Pepita Jiménez

Juan Valera y Alcalá Galiano (1824-1905) led a varied and eventful life as a writer, diplomat, politician, poet, and critic. Among his eight novels, some unfinished, Pepita Jiménez stands out as his masterpiece. Published in 1874, this work solidified Valera's reputation and allowed him to explore his core preoccupations: the pursuit of the ideal in aesthetics and philosophy. The author's distinctive voice is a constant, delightful presence throughout this quintessential 19th-century Spanish novel.

Based on a real event, Pepita Jiménez vividly showcases Valera's literary motivations. It unfolds in worlds rich with meditation and philosophy, where characters grapple with love and religiosity. The protagonist's profound internal struggles transform the work into a psychological novel. Luis de Vargas, an aspiring missionary priest fervent with mystical fire, raised by his uncle, the dean, travels to his father's village. There, he encounters Pepita Jiménez, a beautiful, kind, and captivating young widow, and endeavors to resist the powerful attraction she exerts over him.

The entire first part of the novel is narrated through Luis's letters to his uncle, revealing his deep and precise inner conflict. The dean, in turn, does everything possible to steer him away from temptation.

Despite the apparent simplicity of its plot, Valera firmly believed in the capacity of the unreal to craft a fantasy world, stating that “it is necessary in a novel, which is such a comprehensive and free genre that anything fits into it, as long as it is a fictional story. In every novel, the extraordinary, the ideal, the rare, and the singular intervene. That is why what does not commonly happen is called ‘novelistic’.” While Pepita Jiménez is a simple, earthly tale without extraordinary plot devices, it subtly reveals the author's own doubts, convictions, and mystical inclinations, with Valera himself interjecting his opinions as part of the narrative –a common practice in 19th-century literature.