Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero are brothers, and write incollaboration. They are among the most popular and prolific playwrightsof the day in Spain. Neither qualification is necessarily flattering,but the comedies of the Quinteros[A] have many permanent beauties whichspeak well for the taste of the contemporary Spanish audience. Even intheir farces they are never vulgar, never coarse, and they are not to beconfounded with the many amusers of the crowd in Madrid, the RamosCarrións, the Vital Azas, the Carlos Arniches, etc. Their work possessesa distinction and color which lift it into the realm of literature.
[Footnote A: Picón and Mariano de Cavia write "los Quinteros", but other Spaniards seem to prefer "los Quintero".]
I
The brothers Quintero have never made public the details of theirprivate life, and no article of importance seems yet to have beenpublished concerning them. From a little semi-serious Autobiografía
,originally printed in
Alma española
(1904), and from various othersources, the following facts have been gleaned: Don Serafín was born on March 26, 1871, and don Joaquín on Jan. 20,1873, in Utrera, 20 miles from Seville. To this capital the family moved"when the two boys together measured a yard in height", and there theyattended the Instituto. Their dramatic talent appeared at the earliestpossible age, and they composed and acted plays in the
patio
oftheir own house before any other stage could be provided. Their ages were16 and 15 when Esgrima y amor
, a farce, was produced at the TeatroCervantes in Seville (Jan. 30, 1888). Their father took them to Madridin October of the same year, in order to give their talents a broaderfield. Success did not come at once. For nine years, to provide alivelihood, they held positions in the Treasury department (
Hacienda
).During this period they labored desperately at writing, rising at dawnto get in some hours before the office work began at eight. They foundeda weekly paper, El pobrecito hablador
, which was respected andadmired, but was not a financial success. Their writing was done atfirst over the signature
El diablo cojuelo
. In the
Autobiografía
they speak in feeling terms of the ten years of severe and unrewardedlabor which laid the foundation of their later popularity. Before theappearance of
El ojito derecho
, their first hit, they had only threeplays produced in Madrid, all very ordinary farces. But they must havebeen storing up material for future use, for in 1900 they declared[B]that they had 51 plays on hand in manuscript. In 1897 the "entremés"
Elojito derecho
and the one-act comedy
La reja
attracted favorablenotice; they were both in the vein which has given them most popularity,namely, the depiction of Andalusian customs. In 1898 a musical comedy, La buena sombra
, completed the victory, and since that date theyhave seen produced, between long and short, an average of nearly five playsa year. In 1900
Los galeotes
, a four-act comedy, and their firstfull-sized piece, was crowned with the approbation of the SpanishAcademy, but not until about 1904 do we find the brothers Quinteroaccepted on a par with Benavente as entitled to rank among the chieffigures of modern Spanish literature. In 1907 they were both presentedwith the cross of Alfonso XII. Don Serafín was elected to the Academyon March 27, 1913. The brothers spend their winters in Madrid, and theirsummers in the quaint northern town of Fuenterrabía, where they findideal conditions for composition and rest.[C]
[Footnote B: In a letter to the
Heraldo de Madrid
. See
Ilustración española y americana
, 1900 (II) p. 258.]
[Footnote C: The Teatro Álvarez Quintero, which has recently beenfounded in Madrid, receives from them only its name; they have neitherfinancial nor managerial connection with it.]
The collaboration of the two brothers has excited wonder in many, for itapproximates to mutual thought. It is so intimate that it can hardly beimagined possible in any but two persons who have been accustomed towork and think together from childhood. Their intellectual harmony is soperfect that on one occasion, as a test, the younger composed a
copla
of four lines; the first two were then given to the elder, whocompleted the stanza with the identical words of his brother. Their methodof composition is described by them as a continuous conversation.
