The character of the mother in La mujer del César by Pereda

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the female characters, particularly the maternal figures (portrayed negatively and positively) that appear in José María de Pereda's short novel La mujer del César (1876). This work, which was first published in the press and later integrated a volume with two other stories under the title of Bocetos al temple, is a text scarcely studied by previous critics and was one of the first stories of a certain length written by the Spanish novelist of conservative ideology José María de Pereda. The article attempts to demonstrate how the presentation of positive and feminine images of mothers, particularly those belonging to the aristocratic class, is essential in the moral approach of the novel of religious thesis cultivated by Pereda, among others.