4. GENERAL INFORMATION
• Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist,
poet, and playwright.
• The Spanish language is often called ‘the language of
Cervantes’.
He became one of the most famous writers in Spain when
he created Don Quixote, one of the world's greatest
literary masterpieces, in the early 1600s.
5. BIOGRAPHY
He was born on
29th September
1547 in Alcalá
de Henares, a
Castilian city
about 35
kilometres from
Madrid.
Due to the
poor situation
of his family,
he became a
navy soldier.
In the Lepanto
war, he lost a
hand and was
caught by the
Algiers. During
his stay in
prison, he wrote
Los Baños de
Argel.
Finally, he
returned to
Madrid where
he began
writing
6. LITERARY MOVEMENT
• Cervantes participated in the cultural movement of the Renaissance.
• The Renaissance appeared in Italy and changed the way of thinking, promoted by a new
interest in the classic culture.
Characteristics
of the
REINASSANCE
Humanism
Individualism
RationalismAnthropocentrism
Naturalism
Furthermore, society experienced big alterations:
-Great discoveries were made during this
period, for instance the American continent and printing.
-The end of the Roman Empire took place
hence to the fall of Constantinople.
-The middle-class started acquiring power.
7. • It is a pastoral romance and the characters are shepherds who talk about
their troubles.
La Galatea
• It is the story of a gentleman who had always read books of chivalry.
Because of that, he starts thinking he had been an important knight in his
early years so he decides to start a life full of adventures. Finally, he dies
after he realises he is not a real knight.
Don Quijote de la Mancha
• This book contains some stories which show the social, political, and
historical problems of Cervantes' Spain.
Novelas Ejemplares Exemplary Novels
• It belongs to the Byzantine novels’ genre. The novel tells the story of a
prince and a princess, Persiles and Sigismunda, who want to get married.
Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda
WORKS-PROSE
8. WORKS-POETRY AND THEATRE
POETRY THEATER
Cervantes really wanted to write good poetry,
but he doubted of his capability. He claimed to
have written many ballads and satirical poems.
His most known poetic work is "Viaje del
Parnaso“ (Journey to Parnassus) in which Cervantes
debates about literature itself.
Theatre was the real vocation of Cervantes. His
works gained popularity, but the arrival of Lope
de Vega's new style ruined any chances he
might have had.
Short plays were his specialty and he gave his
characters life, deep moral beliefs, a great sense
of humor, he wrote about important topics that
affected everyone.
9. CERVANTES’ QUOTES
“En un lugar de la mancha, de cuyo
nombre no quiero acordarme...”-Don
Quijote
“Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place
whose name I do not care to
remember …”-Don Quixote
“Estar preparado
ya es media
victoria”
“To be prepared
is half the
victory”"La verdad siempre anda
sobre la mentira como el
aceite sobre el agua.“
“Truth will raise above
falsehood as oil above
water.”
11. • Mercè Rodoreda was a well-known Catalan writer. She was born in 1908 in
Barcelona.
• She was brought up in a lovely house with a beautiful garden, which inspired
her during the years
• She had an unlucky love story, she married her uncle at the age of 20
As a child, she
loved art
• Mercè was unhappy in her marriage and wanted to be an
independent woman with her own life.
• Mercè began to collaborate with left-wing newspapers and
magazines, writing short stories for children. Because of the Civil
War, she took up exile and left Spain for 33 years.
• While she was in France, she kept writing novels and poems
Her work is influenced by the tragedies she saw there
BIOGRAPHY
12. STYLE AND WORK
• Mercè Rodoreda’s literary movement belongs to the Post-War
period
• Her poems, tales and novels are considered great books for
Catalan literature
• She used her talent to alter the concept of family and
motherhood; she believed in women and her right of freedom
• Her work was inspired by traditional Catalan stories and by great
authors such as Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and Thomas Mann.