They plantheir plays while walking out of doors, in the morning; thus theydiscuss characters, outline the plot, division into acts and scenes, andeven dialog. When the whole and the details are well in mind, the actualwriting is done by don Serafín. He reads the result to his brother as heproceeds, and the latter comments or corrects. Details of style aresettled in the same viva voce way, better adapted to the drama than toother forms of composition.
II
When we look over the whole work of these men, we are struck first bytheir tremendous productivity.
The elder of the brothers is now 44, butit is 27 years since their first play was presented. Up to the latestadvices (Jan. 1, 1915), they have had performed 91 dramas, comedies,farces and operettas, called by the various names of
comedias, juguetescómicos, entremeses, sainetes, pasos de comedia, zarzuelas
, and stillothers. From 1900 to 1914 they averaged
5 estrenos
a year, a recordwhich one knows not whether to commend or to reprove. The conditions ofthe stage in Spain are such to-day that dramatists are spurred to turnout novelties in order to earn a living. A popular hit may remain on theboards for some time, but after its initial run is over, it is seldomreturned to the repertory. But it would be a mistake to ascribe tocommercial motives what is a trait of national genius. The race of Lopeis not that of Molière, and Spanish literature, in its mostcharacteristic phases, is the work of brilliant improvisers. Thatexuberance of creation of which Lope de Vega was the perfect exemplar iscontinued undiminished to-day in Pérez Galdós, Echegaray, Benavente andthe Quinteros.
The enormous output of the Quintero brothers includes an equallyimpressive variety. They have attempted almost every known kind ofcomedy in prose (never in verse) from the screaming farce (
Las casas decartón
,
El nuevo servidor
) to the grand comedy in which there is astrong tragic element (
La casa de García
,
La zagala
). One may veryroughly divide the mass into plays short and plays long, or, inCastilian el género chico
and
el género grande
.
The short dramatized picture of national customs known as entremés
or
sainete
has as continuous and glorious a history as any literarygenre in Spain, including as it does the names of Lope de Rueda (16thcentury), Cervantes, Quiñones de Benavente (17th), Ramón de la Cruz(18th) and Ricardo de la Vega (19th). The Quinteros maintain worthily atradition in which the great qualities are wit, concision and fidelityto nature, and up to the present writing these short popular sketchesrepresent possibly the greatest perfection of their accomplishment.
Elojito derecho
(1897) is a classic of horse-trading, and only one of aninsurpassable series depicting Andalusian life among the lower classes.The famous
El patio
(1900) draws an enchanting picture of domesticarrangements in a house in Seville.[D]
La buena sombra
,
El flechazo
,
Los chorros del oro
,
Sangre gorda
and very many others, which, likethose previously cited, are written in the Andalusian dialect, arethumb-nail sketches caught in the streets and patios of Seville. But,following the lead of Ricardo de la Vega, the Quinteros have woven athread of sentiment into their scenes from popular life, and thus giventhem a relief and truthfulness which the
sainetistas
of the earliercenturies would have scorned to consider possible.
La pena
,
Elchiquillo
,
Nanita, nana
are masterpieces, pure and simple, of sincere,unexaggerated realism, and one knows not where to turn for a parallel,unless to Dickens, who touched childhood with a hand more loving thanany other's.
[Footnote D: The authors define a
sainete
as a form restricted toone act, and depicting manners of the lower classes only. Hence Elpatio
(in two acts), and the
pasos
mentioned further on, arenot
sainetes
, for the characters are not taken from the laboringclasses. The term cuadro de costumbres
would perhaps cover themall.]
It was the Quinteros who started the now declining fashion of"andalucismo" on the stage, but they were also the first to work awayfrom it. The
pasos de comedia
are short pieces, but they aredifferentiated from the
sainete
type by the station of the dramatispersonae, who are not of the working class. They speak Castilian, notAndalusian, the scene is laid farther north, and the interest is soughtin fine psychology, instead of popular manners.
Mañana de sol
(1905)contains a delicate mingling of philosophy and humor with the faintestsuggestion of pathos, and the same qualities appear in
A la luz de laluna
(1908), as fanciful and dainty as one of De Musset's
Proverbes
.
