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The Torquemada
novels: A Summary for English-speaking Readers
by Rhian Davies
In 1889 Galdós wrote
Torquemada en la hoguera for the important cultural review La
España Moderna. The novel is centred on the Madrid moneylender
Francisco Torquemada, who had previously appeared in other Galdós
novels, notably La de Bringas (1884) and Fortunata y Jacinta
(1886-87). Like his namesake, the Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada,
Francisco de Torquemada, otherwise known as 'el Peor', is renowned for
his cruelty towards his fellow men. Events take a new turn when Torquemada's
son, Valentín, contracts meningitis. The miser, heartbroken at the thought
of losing this child prodigy, who, with his mathematical skills could
have helped Torquemada with his business, wonders why such a fate has
befallen him. Struck by some words of his friend, Bailón, the once-time
priest turned revolutionary, whose meaning he does not fully comprehend,
Torquemada convinces himself that he has offended 'la Humanidad' and decides
that the only way in which he can save his son is to mend his ways. He
therefore sets out to act charitably. Inevitably, his fellow men are suspicious
of this sudden change in the miser's ways. His tenants are wary and feel
that the world must be coming to an end for Torquemada to apparently reform.
The miser responds with exasperation and curses them. Similarly, when
a debtor Don Juan refuses a loan, generously offered interest-free, he
is angered. He always finds it difficult to be wholly and naturally charitable:
hence when he sees a beggar freezing in the street his initial thought
is not to give him his best cape but to go home to fetch his second-best.
Likewise, when given the chance to help Isidora and her common-law husband
Martín, an artist, who is dying of tuberculosis, he gives them
money but takes Martín's pictures as a 'souvenir'. Torquemada's actions
are rudely questioned by the old maid-servant Tía Roma, who has
served the household for years, having previously worked for Torquemada's
deceased wife, Doña Silvia, and who dotes on his two children,
Rufina and Valentín. She declares that Torquemada cannot possibly
bribe God. When Valentín dies, Torquemada is grief-stricken and
suffers an epileptic fit. Just as Tía Roma predicted, he returns
to his old ways and swears that he will gain revenge.
The later Torquemada novels,
Torquemada en la cruz (1893), Torquemada en el purgatorio
(1894) and Torquemada y San Pedro (1895) describe the miser's
rise through the social ranks. In Torquemada en la cruz (1893)
he is introduced to the aristocratic Aguila family, the sisters Cruz and
Fidela and their blind brother Rafael, who had recently lost their wealth.
They have a social position but no money, unlike Torquemada, who, in spite
of his money, does not have a respectable position in the eyes of society.
The two factors, money and social standing, are combined when Torquemada
marries Fidela, who later bears him a son, again called Valentín,
but this time the child is not a prodigy but 'un monstruo'. As Torquemada's
social position improves he becomes increasingly conscious of his speech
habits and, striving to achieve a more elegant form of self-expression,
he begins to imitate the turns of phrase of other members of aristocratic
society, particularly José Donoso, the loyal friend of the Aguila
family. At the same time he is somewhat reluctantly persuaded to improve
his dress and living conditions, principally by Cruz and, by the beginning
of Torquemada y San Pedro, he is the 'Marqués de San Eloy'
and the owner of the ducal 'Palacio de Gravelinas', complete with all
the appropriate furnishings and fittings, including a gallery of paintings
once owned by the Duke of Osuna. Nevertheless, Torquemada's life is anything
but happy. Fidela dies and he is left acutely ill at ease as a member
of the aristocratic society. He feels tied to his roots - so much so that,
towards the end of Torquemada y San Pedro he ventures back into
the poor district of Madrid, which he used to know so well, and enjoys
a meal of veal and beans there. His pleasure is short-lived for he is
taken fatally ill. At his deathbed the priest Gamborena, nicknamed 'San
Pedro' by Torquemada, who feels that he bears a great resemblance to the
beggar to whom he gave his cloak in Torquemada en la hoguera,
tries to encourage the miser to repent of his sins. Torquemada dies uttering
the words 'Conversión' but it is left to the reader to decide whether
he was indeed repenting of his sins or whether he was still thinking about
his project for the conversion of the national debt.
The Torquemada novels are closely
linked to the events and ideas of nineteenth-century Spanish society.
They explore the evolution of society and the rise of the nouveaux
riches and express the diversity of responses which such social mobility
evoked, ranging from the hostility of the blind Rafael, who in his despair
commits suicide, and Torquemada's constant unease to the openly predatory
reactions of Cruz, who is prepared to do anything to retrieve her respectable
social position. The novels also consider the significance of appearances,
of social traits, and of what often turn out to be superficial social
norms. It could even be argued that they are closely related to the phenomenon
of regeneración in the Nineteenth Century. It is perhaps
significant that Galdós should have chosen to name his protagonist after
Tomás de Torquemada, for the Inquisition was often a theme of the
regeneracionista treatises of the period. Some argued that the
Inquisition had isolated Spain from her European counterparts and condemned
the country to decadence. There are, indeed, many readings that can be
applied to the novels: such is the universality of Galdós's novels, which,
in lending themselves to multiple readings, constantly renew their appeal
for readers of all backgrounds and all beliefs.
The novels of the Torquemada
series are available in one volume in the English translation by Frances
López-Morillas (London: Andre Deutsch, 1988).
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