Emilia Pardo Bazán’s Memoirs of a Bachelor (1896) - (Memorias de un solterón) is a novel that examines and questions the traditional roles assigned to men and women within society. Through an introspective narrative -in the voice of the male character- the author questions the idealized model of women as home angels, revealing its harmful effects on both women and men. The novel exposes the rigidity of traditional sexual roles, and suggests that such patterns hinder the possibility of establishing balanced, free, and fully satisfying marital relationships.First published as a serialized novel in La España Moderna magazine, it was only republished in Spain during the author lifetime in volume XIV of her Complete Works; however, translations were published in England, Germany, Italy, and France, countries more receptive to progressive ideas than Spain.Following common practices in the novels of the time, some of the characters in Memorias... also appear in other novels by Pardo Bazán, such as the rebel Feíta Neira, her sisters and father, main characters in the previous novel Doña Milagos (1894, included in The Cycle of Adam and Eve), as well as Baltasar Sobrado (previously in Doña Milagros and La tribuna, published in 1883).In her introductory study to this edition, Susan Walter (University of Denver) analyzes certain key themes (the role of women, the double moral standard, the dynamics of bourgeois marriage, gossip) in the context of Bourbon Restoration Spain (1874-1931), a long period of relative political stability. She also presents a brief biographical sketch of the author, the coordinates of the prescriptive model of feminine behavior known as the home angel, and information on female education at the time. A detailed set of footnotes facilitates comprehension for the modern reader, making this edition ideal for courses in both Peninsular Literature and Women’s Studies.
