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Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977
realidad de las cosas » (p. 55) 65 . Similarly, whatever qualities Juan Bou may possess, the oafishness
of his conduct during the visit to the Aransis palace in chapter XXVII (aptly entitled « La caricia del
oso ») not only engenders sympathy for the very real sufferings of Isidora, but also makes clear, by
highlighting the gulf between their respective sensibilities, the sheer incongruity of Miquis' suggested
marriage between these two very disparate beings.
Nor does Isidora fit entirely comfortably into the category of simple social archetype. To begin with,
it is probably true to say that there is a lack of sufficient points of comparison with Madrid society
as a whole -similarities there undoubtedly are, but Isidora is not as wholly identified with her milieu
as Rosalía Bringas is with hers. Moreover, if there is a basic resemblance between her imaginative
excesses and the quiero y no puedo characteristic of the inhabitants of Madrid as a whole, there is also
an important qualitative difference. In a world peopled by the likes of Melchor, Gaitica et al., cheap
hucksters and frauds pursuing ignoble and material ends under a transparent veil of hypocrisy- Isidora
is marked out as a creature apart, not only by her greater sensibility, but also by the genuineness of
her belief in her own nobility. If her ideals are false, they are at least a cut above those of most of her
fellows. Moreover, there is a genuine nobility about Isidora -an ability to make others seem small and
mean by comparison- which survives every degradation (indeed, it seems to grow greater the lower
she falls). Thus the triumph of the «practical» Sánchez Botín is rendered abject by Isidora's aristocratic
self-assertion and even in the very act of self-abasement -her attempt to sell herself to Miquis- she
triumphs by a kind of paradoxical grandeur over the latter's bourgeois conventionalism (though this
scene is perhaps a trifle too theatrical). The very power she has to hold men in thrall -Miquis himself,
Bou, Don José- testifies to the existence of something out of the ordinary in her character. Above all,
however, Isidora is redeemed by her own ennobling passion for Joaquín Pez, a creature whose very
worthlessness only serves to tender her own unwavering and self-sacrificing love seem the greater. 66
65 Significantly, the description of the rope work is presented in terms of its impact on the sensitive
Isidora.
66 In this respect, as R. Ricard has pointed out ( Aspects de Galdós , Paris, 1960), Isidora bears a
distinct resemblance to Fortunata.
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