The Spanish romantic theater

the long version

Spanish Romanticism contained a special characteristic in that it lacked the interior aspects of Romanticism as found in the rest of Europe. This is attributed to the fact that Romanticism arrived late in Spain by approximately 30 years. The Romantics showed their dissatisfaction with the Classical formula by reacting violently against it and by opposing its rules. It required Victor Hugo, however, to unite and lead them in the direction they sought, with his preface to Cromwell, written in 1827. The principal Spanish Romantic dramas were written between 1834 and 1844 and included: La Conjuración de Venecia, 1834, by Francisco Martínez de la Rosa; Macías, 1834, by Mariano José de Larra; Don Alvaro o La Fuerza del Sino, 1835, by Angel Saavedra, duque de Rivas; El Trovador, 1836, by Antonio García Gutiérrez; Los Amantes de Tereul, 1837, by Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch; and Don Juan Tenorio, 1844, by José Zorrila. - Preface.