Decorating the Female Body: Fashion Objects and Gender in "La de Bringas" (1884) by Benito Pérez Galdós
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/Lectora2020.26.5Keywords:
objects, fashion, modernity, gender, Pérez Galdós, nineteenth-century Spanish literatureAbstract
This essay explores the sociocultural relevance acquired by women’s clothing objects in Benito Pérez Galdós's La de Bringas (1884). The garments depicted in the novel constitute a discursive space to critically approach the complex relationship women established with modernity. Through her interaction with fashion objects, protagonist Rosalía de Bringas forges a modern identity, transcending domestic boundaries marked by the patriarchal structure, beyond the conventional image of the "angel of the home". Likewise, this article addresses the importance of urban spaces that, like the Sobrino Hermanos store depicted in La de Bringas, favored women's entry into the public sphere in the second half of the nineteenth century.
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