Forunata and Jacinta outline (final)
Whew! I finished this project. Now I might actually find some time to write about the novel.
One of the problems I have with a large novel like Fortunata and Jacinta is finding passages after reading them so I thought I would provide sub-chapter headings to help me (and anyone else) reading the novel. My comments for the sub-chapters may not be straightforward, but they should mean something to anyone reading the novel. Page numbers are for my edition, which I realize will not coincide with everyone else’s version. This post will be updated and bumped to the top occasionally until I have all four volumes outlined.
The Wikipedia page for Fortunata and Jacinta has a list of some of the major character names.
Volume One
I. Juanito
Santa Cruz (3)
Santa Cruz (3)
1) Juanito’s student days and changing study habits; his mother’s worship; living vs. reading
2) A mother’s vigilance and prayers; his father’s philosophy; Juanito’s trip to Paris
II. Santa Cruz and Arnáiz (10)
A Historical View of Madrid’s Business World
1) Business experience of Don Baldomero Santa Cruz I & II; Tubs Arnáiz’s store
2) Barbarita Arnáiz in her father’s store; her friends at school
3) Barbarita’s father dies; an arranged marriage
4) A happy marriage; Juanito born; changes in child-rearing systems
5) Changes in Spain and in commerce; Isabel Cordero saves a store
6) Isabel’s fertility, management, and marketing skills
III. Estupiñá (33)
1) The tertulia in the Arnáiz shop; Estupiñá sees Spain’s history; his gift of gab
2) Estupiñá’s sidelines; Barbarita’s trust in him
3) Estupiñá at 70; his first real illness
4) Juanito visits Estupiñá, meets Fortunata
IV. The Perdition and Salvation of the Dauphin(46)
1) The corruption of the Dauphin; Estupiñá as spy; escape to Plencia; marriage machinations
2) The engagement; Isabel’s death
V. The Honeymoon (53)
1) Wedding; the honeymoon begins; Jacinta’s curiosity
2) Juan’s partial confession
3) The confession continues; more views of the
common people; unsaid—was there a child?
common people; unsaid—was there a child?
4) What’s in a name? Jacinta’s tenacity
5) The imbiber of Seville; the blabber of Seville
6) More confessions
7) Rationalizations vs. the Decalogue; feelings of victory; truth in a frock coat
VI. Still More Details about the Distinguished Family (80)
1) Happiness and emptiness; “that merry scrambling of social classes”
2) Family trees, branches, and vines
3) The Santa Cruz house and household; Jacinta’s
envy
envy
4) Jacinta’s desire for children—the unbridgeable distance and the “vastness of her pity”
5) Barbarita’s vice; Estupiñá’s help
VII. Guillermina, Virgin and Founder (96)
1) Guillermina’s “vivid flame”; establishment of the orphanage
2) Building a new, ad hoc orphanage
3) Possible fallout from Amadeo’s abdication; the rivalry between Casa-Muñoz and Aparisi
VIII. Scenes from a Private Life (108)
1) Juan’s tarnished halo; playing games; “his self-love always camefirst”
2) No debts for Juan; “the spirit of inconsistency; Jacinta dreams—a baby at her breast
3) Juan’s cold; abiding (briefly) by the law; Sr. Ido
4) Sr. Ido’s electricity and delusions; his electric declaration
5) The sick cad; Jacinta plots with Guillermina
IX. A Visit to the Slums (132)
1) Jacomta goes slumming with Guillermina; Toledo Street; tenement life
2) Tenement life, cont.; savages; Ido’s mansion; the Venus de Medici and family
3) Pitusín; an errand for Sr. Ido; the torment of the duro
4) Ido’s inner howling for meat; Izquierdo invites himself to lunch
5) Izquierdo’s serious history (instead of a novel)
6) Ido drunk on meat; what’s in store for Izquierdo; making mincemeat
7) Jacinta and Pitusín at Izquierdo’s mansion
8) “The vastness of the kingdom of poverty”
9) Izquierdo meets his match in Guillermina; she provides the spark for his path to glory
X. More Scenes from Private Life (174)
1) The Santa Cruz’s win the lottery; Guillermina assures Jacinta she will get Pituso
2) Juan’s sickness continues; Jacinta confesses she will have a baby
3) Barbarita’s lack of enthusiasm with Jacinta’s plan; Izquierdo gives up Pituso
4) Pituso takes a bath; Barbarita’s Christmas Eve
5) Christmas Eve with the Santa Cruz family; Juanín’s desolation; Juanín and Jacinta
6) Barbarita meets Juanín; more reports of his desolation; the truth about Juanín
7) Life isn’t a novel; the novel continues; Fortunata’s rough life; Juan meets Juanín
8) The rice pudding incident; Don Baldomero insists on the orphanage for Juanín
XI. The End, Which Turns Out to Be the Beginning (213)
1) The Pitusian novel ends; “someone in the picture”; the end of the First Republic begins; Fortunata’s fortunes have evidently changed
2) Villalonga continues; dueling historical events; an enemy to be discovered?
