In this article you will find the Dona Perfecta summary, a literary novel, written by the Spanish novelist, playwright, chronicler and politician, Benito Pérez Galdós. You will also know the history and intentions of each character.
a wonderful story
Mrs. Perfect summary
Home (Doña Perfecta and her family)
El summary of Lady Perfect begins with the arrival of Pepe Rey, Doña Perfecta's nephew, to a small town in Spain called Orbajosa to marry his cousin Rosario.
People with an extreme conservative mentality live in this place, this causes a shock in him and in the inhabitants of the place since Pepe believes and thinks of totally different ideals.
Perfecta and Juan Rey are the children of Brigadier Rey, he died when his children had already formed a family; Perfecta married Manuel María de José Polentinos and Juan married María Polentinos (a distant relative of Manuel).
After her husband died, Doña Perfecta moved to Orbajosa and received financial help from her brother to survive with her daughter, Rosario. Juan de Rey also had a son, José de Rey (Pepe Rey). Juan proposes to his sister to unite his children in marriage, Doña Perfecta and Pepe himself accepted.
The arrival of José de Rey caused a stir in the town, everyone watched him with curiosity and intrigue. When he arrives at Doña Perfecta's house, she receives him with love and gratitude for the help that his brother, Pepe's father, has always given him, also being his nephew and future son-in-law, showers him with attention and a pleasant welcome.
While Pepe is having lunch in the dining room with Doña Perfecta and her fiancee Rosario, Don Inocencio, the town clergyman, arrives, who almost instantly begins to show dislike for Doña Perfecta's nephew.
Pepe has progressive thoughts and this makes both Don Inocencio and Doña Perfecta upset, so these two characters will be in charge of separating the cousins through all possible means.
[su_note] Rosario and José de Rey fell in love with each other from the first, they fell madly in love with each other and began a relationship immediately. Rosarito is a very innocent and prudish girl thanks to her mother who has raised her with a strict upbringing, very attached to religion.[/ Su_note]
Outcome (Different Ideologies)
Doña Perfecta does not want to allow that marriage to take place, so she uses Licurgo to indirectly harass Pepe, Licurgo sues the latter for land invasion, convinces some friends from Madrid to strip him of his engineering position .
If that is not enough, Doña Perfecta, Don Inocencio and Licurgo, with the help of the town, do everything possible so that José de Rey leaves once and for all.
Nothing is impossible for these two lovers, that's why they decide to fight for their love and stand firm in the face of any impediment or adversity, even if it means for Rosario having to lie to her mother and to the people who know her.
Pepe's progressive thoughts make Doña Perfecta and Don Inocencio's disgust grow more every day so they forbid Rosario from seeing José de Rey. Keeping the girl locked up and as far away as possible from the one in love with her.
María Remedios, Don Inocencio's niece, wants her son Jacinto, the town's lawyer, to marry Rosario, yet another character who seeks to separate José de Rey and Rosarito.
María Remedios demands that her uncle find a solution for Jacinto to marry Doña Perfecta's daughter or else they will leave the town because if Jacintico does not marry Rosario, there is no point in continuing to live in that place.
The town of Olbajosa is against the State, for that reason, military arrive, which fortunately for Pepe are friends and acquaintances, these men go with the purpose of calming down the riots and rebellions that have occurred in the place and its surroundings but for When they meet José de Rey, they decide to help him and, above all, protect him from people who want to harm him.
Pinzón, a friend of Pepe, asks for an inn at Doña Perfecta's house, without being able to refuse, she lets him stay. The new visitor seduces one of the housemaids in order to help her friend, the maid becomes an accomplice of her lovers and letters and messages are sent through her.
Librada, Rosario's maid, after being questioned, confesses to Doña Perfecta what happened with the letters and the encounters between the lovers.
Tragic End (Depression of Doña Perfecta and Don Inocencio)
María Remedios wants with all her might that Jacinto marry Rosario, so she calls Caballuco, a townsman and military leader, María tries to convince him to scare Pepe.
Rosario and Pepe agreed to meet in the orchard, María Remedios goes to Doña Perfecta's house to update her on the matter, while Caballuco follows José de Rey to the orchard.
Doña Perfecta manages to get Rosario to tell the whole truth and the three women go to the orchard where the two men were, Caballuco has a gun in hand to scare the poor boy, but Doña Perfecta in the midst of her desperation orders her to kill him.
[su_note]Without anyone being able to believe it, José de Rey died and did not have a decent burial, Don Cayetano, a bibliophile from Spain and family of Doña Perfecta, is the one who narrates the sad story of Pepe, Rosarito's madness after the death of her lover and the Doña Perfecta's depression.[/su_note]
Doña Perfecta and Don Inocencio succumbed to a terrible depression, María Remedios left the town with her son, leaving her uncle totally alone, Rosario was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and some townspeople rumor, thanks to Doña Perfecta, that death of José de Rey was a suicide.
Doña Perfecta always hid her true self and her true intentions, behind a false facade of prudishness and a good person, all those who lived in the town believed that she was an exceptional lady, kind, kind, devoted to her daughter, to her beliefs. and to religious life.
It turned out to be totally the opposite of what she appeared to be, a hypocrite, a liar and even the intellectual author of a homicide.
[your_note]In In summary, Doña Perfecta's book ends with a sad ending in which the main characters did not have the luck of having a full life and in it we can see how the author describes a true contemporary Spain with different beliefs, ideologies and religions. [/your_note]
About the Author
Benito Pérez Galdós, baptized as Benito María de los Dolores (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920). He was born and died in Spain; he is considered one of the best representatives of the realist novel, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize for Literature, he was also an academic of the Royal Spanish Academy since 1897.
Son of Sebastián Pérez Macías, colonel of the army, and Dolores Galdós de Medina; According to Pérez Galdós himself, his mother was a woman of strong character.
[su_note]Galdós began as a writer in the local press collaborating with essays, short stories and poetry. In 1870 he published his first novel La Fontana de oro, this despite having the small imperfections of a first novel, became the threshold to the great work that he displayed in the National Episodes. [/ Su_note]
The famous contemporary novel Doña Perfecta was published in 1876, it is considered one of the most important early works of this author. Pérez Galdós made a theatrical adaptation, premiered in Madrid at the beginning of 1896. The novel was also made into a film in Mexico and Spain between 1950 and 1977.
Finally, we invite you to read the following article about another great history of universal literature, a bag of bones, by Stephen King.
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