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Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977
The second iconoclast, Rosalía Bringas, « a quien jamás la maledicencia había hecho ningún agravio
» (IV, 1474), is very proud of her spotless reputation. For many years she withstands with great
resignation her husband's avarice -having to account for every penny spent, having no means of her
own- until one day when she yields to a whim and purchases a manteleta . As she gets deeper in debt
and pressures increase she contemplates the unthinkable: to sell herself for profit. She then muses: «
La necesidad... es la que hace los caracteres. Ella tiene la culpa de muchas desgracias, y considerando
esto, debemos ser indulgentes con las personas que no se portan como Dios manda. Antes de acusarlas
debemos decir: Toma lo que necesitas; cómprate de comer; tápate esas carnes... ¿Estás bien comida,
bien vestida? Pues ahora... venga moralidad » (IV, 1652). Thus she seems to paraphrase the very
ideas expressed before by Amparo's delinquent sister, and yet there is great irony here. She shows
little compassion to Refugio and in her final interview with her in the second novel she takes a superior
stance although both have come to the same end. The pressures imposed by society on women, Galdós
makes clear, are devastating.
Neither Refugio nor Rosalía consider for a moment the possibility of achieving independence
through some profession. Tristana is clearly ahead of them when she laments those restrictions that
will not allow her to become a lawyer or doctor. And yet she is still far from being an example of the
«new woman»; she harbors serious contradictions.
Casalduero relates Tristana to Amparo, not to Refugio 190 ; and Carmen Bravo Villasante compares
her to the mania-prone Isidora of La desheredada 191 . While our heroine does not share Amparo's
timidity -Galdós constantly calls the older of the Emperador sisters « débil » and « medrosa »
she is not as resolute as she would like to think. Not for one moment does it cross her mind to escape
from the home of her guardian as well she could. For all her dedication to the study of languages and
the piano, there is a basic insecurity in her; she cannot find herself and will later, in the same spirit,
turn to religion and the culinary arts. That she has an inquiring nature, is restless and impatient, there
is no doubt, but we come to question whether she is indeed talented. She herself has these doubts
and exclaims: « Quiero tener una profesión y no sirvo para nada, ni sé nada de cosa alguna. Esto
es horrendo » (V, 1580).
190 Op. cit. , p. 104.
191 Op. cit. , p. 119.
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