El agua milagrosa
(1908) is a delightful revelationof human nature, and
El último capítulo
(1910) equals it in shrewdpsychological observation. Such dramatic pictures as these are a permanentand worthy addition to Spanish literature.
So much cannot always be said for the more ambitious flights of theQuinteros. Many times they have tried comedy on a large scale, andtragic figures are not lacking in their long list of created characters,but their success has not been uniform in the broader field. In it areto be found marks of haste in construction, the inevitable harvest ofintellects not allowed to lie fallow, and even of concession to popularapplause. When they are content with observation or satire they aresupreme, as in the interesting
zarzuela
,
El estreno
(1900), a vividglimpse behind the scenes at a "first night"; and in El amor en elteatro
(1902) and
El amor en solfa
(1905), which exhibit thelove-scene as it is rendered in various types of play and opera. Butwhen the authors grow serious they approach the danger line, for it isthen that a tendency to sentimentality shows unpleasantly at times,which in the purely objective studies serves only to cast a glow ofpoetry.
The public, too, has been overcritical with its favoritefunmakers whenever they have tried to convince it that their talent isnot confined to provoking laughter; their future has been to a certainextent circumscribed by past successes, and they are not granted a fairhearing. So one must set down as unsuccessful attempts at high comedy ordrama
La dicha ajena
(1902),
La musa loca
(1905),
La casade García
(1904), and
La zagala
(1904), the last two with almosttragic endings; perhaps even Malvaloca
(1912), in spite of its loftyaim and generous teaching.
Los Galeotes
(1900) is too well roundedand solid a play to be included in the same category. In El amor quepasa
(1904) we are shown the longing for a finer life which may besetsensitive womankind in a provincial town.
La escondida senda
(1908)sings the praises of quiet country life;
Doña Clarines
(1909) is acharacter study of much power and truth.
El genio alegre
(1906),flooded in southern sunshine and perfume, is truly a hymn to the joy ofliving, and it is the favorite in Spain of all the long plays. A remarkablepiece of dramatic technic is La flor de la vida
(1910), a three-actplay in which only two characters take part. The conflict between the lureof the stage and the attraction of the home in a woman's heart was neverstated more clearly or more logically left unsolved than in
PepitaReyes
(1903), a very perfect piece of work. Still, the most finished ofall the longer efforts is Las flores, comedia en tres actos
(1901).The plot is so simple that it will scarcely bear analysis, but thesetting is so redolent of flowers and shot through with light, thedialog so restrained and suggestive, the characters so well studied,that one feels in this play the inevitableness of a masterpiece. Anartist compared it to a painting of Velázquez, in that the authorssketched with the fewest possible strokes an epitome of Andalusian life.Here there is much sentiment, but no sentimentality.
Las flores
wascoldly received by both audience and critics at its first performance,but since then the latter, at least, have made ample amends.[E]
[Footnote E:
Las flores
has been highly praised by R. Altamira,J.O. Picón, and other esteemed Spanish writers. Manuel Bueno, by no meanspartial to the Quinteros, speaks of it as "una de las obras más bellas,intensas y veraces del teatro español contemporáneo".]
The lyric quality predominates in other plays beside
Las flores
;notably in
La rima eterna
(1910), which is an expansion andinterpretation of a famous Rima
of Bécquer, and a worthy tribute tohis memory. The Quinteros have not acquired fame as versifiers, perhapsbecause their extraordinary power of visualizing characters made themdramatists instead, but their interest in poets is as obvious as thepoetic quality of their thought. Bécquer is the favorite, and Campoamorand Luis de León have furnished texts for certain plays, while one, Malvaloca
, is inspired by an Andalusian
copla
.
A word as to the language employed by the Quinteros. Southernersthemselves, they revel in the Andalusian speech forms, and few of theirplays do not contain one or two characters who use them. To those wholove the soft accent of Seville and Cadiz, this will prove no draw-back,but an added charm.