3) Juan’s torturous obsession; the hunter misses his game, while pneumonia strikes
Volume Two
I. Maximiliano Rubín (227)
1) The Rubín family; Juan Pablo’s unlucky star
2) Maximiliano and nature’s stinginess; Rubinius vulagris; vice-proof
3) Olmedo, the debauchee wannabe; Maximiliano meets
Fortunata; smitten
Fortunata; smitten
4) Maximiliano breaks open for Fortunata…will his piggy bank follow suit? Papitos, the maid
5) Maximiliano in love, a man of talent; a pig’s slaughter
II. The Strivings and Mishaps of a Redeemer (249)
1) Sensible thinking mixed with exalted passion; enduring love for Juanito; jealousy
2) Maxi asks for, finds out the ugly pages of Fortunata’s life
3) Redemption plans; love me yet?; what will happen when money runs out?
4) Reading and writing; the beautiful savage awakens Maxi’s sleeping soul; married and decent?
5) The inheritance (to come)
6) Maxi unburdens himself to a sleeping Papitos
7) Fortunata’s reticence; Olmedo’s dishonor—caught studying
8) Fortunata’s weathervane soul; dishonor and poverty
9) Doña Lupe finds out Maxi’s wedding plans; Sunday confrontation
III. A Portrait of Doña Lupe (280)
1) The scolding begins; interrupted by Sr. Torquemada bearing news
2) Torquemada’s treatment of borrowers; Doña Lupe’s treatment of Maxi (compare and contrast)
3) Doña Lupe’s history; Maxi returns, resolute
4) Maxi’s display of willpower inspires Doña Lupe’s respect; her tactful conclusion
5) Doña Lupe—half flesh, half cotton; life as a userer; Torquemada’s able student
IV. Nicolás and Juan Pablo Rubín Propose New Methods of Redemption (298)
1) Juan Pablo visits, no interest in brother’s folly; the inheritance; politics
2) Respect and esteem for Maxi; Nicolás arrives; the inheritance settled; how Nicolás and Doña Lupe reconcile
3) Nicolás’ holy burps; the muted duel; Nicolás visits Fortunata
4) Nicolás visits Fortunata again; confessions
5) Nicolás works on the edification of Fortunata; the planned purification
6) Maxi and Fortunata plan for the Micaelas; Doña Lupe’s dilemma about visiting Fortunata
7) Political row between Juan Pablo and Nicolás; Doña Lupe’s visit with Fortunata
8) Doña Lupe’s public stance; a Good Friday walk
V. The Micaelas, from Without (330)
1) A brief description of the convent; Fortunata disappears inside
2) Maxi’s fear; Nicolás invites a priest home for lunch; Doña Lupe’s anger; Papitos’ canceled revenge
3) Maxi’s daily “visits”; Thursday visits with Fortunata
VI. The Micaelas, from Within (339)
1) The routine of the Filomenas; an old acquaintance
2) Mauricia’s news; Mauricia’s disturbances
3) Mauricia’s punishments; Fortunata finds out about Jacinta’s “maternal dilemma”
4) Views from and diversions in the convent; Doña Manolita; Jacinta’s and Barbarita’s gifts
5) Fortunata sees Jacinta, wishes to be her; her esteem for Maxi grows; when to leave?
