58   BENITO PEREZ GALDOS

Romdntica, for instance) in the form of letters pur

ported to be written by the persons in the story, another direct, dramatic way of letting the characters

speak for themselves. And it is not only what hi characters say, but the manner and form of their speech, which is theirs and living. He has worked so deep in this respect that, though he delighted in the

presentation of urban types, whose tendency to sla is strong in all nations, his books have lost nothing of their power and freshness with years. For Galas knew how to penetrate below the surface in language

no less than in action, and, without losing in livelin

to reach a level of expression which, being true, is in the real sense of the word classic. Now and then, and for purposes of illustration, he turns to account those little oddities of speech with which it is easy to give a type a certain external consistence, or a silhouette, such as the verbal infelicities of Mrs..Malaprop. But, in general, he seeks adequacy in language by the direct expression of character. As his own style flows from

inspiration, his characters speak from the outpourin of their heart. Hence his simplicity and streng

Hence, also, his variety. His style is like a clear river

which flows always even and the same, yet reflec whatever skies there are overhead in the author's mind.

In its dramatic quality, in its carelessness, in i swiftness, and in its humble subordination to the sub•

stance of action, GalclOs's style is therefore classica Spanish. There is another Spanish quality wit'

can be found in it to an eminent degree, namely, the power of forcible and condensed expression. A passage in Dona Perfecta may be given as an example. It is the last scene of the book. Midnight. While

Rosario, Dona Perfecta's daughter, the victim of h mother's bigotry, is revealing to her in a moment weakness that she has arranged to run away that nig

with Jose Rey, Remedios, the priest's sister, who wants

BENITO PEREZ GALDOS   59

io to marry her son and feels a strong hatred *nst Rosario's lover, arrives at the house eager to art to Dona Perfecta that Jose is in the garden, den, waiting for Rosario. She knocks at the front r. This is the way Galdes puts it :

Rosario was on her knees. At that moment, they heard three knocks, three explosions. It was the heart of Remedios knocking at the door.

An admirable synthesis of the state of mind of Remedios, the action of her hand and the beating of her passionate heart in her breast. Such examples abound in Galdes's novels and dramas. They contribute to give his work its classical flavour.

In Spanish literature Galdes ranks as the greatest novelist since Cervantes. He has not created a type AS universal as Don Quixote, but then Don Quixote is unique. He has, on the other hand, over Cervantes the advantage of three centuries of European life, so that he moves with greater philosophic and literary liberty ; and, in these three centuries, perhaps the greatest event in literature—Shakespeare.

In European literature Galdes undoubtedly deserves to rank with the great novelists of the century, in line with Dickens, Balzac, and Dostoievsky.

A comparison between Galdes and Dickens has

ome quite customary in Spanish criticism. The
names are naturally related in the mind of the

Spanish reader because Galdes is rich in humour, and
Dickens owes perhaps most of his foreign popularity
to his humorous vein. But, if I may venture a personal
opinion which may not find ready acceptance, the
comparison between Dickens and Galdes is not so much

honour to Galdes as an honour to Dickens. Galdes
superior to Dickens because his humour arises out

of human, universal conditions, while Dickens's