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(2014) Gender and modernity in Spanish literature, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
In Nazarín and Dulce Dueño (Sweet Master), the main characters transform from conventional, disillusioned members of society into mystics. Mysticism is characterized as "first and foremost a transcendence of the individual ego—that is, a surpassing of the egocentric orientation toward both the inner and outer worlds in one's life" (MacCurdy 323). The eponymous protagonist of Nazarín begins the novel as a priest and concludes the novel as a man stripped of all his possessions and wandering the Spanish countryside helping and living with the poor. Lina Mascareñas, the protagonist of Dulce Dueño, starts off as an heiress with unlimited wealth and suitors in the first part of the novel, and by the second half of the novel she rejects all material possessions and social relations and devotes herself entirely to God. Both characters seek an unmediated relationship with God that is untainted by the prevailing philosophies of utilitarianism and positivism. However, as a man, Nazarín is free to live in nature as a vagabond, while Lina struggles to find a place to live out her yearning to be only with God. Various members of Spanish society criticize Nazarín and Lina for their unconventional ways, but this criticism varies according to gender.
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Full citation:
Smith Rousselle, E. (2014). The spiritual solution, in Gender and modernity in Spanish literature, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 119-133.
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