The House of Ulloa - Hardcover

Pardo Bazan, Emilia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820313726 ISBN 13: 9780820313726

Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 1992

Synopsis

Recounts the attempts of the sensitive young priest, Julian Alvarez, to tame the uncultivated, sensual, and brutal Marquis of Ulloa, in a novel of the tensions between city and country, nature and civilization

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

Review:

The House of Ulloa is a classic of Spanish literature, its author one of the innovators of the Spanish modern novel. It focuses on three characters: Julian, the spiritual, effeminate, and ultimately ineffectual chaplain at the manor at Ulloa; the marquis of Ulloa, the rough aristocrat who prefers hunting to intellectual pursuits; and Primitivo, his majordomo, who cleverly impoverishes his employer while increasing his own power and wealth. Through them, Emilia Pardo Bazan portrays the struggle between the aristocracy and the peasant class as well as the spiritual turmoil of the Glorious Revolution of 1868. Readers with a knowledge of Spanish history will find more subtle meanings, but such a background is not essential. In fact, the latter portion, which focuses on a local election, may surprise readers with its relevance. A proponent of Spanish realism, Emilia Pardo Bazan delves into the details of rural life with verve - down to the goiter on the neck of a tarot-reading hag - although in her attempts to combine realism with her theme of the decline of the aristocracy she tends to stereotype peasants as earthy and animalistic. Her feminism, however, is unusual for her time and includes condemnations both of wife-beating and the prevailing sexual double standard, while her descriptions of babies and the nurturing love of the chaplain for the marquis' baby daughter provide a beautiful contrast to the corrupt and often violent society that surrounds them. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0820313726
• ISBN 13: 9780820313726
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 323