6) Belén and Felisa; Mauricia’s views on Maxi, Juan, and “what was yours”
7) Fortunata’s reluctance toward freedom (and marriage to Maxi); resignation; the “white idea” speaks
8) Marcela and the mouse; Mauricia’s despair
9) Mauricia’s vision; her singular dialogue; absurdity
10) The source of the vision; Guillermina wades into the fray; Mauricia cast out
VII. The Wedding and the Honeymoon (379)
1) Release; redemption (of Fortunata’s clothes); final confession; Doña Lupe’s soft wax; shyness
2) Maruicia appears; the trap set for Fortunata
3) Fortunata, drowned in sadness; married and decent
4) Wedding night; sensing danger close by; “you’ll never escape from me”; he is there
5) Maxi improves; Juan Pablo’s arrest; freedom for Fortunata; “Am I really married?”
6) “Over here, baby”; “You can do what you like as long as you’re discreet”; “You’re my husband”
7) Meetings and plans; a history of revenge; Fortunata’s idea—an exchange of children
8) Coldness and melancholy; meeting the scoundrel; jealousy requires good lungs; “Tell me the truth”
9) The requirement for lies; Maxi languishes; a revolver; message from a friend
10) Torture: to know or not to know?; hatred personified; scuffle; first aid
11) Doña Lupe takes charge; Fortunata returns, packs; the ghost of her wickedness
12) In the confessional box with Nicolás; the priest’s wounded pride; “I’ve always loved him”; gone
Volume Three
I. The Café (433)
1) Juan Pablo Rubín—assassin of time; café emigrations for the political tertulia
2) Feijóo’s lack of political faith; Don Basilio’s “field”; public employees and sympathy
3) Stupid and sublime things in a café; 1874—war, outlook for Alfonso’s return
4) Juan Pablo—Carlos over Alfonso; self-education for argument’s sake; beaten by a priest, emigration
5) New café, new circles; Ramsess II; a creditor appears, another emigration
6) Feliciana and Olmedo; Feijóo has seen Fortunata; self-education toward anarchy; futile efforts of conversion; a job offer
II. The Victorious Restoration (457)
1) Alfonso returns; restoration without reformation; Jacinta knows about the kept woman
2) Boredom with sin; the tell-tale signs of the affair; being lent her husband
3) Self-pride despite inferiority; the unfortunate woman and his debts; “imagine you’re me”; anything for his angel
4) A visit from Adoración; Moreno-Isla returns to Spain; Spain to an outsider; a personal farewell vs. a visit
III. The Revolution Fails (475)
1) Switching regimes; “I pay for both of us”; Juan’s well-timed exit
2) A long walk; She’s stealing my husband; fear replaces anger; escorted home by Feijóo
IV. A Course in Practical Philosophy (484)
1) Feijóo and practicality; “I was born pueblo and I’ll stay pueblo”; Feijóo holds back
2) Feijóo can’t wait; Fortunata wants to be decent without going back to her husband; the colonel’s proposal
3) What had to happen happened; resignation; the rules; contentment; a peculiar man
4) Fortunata physically flourishing; Moor’s Gate; idol and protégé together
5) Feijóos’ speedy physical decline; “What’s going to become of you when I die, chulita?”