Yet when one reflects that writings in dialect, evenif they are the work of a Goldoni, cannot fail to drop soon out of thecurrent of active literary influence, it is much to be regretted thatsuch remarkable compositions as
Las flores
,
El patio
and the racy
sainetes
are doomed to pass quickly from the stage on that accountalone.
The dialog of the Quinteros is lively and natural, at times sparklingwith wit—they are inveterate punsters—
, and again charged with rich,quiet humor. Long speeches are rare. Their Castilian is highlyidiomatic, but not free from Gallicisms and slang. For this reason ithas not the value as a pure speech-type that one finds in theirAndalusian writings.
According to the latest information, 19 of their plays have beentranslated into Italian, six into German, two into French, one intoDutch and one into Portuguese. It may be hoped that English will notlong remain conspicuously absent from the list.
III
The drama may be a vehicle for any mental concept: satire, ethics,cynicism, philosophy, realism, poetry, social problems, melodrama. Saneoptimism and realism suffused with poetry are the inspiring forces ofthe brothers Quintero. They have no thesis to prove, except that life issweet and worth living; no didactic aim, except to show that humannature is still sound in the main. It is a distinct relief to read playsso natural and serene, after one has surfeited upon the products of manycontemporary continental playwrights, the monotony of whosesubject-matter is so obvious that not even supreme technical skill canconceal the sterility of the authors. The eternal triangle, thethreadbare motivation into which true affection never enters for amoment, have been ridden to death, and even a French critic is led tocomment with resignation upon
"this completely unmoral world which isalmost the only one we are permitted to see upon the stage". [F]
Whenliterature becomes so far separated from life, it needs to be led backto reality, and the excuse, often made, that the average person's lifeis not an interesting theme for dramatic presentment, argues nothing butimpotence on the part of the writers. There has never been an age nor aplace where average life did not contain potential material for acreative writer. The Quinteros have undertaken precisely to present theaverage existence of the bourgeois and lower classes in an interestingway, instead of racking the audience with problems that to at least ninepeople out of ten are no problems at all. Like Dickens, they touch thecomedies and tragedies of daily life with a poetic light, and therevelation of Spanish character reminds us once more of the saying thatSpaniards, more than any other European people, resemble Americans. Itwas William Dean Howells who said, in writing of one of the later novelsof Palacio Valdés, that he found in it "a humanity so like theAnglo-Saxon." He would surely extend the statement to the Quinterocomedies.
[Footnote F: J. Ernest-Charles, in
L'Opinion
, Dec. 2, 1911:"Tristan Bernard et Michel Corday nous conduisent une fois de plus dans cemonde complètement amoral qui est presque le seul que l'on soit admis àfréquenter au théâtre."]
In the later plays of the Quinteros one notices an increasing eagernessto impress the beauty of vigorous, right-minded living upon theaudience. One must be frank, and say that the most successful plays arethose in which the moral is best concealed. They do not always escapethe pitfall of bourgeois sentimentality.
In dramatic technic the Quinteros and Jacinto Benavente have introducedin Spain an important change.
