Doña Elvira of
“Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar”
The shadowy savior who helped to inspire
Doña Inés of “Don Juan Tenorio”
David J. Rochelero
An alternate plan paper submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science
Department of World Languages and Cultures
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Major Professor: Enrique Torner, Ph.D.
Gregory Taylor, Ph.D.
Karl Heise, Ph.D.
Thank you to Dr. Enrique Torner
and the staff of the Minnesota State University at Mankato for giving me
the opportunity to learn new things about the Spanish language and how
to best share that knowledge in the classroom.
Table of contents
Abstract
1
“Don Juan Tenorio” and José Zorrilla
3
“Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar” and José de Espronceda
7
Similarities between Don Juan and Sancho Saldaña
11
Similarities between Doña Elvira of Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar
16
and Doña Inés of Don Juan Tenorio
Conclusion
47
Works Cited
49
David Rochelero 1
Doña Elvira of
“Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar”
The shadowy savior who helped to inspire
Doña Inés of “Don Juan Tenorio”
Abstract
One of the most universal characters in all of literature and the theatre is Don Juan. His
story has been told by many writers using numerous venues (novels, poems, plays, operas and
movies). One of the most enduring characterizations of Don Juan is in the romantic play, Don
Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla. Zorrilla decided to add something new to the Don Juan story and
he created Doña Inés as the innocent, virginal victim of Don Juan Tenorio. The big difference
with the Doña Inés character is that, after having committed suicide because of a broken heart
over Don Juan’s disappearance, her soul reappears in the second part of the play. She reappears
and ends up saving Don Juan from an eternity in hell when he asks God to forgive him for his
sins.
When Doña Inés reappears in the second part of Don Juan Tenorio, she communicates
through the image of a shadow. No one has ever studied why Zorrilla chose to use a shadow to
represent Doña Inés, but there was a “shadowy” literary character that I believe was a significant
influence for the character of Doña Inés. The character that I am referring to is Elvira, in Sancho
Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar, by José de Espronceda. Of the relatively few critics that have
written about Sancho Saldaña, most have criticized it as being a poor imitation of Ivanhoe and
other British Romantic writings, using words such as “pale,” “languid,” “soporific,” and “has
little merit.” (Adams 304) One of Espronceda’s biographers, Robert Marrast, wrote, “Para el
lector de hoy, es escaso el valor literario que posee Sancho Saldaña.” (Marrast 347) Readers
David Rochelero 2
have eschewed Sancho Saldaña because of criticisms such as these, and also, possibly, because it
is a fairly complicated, and long (almost 700 pages) read. Within the pages of the oft-overlooked
historical novel of José de Espronceda, though, are sown some of the seeds for the birth of the
character Doña Inés of Don Juan Tenorio, as well as another version of the Don Juan character,
that being the title character himself, Sancho Saldaña.
In my paper I will first give short summaries of the two works, Don Juan Tenorio by José
Zorrilla, and Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar by José de Espronceda. As well, I will
compare the main male characters, Don Juan and Sancho Saldaña, from each of the works,
showing similarities between them. A great deal of focus will be placed on Sancho Saldaña o el
castellano de Cuéllar and its author. I will be showing how the darkness of Espronceda’s own
psyche caused him to color Elvira in the way that he did, as I enumerate the characteristics
shared by the characters of Elvira from Sancho Saldaña and Doña Inés from Don Juan Tenorio,
thereby showing how Elvira was a strong influence on Doña Inés. I will especially be showing
how both Elvira and Doña Inés acted as or attempted to act as the savior of the men that they
loved.
