Pérez Galdós y Gómez de la Serna: dos visiones literarias diferentes sobre el mito y la historia de Juana la Loca

Abstract

The following analysis aims to delve into the literary treatment of the myth of Joanna I of Castile —historically known as ‘the Mad’—offered by Benito Pérez Galdós’s Santa Juana de Castilla (1918), and Ramón Gómez de la Serna´s Doña Juana la Loca (y otras seis novelas superhistóricas) (1944). Both works are separated from the well-known topics about the queen´s madness and passion thanks to the liberty that both authors took and their originality when facing the character: Galdós ignores the aforementioned trite romantic topics to reflect on the historical dignification, while Gómez de la Serna added Joanna´s obsession with death to her supossed madness imagining a new ending for the queen. Thus, under the letterhead of ‘what is superhistorical’, another personality and another destiny for the queen are recreated, both being totally divorced from the historical facts.