A New Look at the Role of the Female in Twentieth Century Spain: Understanding Maternal Love in the Works of Miguel de Unamuno

Abstract

During the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century, the idealization of the domestic woman as “el ángel del hogar” (the angel of the home), circulated in Spain and throughout the world. The Spanish author, Miguel de Unamuno, lived during this era. Many of his essays and fictional works reflect his view of the inherent quality of maternal love possessed by women. Unamuno believed maternal love to be beautiful, necessary, and empowering. This thesis examines Unamuno’s view of women in both his essays and two of his fictional works, “Dos madres” (“Two Mothers”) and La tía Tula (Aunt Tula), to better understand women’s role in society in relation to the socio-historical context and the problems associated with distortions to this role.