‘¿"Mujeres al borde de un naufragio" Or Potential Female Redeemers?: The Representation and Role of Women in Galdós’s Torquemada Novels (1889-95)’

Considered superficially, the women in the Torquemada novels conform to the negative gender stereotypes imposed upon them by their male counterparts. On further examination, however, we discover that the male viewpoints are both undermined and questioned, and a number of female characters are used to pose questions that are even more ambitious than those raised in Galdosian novels where the eponymous characters are women. Aiming to enhance our understanding of the significance of the female characters in Galdós’s novels, as well as unearthing their complexity, this article highlights the presence of ambiguity in the Torquemada novels and argues that these works question traditional perceptions of women. Boundaries are revealed to be hazy and the male characters (who sometimes have effeminate qualities) are essentially puppets or “fronts” in what is effectively a domain controlled by the women. Displaying a level of resourcefulness, creativity and resilience that surpasses that of their male counterparts, the female characters (particularly Cruz) are sometimes influential catalysts for change. Hence, rather than being misconstrued as “a problem” or “al borde de un naufragio”, they could be regarded as potential redeemers in a Spain that was in need of regeneration.