David Rochelero 3
“Don Juan Tenorio” and José Zorrilla
A woman saving the man that she loved from the grasp of the devil was made widely
famous by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his two-part tragic play, Faust, published in 1808. In
earlier versions of the tale, Faust was determined to not accept any limits on his thirst for the
attainment of knowledge. It is this “determination to know what has been withheld from him that
drives him to his pact with the devil” (Blackall 73) eventually leading to his descent into hell. In
Goethe’s reworking of the Faust legend, “the hero is saved by a woman who has, to use the old
phrase, passed on – passed on into an intermediate realm between earth and heaven.” (Blackall
81)
It is very possible that José Zorrilla read Goethe’s Faust because, as John P. Gabriels
writes, “No aspect of José Zorrilla’s romantic masterpiece, Don Juan Tenorio (1844), has
generated more critical interpretation than the salvation of its protagonist in the closing moments
of the play.” (Gabriels 111) Zorrilla’s decision to have the soul of Doña Inés appear in the
second half of Don Juan Tenorio and save Don Juan’s soul by making a deal with God is a main
departure from the original Don Juan story by Tirso de Molina (in El burlador de Sevilla y
convidado de piedra, published in 1630.) Zorrilla’s Don Juan is still very carefree in his attitude
toward taking advantage of women and killing men, but he is a bit more of a repentant devil. In
his desire to marry Doña Inés he vigorously tries to convince her father, Don Gonzalo de Ulloa,
that he has changed his ways. When Don Luis Mejía and Don Gonzalo belittle him for even
thinking about trying to do what they consider the impossible, Don Juan decides not to fight
against the current of beliefs regarding him and kills both Don Luis and Don Gonzalo:
David Rochelero 4
DON JUAN: Y venza el infierno, pues.
Ulloa, pues mi alma así
vuelves a hundir en el vicio,
cuando Dios me llame a juicio
tú responderás por mí.
(Le da un pistoletazo.)
DON GONZALO: ¡Asesino! (Cae.)
DON JUAN: Y tú, insensato,
que me llamas vil ladrón,
di en prueba de tu razón
que cara a cara te mato.
(Riñen, y le da una estocada.)
DON LUIS: ¡Jesús! (Cae.)
DON JUAN: Tarde tu fe ciega
acude al cielo, Mejía,
y no fue por culpa mía;
pero la justicia llega,
y a fe que ha de ver quién soy. (Zorrilla 175)
Don Juan Tenorio is the longest-running play in the history of Spain, but its author, José
Zorrilla, has never received any of the monies that it has brought in beyond the small amount for
which he sold it. He did not expect it to be any more successful than any of his other works up to
that time. How could he have known that his reworking of the Don Juan tale, with Doña Inés
saving Don Juan, would become so successful and that so much would be written about it?
David Rochelero 5
Zorrilla actually renounced the play and tried to get it pulled from the stage. This would have
allowed him to replace it with what he thought would be a better version, and from which he
would be able to financially benefit from, but was never successful in doing so.
The romantic literary community of early nineteenth-century Spain was a small, fairly
close-knit group. Zorrilla was nine years younger than Espronceda and very likely looked up to
him, much as would a student to his/her mentor. The fact that José Zorrilla and José de
Espronceda were at least close acquaintances is shown in Zorrilla’s memoirs. In them, he gives
this portrait of Espronceda, not long after Teresa Mancha, Espronceda’s greatest love, had left
him. The image that Zorrilla paints for us with his words is very faithful to the image of
Espronceda that we have, thanks to the artist Antonio María Esquivel:
La cabeza de Espronceda rebosaba carácter y originalidad. Su cara pálida por la
enfermedad, estaba coronada por una cabellera negra, rizada y sedosa, dividida
por una raya casi en medio de la cabeza y ahuecada por ambos lados sobre las
orejas, pequeñas y finas, cuyos lóbulos inferiores asomaban en rizos. Sus cejas,
negras, finas y rectas, doselaban sus ojos límpidos e inquietos, resguardados por
riquísimas pestañas; el perfil de su nariz no era muy correcto; y su boca,
desdeñosa, cuyo labio inferior era algo aborbonado, estaba medio oculta en un
fino bigote y una perilla unida a la barba, que se rizaba por ambos lados de la
mandíbula inferior. Su frente era espaciosa y más rayas que las que, de arriba
abajo, marcaba el fruncimiento de las cejas; su mirada era franca, y su risa, pronta
y frecuente, no rompía jamás en descompuesta carcajada. Su cuello era vigoroso y
sus manos finas, nerviosas y bien cuidadas. (Landeira 25)
David Rochelero 6
To have written such a caring, detailed portrait of Espronceda shows that the two were no doubt
friends; at the very least, close colleagues in the world of romanticism, and would have most
certainly read each other’s works.
