The Marquis of Peñalta (Marta y María): A Realistic Social Novel

(MARTA Y MARÍA):
A Realistic Social Novel
BY DON ARMANDO PALACIO VALDÉS.
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TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY NATHAN HASKELL DOLE.
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NEW YORK: THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., No. 13 Astor Place.
Copyright , 1886, BY T. Y. CROWELL & CO.

THE work which I now have the honor of presenting to the public is not based upon ordinary every-day occurrences; nor are the incidents narrated in it such as we are wont frequently to witness. Very likely it will be called untrue or improbable, and regarded as a fanciful production, remote from all reality. With resignation I bow myself in advance to these criticisms, though I claim the right to protest in my own heart, if not publicly, against the unfairness of such a charge. For the chief events of this novel—I must say it, though my glory as an originator may be destroyed—have all actually taken place. The author has done nothing more than recount them and give them unity.
I have the presumption to believe that, though Marta y María may not be a beautiful novel, it is a realistic novel. I know that realism—at the present time called naturalism—has many impulsive adepts, who conceive that truth exists only in the vulgar incidents of life, and that these are the only ones worth transferring to art. Fortunately this is not the case. Outside of markets, garrets, and slums, the truth exists no less. The very apostle of naturalism, Emil Zola, confesses this by painting scenes of polished and lofty poetry, which assuredly conflict with his exaggerated æsthetic theories.
The character of the protagonist of my novel is an exceptional character. I take delight in acknowledging this. But to be exceptional is not to be less true to nature, less human. Mystic temperaments are not apt to abound in Madrid: the frivolous and sensual life of the court is little adapted for their development. But all who have lived in a province will have known, just as I have, certain passionate and pious souls, who, without any motive of a temporal kind, have renounced the world and consecrated themselves to God. Take the periodicals, and scarcely a day will pass without your seeing the announcement of some young woman becoming a nun. Among these young persons are beautiful girls, daughters of wealthy families, rejoicing in all the gifts of nature and the flatteries of society. Is not, peradventure, the careful study of such souls worthy of the literary man, even though he call himself a naturalist?