Jacinto benavente

Jacinto Benavente was a recognized and important playwright of Spanish nationality whose work made it possible to glimpse a profound renewal within the theater in Castilian. The value of his extensive work made him the recipient of a Nobel Prize in Literature and he was an author producing a series of modern European references within Spanish theater, adding a series of influences that managed to highlight in an important way the qualities of his theater.

Biography of Jacinto Benavente

Jacinto Benavente was born on August 12, 1866 in Madrid . He was the son of a prestigious pediatrician named Mariano Benavente , which made him develop in a very cultured family environment since he was a child and also had access to quality education from French authors. He entered the Central University of Madrid to study law , however, after the death of his father, he decided to abandon his studies to dedicate himself completely to literature .

In 1982 he managed to publish his first work known as Fantastic Theater and thanks to the friendship he had with the actor and businessman Emilio Mario , he managed to open up his field in theaters. Throughout his life he managed to write more than 170 plays and even helped found the artistic theater in Madrid . He also managed to enter the Royal Spanish Academy in 1912 where he managed to conclude one of his greatest successes, a rural drama entitled La Malquerida.

Death

He died on June 14, 1954 at his home located in Calle Atocha , Madrid .

Personal life of Jacinto Benavente

There is very little data on his personal life , some historians have mentioned that he had homosexual tendencies , however, this situation was never verified and Benavente did not refer to the subject during his life either.

Style

In his style, Jacinto Benavente managed to carry out a large number of renovations and innovations within the Spanish theater, mainly by introducing theatrical pieces that had a totally traditional character . He introduced a new language that made the dialogues more lively and made the characters have more representative characteristics . He also used the case with which he denounced the actions of politicians over time.

His language was considered as renovating , his dialogues were full of brilliance and he managed to give a greater rhythm to the plot improving the old melodramatic theater. His literary style managed to revolutionize the Spanish theater, also opposing the simplicity and naturalness with which the themes were dealt with at the time.

Physical characteristics

Jacinto Benavente was a man of tall stature, with a thin frame, small black eyes, well-defined eyebrows, he had little hair and used to wear a beard and mustache.

Personality

Jacinto Benavente’s personality was characterized by being kind , full of self – denial and innovative ideas. In his works you can find his thoughts related to the weaknesses of human nature . He was a fairly tolerant man who at the same time satirized the inflexible . His large number of female characters showed his personality and way of thinking with respect to women and for that reason he was qualified as a feminist .

Acknowledgments

He received several important recognitions among which are mentioned, for example:

• Nobel Prize in Literature awarded in 1922.
• Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise in 1944.
• Gold Medal for Merit at Work in 1950.
• Honorary Member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1916.
• Favorite Son of Madrid in 1924.
• Honorary title by the Presidency of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers in 1947.

Works by Jacinto Benavente

There were more than 170 works written by Jacinto Benavente. Among the most representative we find:

• The Fantastic Theater , a four-piece short play showing the influence exerted on it by Shakespeare and Musen.
• Letters to women , where her great interest in women’s psychology is noted.
• The other’s nest.
• The food of the beasts.
• Saturday night.
• The Fire Dragon .
• Brute force.
• The prince who learned everything in books (children’s work).
• La malquerida , a play that has as main characters women who were sexually dominated by men who had little morals.
• The cheerful and confident city.
• Lessons of good love.
• The butterfly that flew over the sea.
• Pepa Doncel.
• The honesty of the lock.

Phrases

Some of his most recognized phrases were the following:

• There is no dangerous reading. Evil never enters through intelligence when the heart is healthy.
• Love is like Don Quixote: when it regains its senses, it is there to die.
• Discipline consists of an idiot being obeyed by those who are more intelligent.
• When you don’t think what you say is when you say what you think.
• The enemy only becomes fearsome when he begins to be right.
• There is nothing so desperate as seeing our feelings misinterpreted.
• More men unite to share the same hatred than the same love.
• Money cannot make us happy, but it is the only thing that compensates us for not being so.

Importance of Jacinto Benavente

Jacinto Benavente was a very recognized writer as he managed to introduce a series of modern European resources to the theater , which caused a true theatrical revolution . Through this writer it was possible to include a great variety and perfection of the different scene resources, more importance was given to social satire and dynamic characters . He was also considered one of the most important playwrights in Spain, he managed to perfectly address practically all genres , a situation that made him even a creditor. of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Presence in popular culture

Some films have been created to tell the story of this important playwright and writer. One of them is known as “Discovering…”, a film that narrates the great innovation that the writer brought to theater and literature. ” The Dancer and the Worker” is a film directed by Luis Marquina which is considered the best film adaptation of the author.

“La malquerida” film directed by José López Rubio who closes a story full of passions and forbidden desires that represent the double standard of a rich society at the beginning of the 20th century and finally, “The honesty of the lock”, directed by Luis Escobar .

Curiosities

Some curiosities of the life of Jacinto Benavente are mentioned below:

• There was a time when he went to work as entrepreneur of circus when he lived in Russia.
• He managed to create more than 170 plays .
• His first theatrical work became known as El Nido Ajeno , a work that was unsuccessful because it was very critical and because it produced a revolution on the country’s scene.
• In 1899 , he managed to start the construction of the Artistic Theater together with Manuel María del Valle Inclán.
• There have been several theories about his love life which mention that he was homosexual , however, he never spoke about it.
• With the outbreak of the First World War, he declared himself a supporter of the Germans and this caused him to receive a lot of criticism and attacks, in fact, in 1933, he founded the Association of Friends of the Soviet Union .