David Rochelero 7
“Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar” and José de Espronceda
In his early writings, José de Espronceda followed closely the neo-classical school of
poetry-writing that he learned from Alberto Lista (Landeira 45). As Wesley Weaver points out,
during these years “Espronceda sigue las pautas de la escuela neoclásica, cultivando sus formas
preferidas, en cuyos versos se encuentran sílfides, ninfas, alusiones mitológicas, latinismos y
onomásticos clásicos” (Weaver 462) It was through living life that Espronceda came to the point
where he could be called a romantic. The romantics were an idealistic group, prone to
disillusionment. The fact that the early part of the 19th century was hardly the time to make
political, let alone romantic, dreams come true accounts for the darkness and pessimism of much
of Espronceda’s later writings. His growing pessimism with life probably started in earnest with
the failure of the insurgency into northern Spain by Joaquín de Pablo’s troops in October of
1830, which Espronceda participated in, and during which de Pablo was killed by the royalist
troops. “Espronceda, who along with his leaderless group subsequently fled the numerically
superior enemy, later commemorated this tragic episode of liberal resistance in the heroic poem,
<<A la muerte de Don Joaquín de Pablo (Chapalangarra).>>” (Landeira 18)
This event surely caused him much disillusionment. As well, his relationship with Teresa
Mancha, the love of his life, was not turning out the way that he would have liked. He had fallen
in love with Teresa while exiled in Portugal. Then, José de Espronceda and, a few months later,
Teresa Mancha and her family were forced to move to England. After staying in England for a
little over a year, Espronceda then moved on to France. Teresa, in order to help with her family’s
economic situation, married and had two children with the wealthy business man Gregorio de
Bayo in England. It is not known how much contact Espronceda had with Teresa while he was in
David Rochelero 8
England. Obviously, though, he could not stop thinking about her after he left England because
by 1832 he had convinced her to leave her husband and family to be part of his life.
Actually having Teresa, as opposed to forming a romanticized version of her in his
thoughts, may have somehow disappointed Espronceda because by the time they moved back to
Spain from France in March of 1833, José and Teresa actually lived in separate homes. While
that living situation may have been partially due to Espronceda’s mother’s disapproval of having
an unmarried couple in her house, it could not have been pleasing to Teresa. She had left behind
her family for a future with Espronceda but, instead of finding happiness, they seemed to be
moving further and further apart romantically:
Espronceda, immersed in politics – at times paying for his excesses in jail, at
others by organizing demonstrations, giving speeches or writing incendiary
editorials, could not cope with Teresa’s demands. Politically, she was becoming a
liability; emotionally, he had changed. Their love, he no doubt came to feel, had
been a flash – intense, but ephemeral and unsustainable. (Landeira 24)
These realizations regarding politics and love would have made the summer of 1833 an
emotionally difficult and “dark” time for the romantic Espronceda. (Landeira 25) “It is at this
point in 1833 we note a deepening of Espronceda’s pessimism and the consequent search for
new techniques to express it.” (Cardwell 150) The initial expression of that new-found sense of
pessimism would be, Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar. Written during the summer of
1833, Sancho Saldaña has been recognized as Espronceda’s entry into the romantic school of
writing:
David Rochelero 9
Es en esta obra, tan pocas veces tomada en cuenta, donde encuentra Espronceda
su voz definitiva y las técnicas para comunicar sus preocupaciones literarias,
facilitando su lanzamiento al carácter experimental – tanto por lo innovador como
por lo experimentado – que cobrará su verso.” (Weaver 462)
Published ten years before Don Juan Tenorio, pessimism and darkness permeate much of
Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuellar. The title character is a tortured soul (maybe not so
much unlike Espronceda,) reflecting a number of times throughout the novel on the bad deeds
that he has perpetrated and how he is destined for an eternity in hell. The middle ages were a
favored, idealized subject time/era of the romantic writers, and this is when Sancho Saldaña
takes place, late in the 13th century. Many of the scenes in the novel occur at night with the wind
howling, or in the shadowy darkness of caves and secret castle passageways, which are common
characteristics of romantic writing. Exhibiting another characteristic of romanticism, there is also
an emphasis on emotions rather than reason, whether they are the more depressed ruminations of
the title character, the erotic/hatred passion of Zoraida, a love interest of Sancho Saldaña, or the
religious fervor of Elvira.
