ELECTRA. Benito Perez Gald6s' drama 'Electra,' one of the most conspicuously success ful, as well as one of the shortest-lived of modern Spanish plays, was performed for the first time in the face of violent protest at the Teatro Espafiol, Madrid, in 1901. Constructed with the author's customary skill, it is written in a spirit of broad tolerance, the didactic touch never being entirely absent frcrrn its pages. Yet as a thesis drama the play is unconvincing. In particular, the solution of the conflict be tween the scientific spirit and the Church, typi fied in their struggle for the soul of a young woman, is precipitated at the denouement by means of an apparition which effects a recon ciliation between the demands of science and religion through supernatural aid. Undoubtedly this evasion was not without utilitarian justifi cation, and made the performance of the play possible. Gald6s had been associated for many
years with a program of social, political and literary reform, which had brought to his aid a host of admirers, among whom the great body of the more intelligent of the youth of his coun try wa.s included. In 'Electra,' he turned to attack directly the forces of conservatism and reaction, and in the sharpness of the issue then joined lies the chief significance of the play. With its production the influence of the author reached its zenith, and his victory assured the succeeding generation that freedom of expres sion which was essential to the development of modern Spanish letters.
An English translation was published at Chicago, 1911. Authoritative criticism of Gald6s may be found in Alas,. L., (Galdos) (Madrid 1912) also Martinez Ruiz, J. (Azorin), (Lecturas espafiolas' (Madrid 1812).