6) Feijóos’ practical suggestion; the servant’s curiosity; Feijóos’ catechism
7) Feijóos proceeds with his plan; change in government means change in clothes; family news from Juan Pablo
8) Feijóos wins Doña Lupe to play; Refugio; philosophy in the café; Maxi and Feijóos leave café
9) Evangelical versus social forgiveness; father/daughter; possibilities; principles vs. appearances
10) Choose…ahem…carefully; a slave to manners and appearances; settling accounts, helping others
V. Another Restoration (529)
1) Doña Lupe’s habit; refinement = aristocracy; situation of Rubín brothers
2) Instructions; Maxi’s inability to visit; Fortunata in the living room; restoration
3) Mauricia in the street; stories about Maruricia—with the Protestants, lassoed by Guillermina
4) Fondness toward Maxi develops; Feijóo’s visits; off to visit a dying Mauricia
VI. Spiritual Naturalism (545)
1) Visiting Mauricia at Severiana’s place; Guillermina visits; Mauricia tells Fortunata about Jacinta’s visit
2) Preparations for Communion—Guillermina takes charge; Sr. Ido; “Repent for everything, kid”
3) Processions and Communion; Jacinta brings Adoración to see Mauricia, meets Fortunata; tears
4) Mauricia’s attacks; ramblings with Fortunata; Doña Lupe stays the night to impress Guillermina
5) Fortunata assists; Jacinta stops by again; Fortunata and Jacinta talk; attack, escape
6) Fortunata returns home; deliriums; rivalry, hatred, wish for freedom
7) Pity; canonship; visitors, including Doña Casta Morena; struggling for words with Feijóo
8) Maxi’s disorder and irritation; adoption?
9) Maruricia’s death; visiting the wake; Guillermina leads Fortunata to a conversation
10) Guillermina’s questions, Fortunata’s confession; Guillermina’s promise of confession; the ideal image
11) Guillermina walks Fortunata home; they plan another meeting
VII. That Idea, That Crafty Idea (595)
1) Guillermina and her nephew Moreno-Isla; Jacinta helps Guillermina wheedle money out of him; the hand chapter
2) Fortunata visits Guillermina, Jacinta listens; “my real husband”; “I can give him another”
3) Guillermina’s lie; “He said: ‘What’s become of you, baby?’”; the idea again; the truth; “Thief!”
4) Exeunt Fortunata; aversion gaining control; wandering the streets in a dream, or in a dream wandering the streets?
5) A little freedom; “Baby!”; into the cab; fate
Volume Four
I. On Ave Marie Street (619)
1) Maxi’s mistakes; his reading; waiting for Fortunata; powers of observation waning; spiritual drowsiness
2) Maxi’s mania; paranoia, and just a bit sad
3) The worst of the attack; Ballester’s wish; calm; pharmacology and music
4) Olimpia and the martyrdom of a keyboard; Aurora’s history; the linen shop; Aurora’s message to Fortunata
5) Treatise on Madrid water; the Santa Cruz family vacation news; Ballester flirts with Fortunata
6) Doña Lupe senses Fortunata’s third amorous foray; desiring complete absolution or condemnation; confiding, Doña Lupe’s radiance; is money involved?
7) Heat and repetition; Maxi’s formula…or doctrine; revelation; completely gone
8) Maxi trapped in the “recondite seething of his own thoughts”; improvement; Fortunata’s sorrow; news—return, speculation
9) A tramp and a dunce; a kinder, gentler Maxi; the unperformed practical joke
10) Fortunata ill; Maxi’s talk of suicide, how to free the soul?
11) Ballester and Fortunata; his advice for her (among flirting); the go-between; a wedding party
12) Aurora tells Fortunata on Moreno-Isla’s past and present; no virtue exists?
II. Insomnia (664)
1) Moreno-Isla’s woes; a nasty-symptom—love; the Rx; “could I have children?”
2) Barbarita’s plan; pallor, weariness, distractedness; ecstasy; a crumbling heart
3) Bewitched; hallucinating; plans to leave; emotional and physical scars
4) Guillermina and Moreno-Isla; dejection; strolling during Mass; patients for an asylum
5) Moreno-Isla’s plans to leave; buying gifts; meets Jacinta; “the most unfortunate man in the world”
6) Guillermina and her nephew; plans on leaving, continued; dreams of/with Jacinta; the dry leaf falls
III. Dissolution (689)
1) Ballester knows about Fortunata’s meetings; Juan breaks up with Fortuanta after she insults Jacinta; virtue?