More than anything else, Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar, at its heart, is a
story not only about love, but a certain type of love: “En Sancho Saldaña, el amor es siempre
imposible: la fatalidad de la historia separa a los amantes los desgarra y los aleja” (Marrast 337)
Similar to the “ amor cortés” that was written about by the troubadours of the middle ages, the
love in Sancho Saldaña is always an impossible love, one that separates and keeps lovers apart the unattainable but well-intentioned love that Usdróbal feels for Leonor, the unattainable,
misguided and poorly executed love that Sancho Saldaña feels for Leonor, as well as the
unattainable love/attraction that Zoraida feels for Sancho Saldaña (even though she also hates
David Rochelero 10
him with even more passion.) The fact that Espronceda chose to have a female character that has
to endure unrequited love in her pursuit of a male character, is a major departure for the romantic
realm of literature; normally it is the man that pursues the woman and feels the pain when her
love cannot be won. To balance out all these instances of “amor imposible”, there is the love that
Elvira feels for her brother, who happens to be none other than the title character, Sancho
Saldaña. Although we do have the backdrop of the battle between the Saldaña family and the
Íscar family, caused by their allegiances to King Sancho el Bravo of Castile and King Alfonso de
la Cerda X and his heirs, respectively, as with all good romanticism, there is an emphasis on the
desire for personal freedom and the “Yo” in Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar - what
each individual feels about their own life situation, whether it be good or bad, is of utmost
importance. “En fin Sancho Saldaña representa el claroscuro del alma humana. Como se dice en
la obra <<El Velludo – respondió el judío – es como todos los hombres: un conjunto de cosas
buenas y malas.>>” (Martínez Torrón 43)
David Rochelero 11
Similarities between the characters Don Juan and Sancho Saldaña
The characters of Sancho Saldaña and Don Juan Tenorio are similar in a number of ways.
First off, and much more famously so for Don Juan, they both are obsessed with women in their
own ways. Don Juan’s obsession is getting as many women as possible, winning their love, and,
then, leaving them, as evidenced by the scene towards the beginning of part one where Don Juan
and Don Luis compare how many women each has slept with in the past year:
DON LUIS: Pasemos a las conquistas.
DON JUAN: Sumo aquí cincuenta y seis.
DON LUIS: Y yo sumo en vuestras listas, setenta y dos.
DON JUAN: Pues perdéis. (Zorrilla 102)
Sancho Saldaña’s obsession seems to have to do with holding on too long to love interests that
hold no future for him; either not knowing how to let go of it in a healthy manner (as in the case
of Zoraida who he keeps under lock and key in his castle even after he drops her for Doña
Leonor,) or refusing to admit to himself that Doña Leonor, his current and most obsessed-over
love interest, is not interested in any sort of relationship with him. At one point, his sister, Elvira,
comes to Leonor’s defense during an argument. She tells him to ask for forgiveness for his
crimes and to stop thinking about Leonor because she isn’t the one for him. This promps Saldaña
to then respond:
-¡Oh!, eso no -replicó Saldaña-: ya es tarde para que yo me arrepienta; mis
súplicas han sido otras veces desoídas, y yo ya estoy condenado; ya es tarde continuó con horrible desesperación-: no, yo no volveré a humillarme, yo no
dejaré la prenda más segura de mi felicidad, la gloria de mi vida, la mujer que
David Rochelero 12
tanta pena me ha costado tener conmigo, por un arrepentimiento sin fruto, que
lejos de aliviar mis penas, hará que se redoblen prolongando con ellas mis
desesperación. Leonor ya es mía, será mía, y ya es tarde para arrepentirme.
(Espronceda 303)
Sancho Saldaña freely admits that he has committed too many crimes for him to be forgiven and
has too much psychological energy invested in Doña Leonor; he has her now and there is no way
that he is going to let go of her.
Sancho Saldaña and Don Juan are also similar in that they both seem to be very good
with the sword and/or other fighting instruments. Part of the competition that Don Juan and Don
Luis had in part one of Don Juan Tenorio was which of them could kill more men in a year, with
Don Juan winning that part of the competition as well:
DON LUIS: Del mismo modo arregladas
mis cuentas traigo en el mío:
en dos líneas separadas
los muertos en desafío
y las mujeres burladas.
Contad.
DON LUIS: Contad.
DON JUAN: Veinte y tres.
DON LUIS: Son los muertos. A ver vos.
¡Por la cruz de San Andrés!
Aquí sumo treinta y dos.
DON JUAN: Son los muertos.
David Rochelero 13
DON LUIS: Matar es.
DON JUAN: Nueve os llevo.
