La mujer en la obra de Narcis Oller. (Spanish text)
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Description
This dissertation studies the women in the works of the nineteenth century Catalan writer, Narc(')is Oller Oller's literary production consists of six novels, numerous short stories, several dramatic works, and a few translations of well-known contemporary authors. His novels include the following: La papallona (1882), L'Escanyapobres (1884), Vilaniu (1885), La febre d'or (1890-1892), La bufetada (1899) and Pilar Prim (1906) Two dissertations have been written about Oller, both in the past ten years. Modesto D(')iaz has produced a very general outline of Oller's life works. Juan Jose Gilabert has examined, often cursorily, Oller's literary production with respect to naturalism, to society, women, and the landscape; moreover, he has compared the Catalan writer's approach to the latter aspects with that of Spanish writers of the time. A number of articles have also appeared concerning Oller and his works. They coincide basically with his period of literary creativity (1879-1918), with the time of his death (1930), with the publication of his complete works in a single volume (1948), and with the publication of his Memories literaries (1962) Only Juan Jose Gilabert and the Catalan scholar Maurici Serrahima have dealt with the female characters created by Narc(')is Oller. Although both critics agree that women are superior to men as literary creations in the writings of this Catalan novelist, they give only superficial treatment to the subject The first chapter of the dissertation will study the unmarried women who appear in Oller's novels and short stories. In spite of their personal and social differences, all of them have the same goal, marriage, which is viewed either as fulfillment of their love or as security for the future The next two chapters will be devoted to two facets of the lives of married women: their relationships with their husbands and with their children. Although it is not always possible to distinguish between the different roles of a woman both in her family life and in society, we will try to do so in order to achieve a deeper insight into the personality and behavior of Oller's female characters. Therefore, the second chapter of the dissertation will analyze the relationships of the women with their husbands and the circumstances that may interfere with these relationships. Oller's women are usually very devoted to their children but often their primary concern is the material rather than the spiritual and psychological well-being of their sons and daughters. The third chapter will deal with this aspect of the female personages as well as with the influence of the absence of children on the personality of several of the characters The fourth and last chapter will treat what could be called 'social relationships,' which in Oller's novels are mainly friendship and a strong desire, akin to envy, to outdo others in social status and material wealth Therefore, all facets of Oller's women, beginning with their unmarried state and continuing with their relationships with their husbands and children, as well as with their social interaction, will be examined in this study