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Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977
clases, mejor dicho, la concordia y reconciliación de todas ellas » 216 . But Fortunata gives the lie
to this farce, for she is exploited by Juanito and denied the possibility of marrying him because she
is a mujer del pueblo . That is, she is excluded from the supposed organic social order because of
her class origin.
Fortunata does not accept this exclusion, and in her struggle to overcome it, she articulates an
alternative to the status quo. A crucial part of her struggle involves the working out of the internal
contradiction between her desire to be honrada and her intense love for a man who is not her husband.
This contradiction, which takes different forms (especially her attitudes toward Jacinta), is based on
her temporary acceptance of the bourgeois definition of honradez . Thus the social dynamic of the
class struggle is expressed both in interpersonal conflicts (between Fortunata and her middle class
companions) and in the internal conflict of the protagonist. And when, through her idea , Fortunata
succeeds in resolving the internal conflict, she also resolves the interpersonal conflict. She overcomes
the barriers society had placed in her way as the Santa Cruz are obliged to recognize her son as the sole
« hijo de la casa ». Moreover, her success leads to changes in the «social order» of the novel. Jacinta
rejects Juanito and begins to imitate Fortunata's language and thoughts; Fortunata has given Jacinta
not only the much desired child, but also a new awareness. The conclusion of the novel therefore
suggests the possibility of a social rebirth based on a genuine overcoming of class barriers.
In Fortunata y Jacinta , then, the question is asked: can the values and vitality of the pueblo ,
which Fortunata typifies, renovate society? The hypothesis is worked out in the following way: the
false order of bourgeois society is challenged by Fortunata who in her struggle must overcome
internal and interpersonal contradictions as she articulates an alternative order . Thus the answer
to the question is a tentative yes, but only after a long and hard struggle. This fictional hypothesis is
rooted in Galdós's understanding of the class struggle, and Fortunata y Jacinta probably represents
his most profound treatment of this social dynamic. Yet this is not a revolutionary novel, for Fortunata
brings the possibility of redemption -and not revolution- to bourgeois society. Her son is the product
of the union of the pueblo and the bourgeoisie and not of the overthrow of the latter by the former.
Furthermore he will grow up in bourgeois surroundings, regardless of how Jacinta's new awareness
may change them. Finally, her death is presented in the context of a religious sacrifice. Thus in spite
216 Benito Pérez Galdós, Obras completas , vol. V., ed. Sainz de Robles (Madrid: Aguilar, (1950),
p. 65.
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