DON LUIS: Me vencéis. (Zorrilla 101-102)
Like Don Juan, Sancho Saldaña was also a feared warrior. During the lead up to a scene where
Sancho Saldaña and Don Hernando have a jousting duel, Espronceda mentions Sancho Saldaña’s
prowess with the lance: “Hernando, buen caballero probado en muchos encuentros, tenía fama de
ser tan diestro jinete como ágil en todo género de juego de armas; sabía que su contrario, el de
Cuéllar, era una de las lanzas más temibles de la cristiandad.” (Espronceda 206)
Fernando Díaz-Plaja has pointed out another similarity between the characters of Don
Juan and Sancho Saldaña (Díaz-Plaja 229). The two romantic leading men are also similar in that
both of them are initially destined to marry with female protagonists of their respective stories
(Don Juan with Doña Inés and Sancho Saldaña with Doña Leonor.) Then, in each work, they are
forbidden any sort of union with their chosen matrimonial partners. In Sancho Saldaña’s
situation, his family has broken with Doña Leonor’s family over which kingship they decide to
be loyal to. In spite of this, Sancho Saldaña still wants Leonor to be his wife, something that
Leonor’s father, Don Ramiro, will never agree to. These are the words that he has for Sancho
Saldaña: “Joven, sabéis lo que pedís? Nunca mi sangre se mezclará con la vuestra así como la
lealtad no se ha mezclado nunca con la traición.” (Espronceda 113) Compare those to the words
of Don Gonzalo, the father of Doña Inés, who speaks about whether or not he would ever let his
daughter marry Don Juan Tenorio after Don Juan kidnaps her: “¡Nunca, nunca! ¿Tú, su esposo?
Primero la mataré.” (Zorrilla 173) He would kill his own daughter before he would let her marry
Don Juan.
David Rochelero 14
One big difference between the two is the inner turmoil factor. While it is true that José
Zorrilla’s version of the Don Juan character does show pangs of guilt from time to time (as
opposed to Tirso de Molin’s Don Juan who was actually called “the Jokester of Seville”,) for
him they are still just fleeting thoughts, as he always immediately reverts back to his
proud/arrogant, womanizing self. Sancho Saldaña, as was alluded to earlier, is a much more
conflicted character. He is similar to Don Juan in that he has killed plenty of people, but he truly
seems to be bothered by what he has done and his inability to not commit evil deeds:
Rodeado de crímenes, entregado a un solo pensamiento en el mundo, lleno de
hastío, ansioso de algo que nunca podía encontrar, desasosegado en el sosiego,
agitado
de
tristes
imaginaciones
y,
finalmente,
cargado
de
penosos
remordimientos que sin cesar le seguían y atormentaban en todas partes, llegó, en
fin, a hartarse de la ponzoña que en copa de oro le presentaba la máscara del
deleite, y a odiar al fatal objeto de sus amores con tanto más aborrecimiento y más
furia cuanto le había amado con más delirio. Volvió en sí, y no pudiendo
encontrar nada que bastase a satisfacer sus deseos, a consolar su tristeza, a hacerle
olvidar sus remordimientos, se halló en la flor de su edad con un alma árida como
la arena, y velado ya su rostro con la sombra de los sepulcros. (Espronceda 105)
Sancho Saldaña understands that he has committed many misdeeds and it is almost as if he has
resigned himself to the fact that he will be spending an eternity in hell for having committed
them. Don Juan, on the other hand, does not truly see the wrongfulness of his ways until the end
of the play, when he begs for forgiveness of his sins, as the final grain of sand is about to run out
of the hourglass:
¡Aparta, piedra fingida!
David Rochelero 15
Suelta, suéltame esa mano,
que aun queda el último grano
en el reló de mi vida.