2) The aftermath of Moreno-Isla’s death; Fortunata’s suspicions and Aurora’s help
3) Fortunata and Doña Lupe fight; “My soul’s falling apart”; “You’ve come too late”; Maxi’s improvement (?)
4) The gospel of disinterestedness and annulment; “You’re pregnant”; the child of Pure Thought
5) Knives; the pain of restitution; better to leave; interest in the principal
6) Escape; a visit to an old friend; confession of a deed; flash and eclipse in the ruins; loss
7) Back to the Cava; dirt and grime
8) The missing wife; “make believe she’s dead”; brooding; Juan Pablo’s needs, his servility; Maxi’s jealousy, improvement (?)
IV. New Life (717)
1) Estupiñá the rent-collector; repairs needed; a lonely life; should forgiveness be asked? It depends; I’ve got more than Latin
2) Blizzard; a Maxi sighting; alone in a cage; Ballester visits; interest in and for Fortunata; the model José Izquierdo
V. The Logic of Illogical Thinking (725)
1) Maxi—the exercise of logic; at the Gallo café; Izauierdo and the bundle with Fortunata’s boots
2) With logic alone; clues amid deceptive performances; Ido’s attack
3) “Logic demands her death”; “extra sanity to give”; Maxi’s proofs to Doña Lupe; Juan Pablo’s poor timing
4) Juan Pablo rails against society (really Doña Lupe); Maxi sees Aurora and Juan; Maxi’s dream of justice; “the bad bird hatched an egg”
5) Doña Lupe muses on situation; talks over news with her nephew; Juan Pablo’s despair
6) Governorship; acclaim and congratulations; going to province without Refugio
VI. The End (748)
1) Ballester visits Fortunata and baby; news all around; Ballester now friends with the critic
2) Fortunata’s tertulia; her trust in Ballester; “Laws are a lot of stupid nonsense”; Estupiñá’s visit
3) Baptism; Maxi visits Fortunata, speech; “an impossible marriage”; “a consummated divorce”; a view of the baby
4) The knife—Maxi tells Fortunata of Juan’s affair with Aurora; “What did you want—to wound and not be wounded?”
5) Guillermina’s visit; Fortunata’s dream
6) Ballester; another guardian for Juan Evaristo; Visitación confirms the affair; Fortunata brings Aurora something; a room in hell
7) The multi-level tertulia on the steps: Guillermina, Ballester, Maxi, Izquierdo, Segunda; Fortunata returns
8) Fortunata tells of settling the score; Maxi and Guillermina; “Unfaithfulness punishes unfaithfulness”; natural courses and justice
9) Maxi’s lesson for Fortunata; her deal with Maxi: “Do you want me to love you with all my heart and soul?”
10) Ballester’s devotion; drying up; shopping for wet nurses; Guillermina with Estupiñá; Jacinta calls; masses; Jacinta’s respect; Barbarita
11) Fortunata confesses to Guillermina; they discuss Jacinta; Guillermina’s decrees
12) Maxi’s gun; Fortunata’s dream of friendship;
Ballester’s concerns; Segunda repeats Doña Lupe’s gossip; “I haven’t been
unfaithful”
Ballester’s concerns; Segunda repeats Doña Lupe’s gossip; “I haven’t been
unfaithful”
13) The bottle is necessary; “you’re going to be queen of the world”; the wound deep within; Fortunata’s will
14) What revives Fortunata; Guillermina’s efforts; “I’m an angel”; Father Nones arrives; death
15) Balester’s babbling; funeral arrangements; Maxi locked up; plans for “the precious acquisition”; Juan’s confession; a nobody to his wife
16) The funeral, and the makings of a play or novel; Ballester’s grief; Maxi visits her grave; Feijóo’s funeral; nature as corrective; “She was an angel”; to the “monastery”