Criticism about the book ‘Latest afternoons with Teresa’
"Last afternoons with Teresa" is a novel written by Juan Marsé aimed at the Spanish population of the twentieth century. This excellent work was published in 1966 in the city of Barcelona, which coincides with the same place where the plot develops, where you can see the great social difference that exists between the two main protagonists, Teresa and Manolo.
The first social class is the bourgeoisie that corresponds to Teresa Serrat from a closed wealthy family. And secondly, Manolo unevenly to Teresa, lived in a poor, decadent and marginal neighborhood. Crime was its way of subsist by motorcycle smuggling.
The story tells the love story between Manolo and Teresa, the outcomes and problems they face. Manolo also called by the author Pijoaparte, it is a Don Juan, an archetype of Spanish literature that was already previously created by Tirso Molina during “The Mocking of Seville”. This model is a brave and daring seducer, characterized by being a character so twisted that he intends to deceive or mock that person who puts himself ahead with the aim of achieving what he wants.
Juan Marsé Carbó presents the outer structure of the novel divided into three parts, within a total of twenty -two chapters, with large non -titled councils. As for the internal structure, its narration is characterized by being linear except for flash-back or jumps of some very differentiated chapters that make a better reading and understanding of the pretext possible.
The work presents two distant social worlds. Manolo is a round character, we are shown as an unscrupulous scrup. In addition, he has violent attitudes, for example, when he came to assault Maruja upon learning that he was a simple maid. Nevertheless;Highlights his courage and intelligence, for his faculty of persuasion. Manolo also stands out for being a falocrat and that is reflected in the continuous degrading insults towards the woman, Maruja and the Sisters were victims of their continuous insults. On the other hand, Teresa Serrat, just like Manolo is a round character. She is a privileged class who has everything in life.
She showed before others her rebellion and how revolutionary she was, something that was not like that under my point of view since she showed envy towards other women as with the Sisters, in a part of the work you can see how Teresa offends the sistersgetting like them dressed or even his own friend Maruja and the relationship he had with Manolo, because his with Luis Trías was a real farce. He really took care of Maruja because he felt responsible for his accident by giving him those manoletinas that made him slip, and with that excuse of going to the hospital he could see Manolo. Teresa, in my opinion she never wanted Manolo, it was only a challenge for her, to feel a person who was not but who wanted to show others. Teresa was only a capricious girl who when she got what she wanted left Manolo lying.
The narrator is reflected in the third person, omnisciently and different dialogues appear between the characters. The action lasts a year and three months. The last chapter is once past two years.
It is important in the author’s style his abundance of his own description and scarce dialogues, therefore, it is a free indirect style.
This novel is relevant since it was censored by Francoism. Juan Marsé lifted the guard of the Francoists who complained that the novel presented numerous rugged scenes with an immoral background. These fascists criticized the argument in which numerous leftist political references are made. After this, Juan Marsé continued to elaborate great works such as "If they tell you to fall" created in his exile to Mexico, this novel talks about the postwar period that Spain and especially Barcelona suffered and especially Barcelona. The most current work of him so far is “private collection” published in 2017.
This novel makes you reflect that love relationships such as in the work are in force today, although not in all. Most continue to maintain those roles among the different sexes, the personalities that each of them must have. This idealization of pure and true love continues to project in us, love is so blind that it does not let us see the consequences that this can lead to, since we are all human and we can be wrong.
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