Suéltala, que si es verdad
que un punto de contrición
da a un alma la salvación
de toda una eternidad,
yo, Santo Dios, creo en Ti;
si es mi maldad inaudita,
tu piedad es infinita…
¡Señor, ten piedad de mí! (Zorrilla 222)
David Rochelero 16
Similarities between Doña Elvira of Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar
and Doña Inés of Don Juan Tenorio
While Doña Inés is a major character in Don Juan Tenorio, Elvira in Sancho Saldaña is a
more of a minor character. The first, and most obvious connection between the two, is the
religious imagery that surrounds them. Doña Inés has grown up inside a convent. The abbess of
the convent expects her to continue her life in the church and, at first it seems that she is going to
take vows to become a nun. Later, the vows that she actually takes are to save Don Juan. When
she reappears in the second part of Don Juan Tenorio, after having committed suicide between
parts I and II, she is represented as a statue standing between statues of the two men that Don
Juan killed (Don Luis and Don Gonzalo, the father of Doña Inés) just before he fled Seville and
Spain. When she actually speaks, a shadow appears and her soul communicates through the
shadow. That is how her character is titled in the play, “La sombra de Doña Inés” (“The shadow
of Doña Inés”.) Why did José Zorrilla choose to use a shadow to signify the presence of the soul
of Doña Inés and have her speak though it? Why not just have the statue “come to life” and have
her soul communicate via a much more human appearance? In my study of the appearances of
the character of Elvira in Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar, we will see a strong
influence for Zorrilla’s choice of the shadow to be the representation of Doña Inés, as well as
how the psyche of its author, José de Espronceda, may have influenced how he presented Elvira
to the literary world.
The character of Elvira is just as involved with the word of God as is Doña Inés.
Espronceda more than likely chose the name “Elvira” because of its religious significance. The
Synod of Elvira (modern-day Granada) was held early in the fourth century A.D. to regulate
David Rochelero 17
sexuality, marriage, and clerical celibacy, and resulted in the issuance of 81 canons. (Leuchli
126) It could be that Espronceda wanted Elvira to represent what he saw as a need to control
women’s sexuality. About a third of the way through the novel she takes a vow with God to live
a life of prayer, austerity, isolation, and, by extension, abstinence. Early in the novel, though,
there are no signs of Elvira’s religiosity, or Elvira, for that matter. The only words that
Espronceda has for us regarding her personality/psyche during her early years are that she was
quite beautiful, without the cruelness of her brother, Sancho but, she was always sad, melancholy
and pale, like a star about to darken: “…aunque de mucha belleza y sin el ceño y cruel aspecto de
Sancho Saldaña, también la habían visto siempre triste, melancólica y pálida, como una estrella
próxima a oscurecerse.” (Espronceda 103)
The first time that Elvira actually appears in Sancho Saldaña we do not even know that it
is her. Doña Leonor (who is Sancho Saldaña’s current love interest) and her brother, Don
Hernando de Iscár (who is Sancho Saldaña’s enemy,) are walking through the town square. As in
most town squares of the time there are plenty of beggars asking for money or food. Leonor and
Hernando are glad to oblige them. One of the beggars, though, seems to have searched Leonor
out and, even after having been given a coin, keeps following Leonor and tugging at her
clothing:
…(Doña Leonor) notó que una mujer cubierta de pies a cabeza de una almalafa o
capa morisca, cuya capucha le cubría el rostro, la seguía tirándole del vestido
como tratando de detenerla. Ya había vuelto Leonor la cabeza más de una vez a
mirarla, y habiéndola tomado por una pobre, le había dicho con dulzura que se
retirase y no la molestase más, pues había dado para todos la limosna que le
pedía. Pero no por esto la impertinente pobre dejaba de seguirla sin querer
David Rochelero 18
separarse de ella, y tirándole del vestido cada vez con más fuerza. Viendo Leonor
su tenacidad, creyó sería alguna más infeliz que las otras que no tenía bastante
con lo ya dado, y sacando una moneda de oro, alargó la mano para dársela sin
pararse. Pero cuál fue su sorpresa viendo que aquella mujer que con tanto empeño
la perseguía, y que ella creía una de las más miserables, se negaba a recibir el
dinero que habría llenado de regocijo al más descontentadizo mendigo.
-Mujer -le dijo entonces- ¿qué quieres de mí?, ¿ni qué otra cosa puedo yo darte?
-Yo no quiero ni necesito nada de ti - le respondió una voz suavísima en tono tan
bajo que Leonor tuvo que acercarse para oírla bien-; al contrario -prosiguióvengo a hacerte un favor; no desoigas la voz del que habla en mí, y si no quieres
antes de la noche que se trueque en lágrimas tu alegría, retírate ahora mismo a tu
castillo y no vuelvas a los pinares, porque hay quien te cela, y sigue, y te ojea, y
antes de tres horas te tendrá en su poder. (Espronceda 76)
This last voice is actually that of Elvira. Although not named at this point, it is her first
appearance as the shadowy savior in Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar. She is trying to
warn Doña Leonor to not go on the hunting excursion that has been planned. Elvira is trying to
save Doña Leonor because she knows that Sancho Saldaña wants to kidnap her during the
planned hunting trip; this is Saldaña’s method of capturing his love’s interest. “Quiere Sadaña
tener dominada a Leonor, cosificarla en un objeto que le esté sometido, pese a que en su libertad
descomprometida la muchacha no ama a nadie.” (Martínez Torrón 42) Doña Leonor is somewhat
troubled by the words of this strange woman wearing a dark cape, whose face is covered by a
shawl giving her a dark, somewhat shadowy nature. Nevertheless, she decides to go on the
David Rochelero 19
hunting trip where she is, in fact, kidnapped by a band of men hired by Sancho Saldaña.
