The Jew in the Novels of Benito Perez Galdos

Abstract

Few Spanish novelists have dealt with the problem of religion and religious commitment more comprehensively than Benito Perez Galdos. His lifelong preoccupation with man in search of transendence repeatedly led him to evaluate and criticize the religious institutions that stifled rather than helped man in his search. In the Jews, Galdos saw a people who, though victimized by religious intolerance, managed to survive persecution and affirm an abiding faith in God. He created Jewish characters throughout his long literary career and therefore presents the most comprehensive portrait of Jews as they existed in the culture, the religion and fabric of C19th Spanish society.