• She wrote psychological novels, where she analysed her
characters and their deep personalities
13. General characteristics
Difficult relationships
between men and
women
Reflection about the
sexist society
Reflection about old-age
and death
Analysis of feelings
Masculine characters
Selfish and jealous men
Greedy people
Chauvinistic marriages
They are shy and against
their feelings
Careless
Strong characters
Against chauvinism
Worried about
motherhood
Pursuit of happiness
Lonely girls and women
Femenine characters
DEEP CHARACTERS
14. Books
• Aloma talks about a girl who is madly in
love with Robert, but he realizes he is not that
much in love with her.
Aloma
• It tells the story of Natalia , a young woman,
who accepts without complaining everything in
her life.
La plaça del diamant
The time of the Doves
• ‘Mirall trencat’ talks about the three
generations of the imaginary Valldaura family.
Mirall trencat
Broken mirror
• ‘Quanta, quanta guerra’...talks about a boy who
wants to be a soldier and spends all the novel
going from one place to another to avoid war.
Quanta, quanta guerra...
How much war...
15. RODOREDA’S QUOTES
“Cada casa és un món i cada persona un
misteri.”
“Each home is a world and each person a
mystery.”
“Les coses importants són
les que no ho semblen.”
“Important things are
those that don’t seem to
be .”
17. GENERAL INFORMATION
Gustavo
Adolfo
Bécquer
Poet and writer. He wrote mostly short stories. He was also
a playwright, a literary columnist and a talented painter.
Nowadays, he is considered one of the most
important figures in Spanish literature.
Main writer of the Post-Romanticism movement: poetry
became more sentimental and intimate, while prose and
theater were more related to Realism
18. BIOGRAPHY
• Bécquer was born in Seville on 17 February 1836
• He was a ladies’ man and fell in love with a pretty woman called Julia,
but he married Julia’s sister.
• As a result of his infidelities, Bécquer died too young, in 1870, because
of tuberculosis
• He lived a deprived life and died without being aware of his future
relevance
19. Concision
• With few
words he
shows all his
emotions
Simplicity
• Because of
the refined
style of
Romanticism
• There are
many images
that suggest
things,
feelings,
emotions.
•Individualism,
there is no
objective reality
Drama
•He uses indirect
dialogue and it
looks like he’s
talking to
someone
Verses
•Verses of seven
and eleven
syllables in
assonance
rhyme
WRITING STYLE
SubjectivismSymbolism
20. RIMAS
RHYMES
Bécquer's literary fame is mostly based on "Rhymes" (Rimas), which is fairly
short poetry made up of 86 poems.
The rhymes are not arranged chronologically but thematically.
Rhymes Theme
I – XI The woman is the artist’s source of
inspiration
XII – XXIX Optimistic love as source of inspiration
XXX – LI Hopeless love. His beloved one is cold and
distant
LII – LXXIX Loneliness, anxiety and death as a result of
failure
21. LEYENDAS
LEGENDS
• The following legends are a group of narrations, which were published from 1858 to 1864
El monte de las ánimas
Los ojo verdes
Maese Perez, el
organista
El rayo de luna
El Miserere
El Cristo de la calavera
La corza blanca
El beso
LEYENDAS
They recreate fantastic and
mysterious settings
They often show
supernatural and semi-
religious (Christian) events.
They are intimate and are a
reference to the historical
past
22. “Whatis poetry?youask, whilefixing
yourblue pupilon mine.
Whatis poetry!And do youask me?
Poetry...is you.”-RhymeXXI
“¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas
en mi pupila tu pupila azul.
¿Qué es poesía? ¿Y tú me lo preguntas?
Poesía... eres tú.”-Rima XXI
“El alma que hablar puede con los ojos también puede besar con la mirada.”
“Thesoulthat can speakthroughthe eyes can also kisswith a gaze.”
“Wemay not havepoets;but therewillalwaysbe
poetry.”-RhymeIV
“Podrá no haber poetas; pero siempre
habrá poesía.”-Rima IV
BÉCQUER’S QUOTES
