Rules of Gender, Reserve, and Resolution in Pardo Bazán’s Insolación

Abstract

This article explores social and literary conventions, and their violations, in Emilia Pardo Bazán’s 1889 Insolación. The essay argues that the controversy incited by the novel’s publication was inextricably linked to gender issues and Pardo Bazán’s status as a female author (and authority). I question commonly held views on the novel’s deployment of marriage as a resolution, arguing that it does not in fact tie up loose ends, but rather reworks the conventional narrative strategy. I also propose that the novel selectively makes use of an idealized (feminine) rhetoric of reserve in order to make, and conceal, a social critique.