(Espronceda 82)
We are still not aware that it is Elvira when she makes her second appearance in Sancho
Saldaña. Doña Leonor has just been taken to the cave where the bandits who work for Sancho
Saldaña live. The bandits are talking about a ghost, or witch, that they all have seen in the
surrounding woods. As they are conversing, a dark figure appears, lit up by the torch that it is
holding. This causes shadows to be formed and must have created quite a scary scene inside the
cave. This use of shadows in a cave is a solid connection to the allegory of Plato’s cave. Here is
part of the story that Plato wrote, where his teacher Socrates is having a conversation with
Plato’s brother, Glaucon. Socrates starts off:
‘… Imagine an underground chamber like a cave, with a long entrance open to the
daylight and as wide as the cave. In this chamber are men who have been
prisoners there since they were children, their legs and necks being so fastened
that they can only look straight ahead of them and cannot turn their heads. Some
way off, behind and higher up, a fire is burning, and between the fire and the
prisoners and above them runs a road, in front of which a curtain-wall has been
built, like the screen at puppet shows between the operators and their audience,
above which they show their puppets .’
‘I see.’
‘Imagine further that there are men carrying all sorts of gear along behind the
curtain-wall, projecting above it and including figures of men and animals made
of wood and stone and all sorts of other materials, and that some of these men, as
you would expect, are talking and some not.’
David Rochelero 20
‘An odd picture and an odd sort of prisoner.’
‘They are drawn from life,’ I replied. ‘For, tell me, do you think our prisoners
could see anything of themselves or their fellows except the shadows thrown by
the fire on the wall of the cave opposite them?’
‘How could they see anything else if they were prevented from moving their
heads all their lives?’
‘And would they see anything more of the objects carried along the road?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Then if they were able to talk to each other, would they not assume that the
shadows they saw were the real things?’
‘Inevitably.’
‘And if the wall of their prison opposite them reflected sound, don’t you think that
they would suppose, whenever one of the passers-by on the road spoke, that the
voice belonged to shadow passing before them?’
‘They would be bound to think so.’
‘And so in every way they would believe that the shadows of the objects we
mentioned were the whole truth.’
‘Yes, inevitably.’ (Plato 241-242)
Just like the slaves in Plato’s cave who think that the shadows that they see on the walls of the
cave are “the truth”, the bandits in Espronceda’s cave are deceived by their own eyes and
ignorance, seeing something far more egregious than what they are actually seeing. Very much
in the keeping with the spirit of romanticism, their actions are guided by their emotions rather by
any sort of reason:
David Rochelero 21
-¡La maga! -gritaron todos a un tiempo, y huyeron a refugiarse al fondo de la
caverna. Un espantoso fantasma vestido todo de negro, con una antorcha en la
mano, se apareció en este instante. Sus ojos lanzaban llamas, su semblante era
lívido, y sus brazos largos, secos y descarnados, semejaban a los de un desollado
cadáver, mostrando todos sus músculos y ligaduras. Brillaba en medio de los
relámpagos como un espectro rodeado de luz y vestido del nebuloso ropaje de las
tinieblas. (Espronceda 93)
The bandits are convinced that it is the “maga” or witch that they have seen in the woods. All of
them, even their leader, El Velludo, are too petrified with fear to stop her, even though “the
shadowy savior” is stealing away from them the “prize” that Sancho Saldaña has hired them to
bring to him. Compare that scene to the one in Don Juan Tenorio immediately after the first time
that Don Juan speaks with the shadow (soul) of Doña Inés:
¡Cielos! ¿Qué es lo que escuché?
¡Hasta los muertos así
dejan sus tumbas para mí!
Mas sombra, delirio fue.
