‘Laid in Earth’: Physical Touches in Valera's Pepita Jiménez

Abstract

Valera is often thought of as a very refined writer, with a decided interest in the loftier pursuits of metaphysics and religion, and given the subject matter of Pepita Jiménez, it is inevitable that theological and ecclesiastical issues surface in it. His novels, although noted for the rather high-minded tone of their discourse and ideas, also give due weight to the physical, earthly circumstances of the protagonists, as exemplified in this article by an analysis of Pepita Jiménez. The famous phrase ‘laid in earth’, adapted from Nahum Tate's libretto for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, is applicable to the way in which Valera in Pepita Jiménez prepares us for its denouement. By presenting us from the beginning of the novel with examples from the physical world, of touching and kissing, and from social, cultural and sporting encounters that require physical involvement, Valera sows the seed for the commitment of the protagonists to a life grounded in the daily social round and in the earthly, and earthy, environment that they inhabit.