The most considerable movement of the eighteenth century in Spain, is that relating to the theatre, which it was earnestly attempted to subject to the rules then prevailing on the French stage. The Spanish theatre, in fact, was now at its lowest ebb, and wholly in the hands of the populace. The plays acted for public amusement were still represented as they had been in the seventeenth century,—in open court-yards, in the daytime, without any pretense of scenery or of dramatic ingenuity. Soon after, through the influence of Isabella, the second wife of Philip V., improvements were made in the external arrangements and architecture of the theatres; yet, owing to the exclusive favor shown to the opera by the Italian queens, the old spirit continued to prevail.
In the middle of the eighteenth century a reform of the comedy and tragedy was undertaken by Montiano and others, who introduced the French style in dramatic compositions, and from that time an active contest went on between the innovators and the followers of the old drama. The latter was attacked, in 1762, by Moratin the elder, who wrote against it, and especially against the autos sacramentales, showing that such wild, coarse, and blasphemous exhibitions, as they generally were, ought not to be tolerated in a civilized and religious community. So far as the autos were concerned, Moratin was successful; they were prohibited in 1768, and since that time, in the larger cities, they have not been heard.
The most successful writer for the stage was Ramon de la Cruz (1731-1799), the author of about three hundred dramatic compositions, founded on the manners of the middle and lower classes. They are entirely national in their tone, and abound in wit and in faithful delineations of character.
While a number of writers pandered to the bad taste of low and vulgar audiences, a formidable antagonist appeared in the person of Moratin the younger (1760-1828), son of that poet who first produced, on the Spanish stage, an original drama written according to the French doctrines. Notwithstanding the taste of the public, he determined to tread in the footsteps of his father. Though his comedies have failed to educate a school strong enough to drive out the bad imitations of the old masters, they have yet been able to keep their own place.
The eighteenth century was a period of revolution and change with the Spanish theatre. While the old national drama was not restored to its ancient rights, the drama founded on the doctrines taught by Luzan, and practiced by the Moratins, had only a limited success. The audiences did as much to degrade it as was done by the poets they patronized and the actors they applauded. On the one side, extravagant and absurd dramas in great numbers, full of low buffoonery, were offered; on the other, meagre, sentimental comedies, and stiff, cold translations from the French, were forced, in almost equal numbers, upon the actors, by the voices of those from whose authority or support they could not entirely emancipate themselves.
3. SPANISH LITERATURE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.—The new life and health infused into literature in the age of Charles III. was checked by the French revolutionary wars in She reign of Charles IV., and afterwards by the restoration of civil despotism and the Inquisition, brought again into the country by the return of the Bourbon dynasty in 1814. Amidst the violence and confusion of the reign of Ferdinand VII. (1814-1833), elegant letters could hardly hope to find shelter or resting-place. Nearly every poet and prose writer, known as such at the end of the reign of Charles IV., became involved in the fierce political changes of the time,—changes so various and so opposite, that those who escaped from the consequences of one, were often, on that very account, sure to suffer in the next that followed. Indeed, the reign of Ferdinand VII. was an interregnum in all elegant culture, such as no modern nation has yet seen,—not even Spain herself during the War of the Succession. This state of things continued through the long civil war which arose soon after the death of that king, and, indeed, it is not yet entirely abated. But in despite of the troubled condition of the country, even while Ferdinand was living, a movement was begun, the first traces of which are to be found among the emigrated Spaniards, who cheered with letters their exile in England and France, and whose subsequent progress from the time when the death of their unfaithful monarch permitted them to return home, is distinctly perceptible in their own country.
The two principal writers of the first half of the century are the satirist José de Larra (d. 1837), and the poet Espronceda (d. 1842); both were brilliant writers, and both died young. Zorrilla (b. 1817), has great wealth of imagination, and Fernan Caballero is a gifted woman whose stories have been often translated. Antonio de Trueba is a writer of popular songs and short stories not without merit, Campoamor (b. 1817) and Bequer represent the poetry of twenty years ago. The short lyrics of the first named are remarkable for their delicacy and finesse. Bequer, who died at the age of thirty, left behind him poems which have already exercised a wide influence in his own country and in Spanish America; they tell a story of passionate love, despair, and death. Perez Galdos, a writer of fiction, attacks the problem of modern life and thought, and represents with vivid and often bitter fidelity the conflicting interests and passions of Spanish life. Valera, the present minister from Spain to the United States, is the author of the most famous Spanish novel of the day, "Pepita Jimenez," a work of great artistic perfection, and his skill and grace are still more evident in his critical essays. Castelar has gained a European celebrity as an orator and a political and miscellaneous writer. The works of these authors, and of many others not named, show clearly that Spain is making vigorous efforts to bring herself, socially and intellectually, into line with the rest of Europe.
Of the Spanish colonies Cuba has produced some writers of enduring renown. The most distinguished for poetic fame is Gertrude de Avelleneda; Heredia and Placido may also be mentioned. In Venezuela, Baralt is known as a historian, poet, and classical writer; Olmedo as a poet of Bolivia, and Caro a writer of the United States of Colombia.
PORTUGUESE LITERATURE.
1. The Portuguese Language.—2. Early Literature of Portugal.—3. Poets of the Fifteenth Century; Macias, Ribeyro.—4. Introduction of the Italian Style; San de Miranda, Montemayor, Ferreira.—5. Epic Poetry; Camoëns; The Lusiad.—6. Dramatic Poetry; Gil Vicente.—7. Prose Writing; Rodriguez Lobo, Barros, Brito, Veira.—8. Portuguese Literature in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries; Antonio José, Manuel do Nascimento, Manuel de Bocage.