Angelina (novel)
Angelina is a novel written in 1893 by the Mexican writer Rafael Delgado (1853–1914). The story was first published in 1894 as a serial in the newspaper El Tiempo Ilustrado ( Mexico City ) and was first published as a book in 1895.
backgrounds
The philologist Adriana Sandoval writes in a footnote of her investigation of the novel that some readers, especially in Delgado's hometown of Córdoba and his long-standing hometown of Orizaba (where the novel was written), might interpret the narrative as autobiographical and therefore possibly based on models for the look for the characters described.
In a further footnote, Sandoval points out that there are certainly similarities between the author and the first-person narrator of the novel. His fictional character Rodolfo studied for a few years in Mexico City and Delgado attended the Colegio de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe there from January 1865 to February 1866 .
The character is born in a place called Villaverde (which does not exist in this area) . The author could have meant his own hometown, which has a neighborhood called Villa Verde . There is also a church in Córdoba called San Antonio , which is mentioned several times in the novel and is located there in Villaverde.
In the novel, the more important neighboring town of Pluviosilla is mentioned several times , which is undoubtedly a synonym for Orizaba. The term is derived from the word "pluvial" ( Spanish for "rain ...") or "pluviosa / o" (rainy) and means something like "rain city" or "rainy city" (from the Spanish roots "Pluviosa" and "villa"). The reason for the city's unofficial nickname is the fact that it rains a lot at certain times of the year. The term "Pluviosilla" was also included in the name of the Insitututo Pluviosilla UGMEX ; a high school ( Bachillerato General ) based in Orizaba , which is part of the Universidad del Golfo de México (UGM) founded in 1989 and has also been represented in Orizaba since 1991.
content
After ten years of absence, Rodolfo returns to his native Villaverde, where he moves into a room in the house of his aunts Carmen and Pepa. Since both aunts have health problems, they are supported by Angelina, who works for them as a domestic help and nurse. Rodolfo alias Rorró and Angelina alias Linilla fall in love.
Although the two lovers feel like sibling souls destined for one another to be one forever, their love is not endowed with lasting happiness. Because one day a letter arrives from Father Herrera, in whose care the little orphan Angelina once grew up. In this letter he asks Angelina to come back to him in San Sebastián because he urgently needs her help. Although the two lovers are very sad about this, Angelina sees no other option than to comply with the request of her foster father. With great sorrow she announces her imminent change of residence to Rorró: “Life without you will be no life. Who guarantees us that we will meet again? Who guarantees me that I will return to this house where I spent the happiest days of my life? I love you and will love you forever until the end of my life and beyond. Your love was the only joy in my life and I don't want to lose it. "
When she parted, she gave him a small medallion that she had received from her mother as a child and wore it around her neck so that he would have the medal with him and not forget Linilla.
In the days and weeks after her departure, Rorró strolls through the city alone and sadly. He scratches her nickname Linilla or just an L into the poplars lining the riverbank . The bitterest longing comes over him every time he climbs the Colina del Escobillar , at the summit of which his gaze can wander into the distance and he can guess the location of the village of San Sebastián, where Linilla now lives.
Finally, death arouses joyful thoughts in him. Angelina criticizes this longing for death in one of her letters: “How can you speak of death when we are so happy? Who taught you that? Life, as bitter as it may be at times, is beautiful and lovable. Even if there is suffering and pain, there is also a lot of joy and happiness. If you love me and you know that you are loved, be happy and love life. "
Although he expressly agrees with her in his next letter ("You are right. If man loves and is loved, life is lovable."), He suffers from the separation and regards the world as a place of sorrow: "Life is." an eternal pain. The past grieves us with the memory of the lost good. We don't find happiness in the present. The future fills us with fear. Isn't it true that pain is the sad legacy of miserable humanity? "
This pessimistic life changes in what is supposedly the most difficult hour for him. Because the next letter from Angelina sets the course for a separate future. In this she tells him that she has decided on a different life and asks his forgiveness that there is no future for her love. She has a fervent desire to live a godly life and to care for the poor, the sick and the orphans. She apologizes to him for her decision and wishes him courage and strength to cope with this bang. Above all, however, she asks him to start his life all over again in order to find his destiny and thus happiness.
Angelina took her religious vows two years later . From then on Rodolfo seeks consolation in work and finds fulfillment in it.
Individual evidence
- ^ Adriana Sandoval: La Angelina de Rafael Delgado , p. 175 (PDF file)
- ^ Adriana Sandoval: La Angelina de Rafael Delgado , p. 182 (PDF file)
- ↑ Villa Verde at PueblosAmerica.com (Spanish; accessed April 16, 2020)
- ↑ Córdoba: 400 años La Capilla de San Antonio (Spanish; accessed April 16, 2020)
- ↑ Web presence of the Insitututo Pluviosilla UGMEX on facebook (Spanish; accessed April 16, 2020)
- ↑ Antecedentes Historicos de la UGM (Spanish; accessed April 16, 2020)