The practice of invoking rituals is one of the resources most often employed in the Spanish New Theatre: a play may represent a rite, or resemble a certain ceremony. The characters celebrate little daily ceremonies or acts, often blasphemous, involving a ritual victim. In this respect, Bilbatúa notes that one can even observe a certain trend in the theatrical practice, namely, resorting to ceremonies on a regular basis. This however, may only be justified when used in order to “highlight religious, sexual, political and other repressions in a way they appear in our sub‑consious”. The authors, who seem to share the opinion of Riaza that “ceremonial theatre is better suited to challenge bourgeois spectator”, engage in rituals to denounce highly ritualised socio‑political reality of the Francoist period, to deal with present problems alluding to human condition more generally, or to counter taboos and social conventions overwhelming human beings, and leading to frustration and permanent malaise they suffer from. Key words: the Spanish New Theatre, the theatre in the Francoist period, the theatre as an anti‑Francoist opposition, the ceremonial theatre, dramatization of rites and ceremonies
The Regent’s Wife is a 19th century novel by Clarin, i.e. Leopoldo Alas, considered the second most important Spanish novel after Don Quixote. It is also representative of the Spanish variety of Naturalism. Within the Spanish culture, its main character, Ana Ozores, is the most popular and commonly recognizable character similar to Emma Bovary. The paper presents the similarities and differences between the two characters. Ana is shown as a victim of the society she is part of. She tries to free herself from the boredom of a life without purpose, to make sense of it by means of religion or love. Nevertheless, her endeavours turn out to be futile for a she is but a 19th century lady from some Spanish province. The article focuses on two potential escape routes from the world in which Ana feels oppressed and presents the reasons of her failure. The protagonist of The Regent’s Wife can also be interpreted (in accordance with previous scholarship) as a symbol of trans-historic Spain.