Girona Cathedral

Girona Cathedral was the place where Don Benito used to interrupt the schemes, plans and notes used to compose his works, as well as t

e unique pages with an excessive range of strikethroughs and amendments; however he kept a number of them to use the unused again while he changed into quick of paper. Such is the case of folio 128 of the manuscript of "Gerona".

On the returned of the folio we discover crossed out an illuminating note about the primary direct supply, if no longer the most effective first-hand one, to put together this Episode, further to creating us suspect already the importance that he become going to furnish to Álvarez de Castro.

The heading of this guide, underlined and in a barely larger font than the rest, is the word VACANI. Camilo Vacani turned into an Italian army engineer who in the War of Independence served with General Duhesme and who, consequently, participated inside the movements of the siege of Girona as an advisor to the French leader.

Vacani wrote a "Storia delle campagne e degli assedi degl'i italiani in Ispagna dal 1808 al 1813" ( versions: 1823 and 1843, revealed in Milan). Under the heading with the word Vacani, there are seven annotations taken from it, in two instances even with the web page number of the Italian e-book.

Galdós copies in a few notes the writer's own Italian phrases. Thus, annotation wide variety tells us: "Call Álvarez strong point capitano e valeroso [?] cittadino".

The crossed-out reverse side of the preceding guide to the one with Vacani's notes confirms the suspicion that Galdós become going to recognition the ancient part -154→ of the unconventional - and retruque the novelistic component - on the discern of Álvarez de Castro.

According to the literary germ of this second guide, Galdós' plan changed into to begin with to give us the account of the siege through "an assistant or pal of Álvarez", and no longer through the eyes of the mere personal Andresillo Marijuán, because it in the long run turned out.

Girona Cathedral History

That assignment become probable now not persisted due to the historic trouble concerned in following the existence of the governor of the rectangular in detail, and also, absolute confidence, due to the fact it'd have needed to be finished on the rate of the fictitious part of the paintings. However, allow us to remember that from a sure factor the abandoned assignment is partly fulfilled: on the give up of the tale, after the give up of Girona, while Andresillo Marijuán turns into the assistant of Don Francisco Satué, Álvarez de Castro's aide-de-camp.

As for the times of captivity and death of the Granada preferred, there was no greater difficulty for the novelist to delve into more or much less hypothetical information about the remaining days and cease of the hero; the death and affliction of Álvarez de Castro, the object of controversy and legend, had been dealt with in an assumed manner via people who treated the sites of; all his steps via Spanish and French land till his loss of life were acknowledged, and it turned into up to Galdós to elaborate in this last event within the distinct variations of demise via club, by using poisoning, via torture or via infection.

From the analyzing of the Vacani, projected on Toreno's ebook, don Benito changed into going to define his interpretation of Álvarez de Castro; an necessarily heroic Álvarez de Castro, but with unique nuances, which do now not respond totally to the heroism of famous sentiment. In the physical issue of the governor, Galdós insists on describing him as consumed and of terrible color ("small, thin and yellow"), but as if that consumption and pallor were now not simplest a result of the work suffered, however as though additionally they corresponded to person trends.

Girona Cathedral Facts

It is peculiar to the Galdosian characters to denote character each in their manner of speech and in their movements. Galdós gives Álvarez de Castro a conclusive crutch in his lapidary terms: "as it fits", "wherein it suits" or "in what it suits". Portraying a man or woman with a crutch is a not unusual aid in all the critical creations of Galdosian novelistics; the body of workers seems to be the quintessence of the mental historical past of the character. Álvarez's crutch, no longer documented as such in the histories of the siege, highlights the impassibility, blind electricity and bravery of the Granada popular without rational concerns; it shows nearly the "rigor and viciousness" attributed to him with the aid of folks that constant that nameless pasquín towards his command shortly earlier than the surrender of Girona at the Girona Cathedral.

This kind of bravery and energy transforms him into an incredible, specific being; Galdós flatly publicizes to us this characteriological strong point, this unrepeatability of his person, which justifies, usually in step with the translation of Don Benito, the inhuman measures he's taking within the protection of Girona. The sides of Álvarez's persona are accused by using the instances of the siege, however they have got, as a ways as Galdós can understand, a everlasting characteriological background at the Girona Cathedral.

Galdós insists on the fear that the overall brought about to the Spanish combatants: "we were more fearful of him than of all the French blended," complains Andresillo Marijuán (p. 101). With the restraint of the treatment that is due to the heroes, the chroniclers of the Sites show the awful mood and tension of the Granada popular; they cause them to clean particularly while mentioning the -a hundred and fifty five→ initiatives of the Álvarez officials to go away Girona or negotiate an honorable give up to get worse the unsustainable situation of the city. Galdós ignores those information so as no longer to tarnish the air of mystery of a human miracle, with defects of character if you'll, with which he envelops the overall.

Girona Cathedral Individuals

The Alvarez of the radical is a popular individual, inside the sense that the besiegers worship him as a providential being; however he's popular on their aspect, no longer because Álvarez joins them, except, of route, in the heat of combat or all through inspection visits to the defenses; Álvarez de Castro is a form of Santiago within the warfare of Clavijo, who cares approximately the combatants and makes them win battles, but with out being a part of them. Álvarez de Castro, in brief, is possessed of a spectacular insanity.

In this of the spectacular madness and the remoteness of Álvarez, maintain in thoughts feedback of the style: "D. Mariano Álvarez sees inside the human body nothing but a thing with which to fill cemeteries, and that no longer being able to serve to fight is useless. He attends to nothing however the immortal spirit, and solving his interest at the perpetual life which with the miserable eyes of the flesh we cannot see, he despises everything else [...] his soul is the least body-certain soul I've ever regarded"