The drama is the one literary genre inwhich one looks for action in abundance, for one-piece characters,intrigue, surprise, conflict of passions, climax, then the solution ofthe knot. Otherwise, of course, the drama is not dramatic. Scribe andSardou are the arch effectivists, who harrow the spectators' feelings bysheer cleverness or brutality, and so induce him to forget that what heis witnessing is not life. In modern Spain, Echegaray has not disdainedthe coincidences, duels and other stage effects of this school,combining them with the moral or social problem of Ibsen. Benavente andthe Quinteros have sought to discard all factitious devices, and toarouse interest solely by means of natural dialog, suggestive charm,color and accurate characterization. The eternal struggle in art betweenexact copying of nature and artificial selection and arrangement hasswayed to the former side, perhaps farther than was ever before seen inthe literature of the stage. Plot is always secondary with thesewriters, and in fact many of their plays could be denominated speakingtableaux of life better than dramas in the conventional sense. TheQuinteros themselves define their theory: "El interés subsistirá porsencilla que sea la acción que se forje, siempre que haya un poco dearte en la composición. No estribe el interés en
lo que pasará
,sino en
lo que pasa
. El ideal sería que el público, durante larepresentación de (nuestras) obras, llegara a olvidarse de que sehallaba, en el teatro." (
El patio
, p. 71.) Intrigue is to bereplaced, then, by marvelous rendering of atmosphere and states ofcharacter, just as Velázquez rendered planes in
Las meninas
. Thepersonages unfold themselves before us in their natural environment, andwe merely observe, like the limping devil, what takes place within theirhomes.
Perhaps the exclusion of the dramatic has been carried too far,—for thestage has its requirements, and punishes with oblivion those who chooseto ignore them. It is true too that artistic selection has not alwaysbeen duly exercised, and superfluous characters sometimes cumber thestage. Exaggeration may be necessary behind the footlights, as Molièrebelieved, and when deprived of it we feel the lack of something, as aMexican would miss his chile, or a Hindu his curry. Nevertheless, thechange from sensationalism is as restful as a congenial fireside to onewho has been fighting with strangers for his daily bread. Lack of actionis not in harmony with the great dramatic tradition of Spain, and forthat reason the reaction against it may be strong. The fact remains thatthe school of realism in its true sense, of naturalness, light and coloris producing some masterly results at this moment.
IV
Of the plays in the present volume,
Doña Clarines
is not pretentious,but within its limits it is better worked out than is sometimes thecase. It is a character study, sketched in broad lines withoutover-subtlety. In the exceptionally blunt, straightforward and withalwomanly figure of the heroine the Quinteros have created an exceptionalpersonage, certainly, whose striking qualities they have succeeded inreproducing without caricature and with eminent fairness. The person whospeaks plain truth at all times and in all places would not be the mostagreeable neighbor in the world, perhaps, for few of us can afford to besubjected at every instant to the moral X-ray, and if all human beingswere patterned after the protagonist, society, as we know it, could notexist. But the average man leans the other way, duplicity is rampant,and one Clarines in a village is a refreshing acid to cut the prevailingsmug concealment of thought. That the straight path is the only safe oneis the moral of the play, as it is of
Peer Gynt
.
As a drama
Doña Clarines
has unusual qualities both for acting andreading. The minor figures are, as always, closely observed; the typesare clearly distinguished, and Tata, the old servant, who combinesloyalty with forwardness, is wonderfully well rendered.
Doña Clarines
has been translated into Italian by Giulio de Frenzi, under the title Siora Chiareta
, and there is also an adaptation in the Venetiandialect.
Mañana de sol
is more delicate and subtle. It is one of the daintysketches in which poetic fancy and sympathetic humor transform figuresin themselves trivial and even ridiculous into personifications ofenduring passion. By some alchemy of art doña Laura and don Gonzalo,aged, infirm and crochety, are transmuted into symbols of the eternalyouth of love. To expand the four-line dolora
(no. XLIII) ofCampoamor into such a gem calls for real creative power. The esteem inwhich Mañana de sol
is held on the continent is shown by the factthat it has been translated into French, German and Italian.
DOÑA CLARINES
COMEDIA EN DOS ACTOS
Estrenada en el TEATRO LARA el 5 de Noviembre de 1909.
A FRANCISCO BRAVO RUIZ
GRANDE AMIGO DE PERSONAJES EXTRAORDINARIOS,A QUIEN DEBEMOS EL
SABROSOTRATO DE DOÑA CLARINES Y CON ÉL LAFELIZ INSPIRACIÓN DE ESTA COMEDIA.[1]
LOS MÁS VULGARES DE SUS AMIGOS,
SERAFÍN Y JOAQUÍN.
