Ambiguous Angels Gender in the Novels of Gald&243s [Hardcover]

The contradictory nature of the work of Benito P?rez Gald?s, Spain's greatest modern novelist, is brought to the fore in Catherine Jagoe's innovative and rigorous study. Revising commonly held views of his feminism, she explores the relation of Gald?s's novels to the woman question in Spain, arguing that after 1892 the muted feminist discourse of his early work largely disappears. While his later novels have been interpreted as celebrations of the emancipated new woman, Jagoe contends that they actually reinforce the conservative, bourgeois model of frugal, virtuous womanhoodthe angel of the house.

Using primary sources such as periodicals, medical texts, and conduct literature, Jagoe's examination of the evolution of feminism makesAmbiguous Angelsvaluable to anyone interested in gender, culture, and narrative in nineteenth-century Europe.

Catherine Jagoeis Assistant Professor of Spanish at Northern Illinois University.