Explores the possibilities and limits of a concept of realism that seeks a point of equilibrium between the principle of autonomy of the literary work vis-a-vis reality and the relations that the work clearly establishes with this reality. Argues that by concentrating on the study of the literary work as a verbal construction, the traditional of formalism and New Criticism has neglected the mimetic aspect of the literary problematic, dissociating literature from life. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This passionate and moving story of social injustice, violence and revenge, set in the Valencian huerta, has become the classic text of Spanish regional realism.

Reproduction of the original: The Mayflower by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

"From the lowest ranks of poverty to unprecedented heights of riches and popular acclaim-thus was the career of Juan Gallardo, Spanish bull fighter. In telling his story, Ibanez has achieved a novel even more dramatic and powerful than his legendary Four Horsemen. From his boyhood Juan longed to be a bull fighter and, as he climbs the ladder step by step, the reader lives with him in the very atmosphere of the arena. No detail of the picture is spared-one can see and almost hear the actual battle-the crowds-the many characters that stream through the pages. And Juan himself, with his vanities, his superstitions, his daring attacks, his wounds and recoveries, emerges as real, vital and colorful as the sport to which he and many others dedicated their lives."--Goodreads

The title of this novel "Woman Triumphant" captures the novel's spirit. The woman in this case is the protagonist's wife. The wife triumphs, resurrected in spirit to exert a powerful influence over the life of a man who had wished to live without her. Excerpt: "Renovales, the hero, is simply the personification of human desire, this poor desire which, in reality, does not know what it wants, eternally fickle and unsatisfied. When we finally obtain what we desire, it does not seem enough. "More: I want more," we say. If we lose something that made life unbearable, we immediately wish it back as indispensable to our happiness. Such are we: poor deluded children who cried yesterday for what we scorn today and shall want again tomorrow; poor deluded beings plunging across the span of life on the Icarian wings of caprice."