Galdós brings together in his novel Fortunata y Jacinta, the easiest to assess would seem, at first sight, to be doña Guillermina Pacheco, the rich woman who dedicates her life to charity. Of all the people who come into contact with her, whether they come from the slums where she does her good work, or from the wealthier bourgeois district where her friends and relatives live, not one has anything but praise for her. To all she is la santa, and if those closest to her sometimes refer to her as la rata eclesiástica, it is only an expression of mild exasperation at her constant attempts to extract money for her charitable works from them. So unanimous is this chorus of praise that even doña Lupe la de los pavos, that hardheaded business woman and relentless pursuer of money, is sufficiently impressed by her reputation to be willing to invest some of her profits in an attempt to project a similar image of herself on the public. Writers on Galdós have, in general, agreed with these laudatory opinions.

BSS Subject Index:

• FORTUNATA Y JACINTA [B. PÉREZ GALDÓS]
• PÉREZ GALDÓS, BENITO (1843–1920)

Notes

¹ Obras completas (Aguilar). See introduction to Fortunata y Jacinta, V, 12; and the art. under doña Guillermina in Ensayo de un censo de personajes galdosianos, VI, 1940.

² Galdós, novelista moderno, introductory essay to edition of Miau (Madrid 1957), 83.

³ The Novels of Pérez Galdós (St. Louis 1954) 129. 98, & 120.

⁴ Vida y obras de Galdós (Madrid 1951), 32 &111.

¹ op. cit., 42.