PERSONAJES
DOÑA CLARINESMARCELATATADARÍAMIGUELDON BASILIOLUJÁNESCOPETACRISPÍN
ACTO PRIMERO
Estancia preferida de doña Clarines en el piso principal de su casa deGuadalema,[2] ciudad castellana.
A la derecha del actor, en primertérmino, la puerta de las habitaciones de la señora. Inmediata a esapuerta, de frente al público, vetusta galería de cristales, con zócalode madera tallada que da al jardín, y la cual, avanzando hasta el mediode la escena, cierra en ángulo recto con la pared del foro.—
Una puertaa la izquierda del actor y al foro otra. Lo mismo éstas dos que la delas habitaciones de doña Clarines son de cristales y tienenmediopuntos.—En el suelo, que es de losas encarnadas, y en primertérmino de la izquierda, una mirilla de madera para ver desde arriba lagente que llega al portal, y cerca de ella, también en el suelo, unaargolla atada al extremo del cordel que sirve para abrir el portón sintener que bajar escaleras.—Muebles antiguos, pero ricos y biencuidados. Algunos retratos al óleo, de familia, decoran las paredes. Esde noche. Una lámpara que fué primero de petróleo, luego de gas y ahoraes de luz eléctrica, alumbra la estancia. La luz de la luna platea lascopas de los árboles del jardín, que asoman tras los cristales de lagalería.
La escena está sola. Dentro, lejos, en el piso bajo, óyese ladrar aLeal, el perro de doña Clarines, anunciando que alguien llega a lapuerta. Por la del foro aparece TATA,
vieja desdentada y ruinosa,pero activa y despierta, pies y manos de doña Clarines y su admiradoraincondicional.
TATA. ¡Calla, Leal, calla! Con este perro no hemos menester campanilla.
¡Calla ya, escandaloso!
Calla el perro. Tata se asoma a la mirilla.
¿Quién es? ¡Ah! Don Basilio con el amigote que esperábamos. Haga el Señor que no tengamos toros y cañas con el tal amigote.
Tira del cordel
para abrir.
Sale
ESCOPETA
por la puerta de la derecha. Escopeta es un mozoandaluz, criado reciente de la casa. En la mano trae una botella de labotica, llena de agua al parecer.
ESCOPETA. Pos, señó, güeno está.[3] Oiga usté, Tata.
TATA. ¿Qué hay con Tata?[4]
ESCOPETA. Las señoras de Guadalema, ¿son todas como doña Clarines?
TATA. ¡Qué disparate! Lo que quisieran las señoras de Guadalema era[5]saberla descalzar. ¡Aaaaah!
¡Doña Clarines! Doña Clarines no hay más queuna…
ESCOPETA. Más vale. Porque si no, era cosa de pitá otra vez pa mi tierray dejá a Guadalema y a toa Castiya na más que pa vení cuando hubierafestejos.
TATA. ¿Pues?
ESCOPETA. ¿Er criao que estuvo en la casa antes que yo, duró mucho arservisio de la señora?
TATA. Seis días escasamente. Era muy casquivano y muy gandul.
ESCOPETA. ¿Y er de antes?
TATA. El de antes no duró sino tres. Aquel era muy poquita cosa. Seasustaba de todo.
ESCOPETA. ¡Es que se asusta er Sí Campeadó! ¿Usté sabe los mandaos queesta señora quié que uno le yeve a to er mundo?
TATA. ¿No he de saberlo?[6] ¡Aaaaah! Y que o se dicen las razones comoella las da, ce por be, o por la puerta se va a la calle. ¡Es muchaseñora!
ESCOPETA. ¿Pos sabe usté lo que se me ocurre? Que en lugá de un criaodebía tené un piquete de infantería.
TATA. Poco murmurar, ¿eh?
ESCOPETA. No es murmurá, señora; es que ahora me ha mandao que me yeguea la botica con esta boteyita que traje pa la se