Yo en mi mente le forjé;
la imaginación le dio
la forma en que se mostró,
y ciego vine a creer
en la realidad de un ser
que mi mente fabricó. (Zorrilla 193)
David Rochelero 22
With both scenes we have the imagery of the shadow. In the scene from Sancho Saldaña,
because of the fear that they feel, the bandits convince themselves that they see something much
more sinister than what they actually see. In the scene from Don Juan Tenorio, at first, Don Juan
is frightened, but he immediately reassures himself that it was nothing otherworldly or sinister; it
was just something that his imagination made up. This is just one of a number of “shadowy”
moments involving Elvira that helped guide Zorrilla in his decision to have Doña Inés reappear
as a shadow in Don Juan Tenorio.
In the next scene where Elvira appears we still do not know that it is her. What we do
have is a mixture of “the angelic” in the description of what she does along with the dark and
somewhat mysterious nature of her appearance. After Sancho Saldaña and his rival, Don
Hernando de Íscar, are both badly wounded in a jousting duel, we see the “shadowy savior”
appear again, this time to help the two men:
Una mujer cubierta toda de una especie de dominó negro, o de hábito con
capucha, teniéndola echada en este momento hacia atrás, estaba de rodillas junto a
Saldaña, deteniendo la sangre de su herida con un lienzo blanco como la nieve, y
le había levantado la visera y quitado el casco para desahogarle. Su rostro pálido,
y más ajado por el dolor y la penitencia que por los años, pues no parecía tener
arriba de veintidós, tenía un no sé qué tan angelical y amoroso, que cautivaba y
enamoraba con su ternura. Pero el sentimiento que inspiraba era más dulce y
respetuoso que ardiente y apasionado, porque sin duda los pasatiempos de aquella
joven no eran de este mundo, y su alma ya habitaba en las celestiales mansiones
de la paz y de la eterna felicidad. (Espronceda 222)
David Rochelero 23
After helping with their wounds as much as she can, she sits next to Sancho Saldaña and gives
thanks for being able to save him from a sinner’s death. As well, she scolds him for crimes that
he has committed, even though he is still unconscious, showing that she may be speaking more
out of a need for God to look favorably on her deeds than praying for Sancho Saldaña:
-Gracias doy al cielo, que me ha enviado aquí para librarte de la muerte del
pecador. ¡En qué estado ibas a presentarte ante el tribunal de Dios! ¡Las penas
eternas te aguardaban presentándote así, lleno de crímenes, impenitente! Mil
maldiciones te seguían, cuyos imprecadores hubieran ido allí también para
acriminarte. No, yo no; muchos agravios me has hecho, mucho mal me has
causado, pero nunca te he maldecido; al contrario, a pesar del mal trato que he
recibido de ti, a pesar de todo, todo te lo he perdonado, porque al fin hartas
maldiciones te han atraído tus desaciertos. Yo no he hecho sino llorarlos.
(Espronceda 222-223)
“Destaca en Sancho Saldaña la movilidad de punto de vista, que cambia de capítulo en
capítulo, focalizándose en los sentimientos de los diversos personajes, que van exponiéndose en
escena a través de los diálogos, y generalmente nunca por expresión directa del autor.” (Martínez
Torrón 45) As we read Sancho Saldaña for the first time it is easy to not notice, with all the
different points of view that Espronceda uses from chapter to chapter in his historical novel, but
this is the same woman who tried to talk Leonor out of going on the hunting excursion where she
was kidnapped. As well, she was the “maga”, or witch, who saved Doña Leonor from the bandits
in the cave. Here, she is “saving” Sancho Saldaña, which we might find almost strange since
Sancho Saldaña is a Don Juan-type character in as much as he has committed many crimes and
probably has killed plenty of people. Being the Count of Cuéllar, Sancho Saldaña and his
David Rochelero 24
aforementioned crimes would have been known “far and wide.” For some reason, though, this
lady who has arrived on the scene, this angelic but, at the same time, dark and shadowy savior
dressed in black, wants him to live.
After caring for the two men (but focusing more attention on Sancho Saldaña,) almost as
quickly as she had arrived on the scene, she covers her face with her cape and flees to hide
amongst the pine trees as Don Hernando de Íscar’s men arrive on horseback. (Espronceda 224)
Even though she is a very caring individual, Elvira, or, “the shadowy savior”, seems to not want
anyone to know who she is, a characteristic which makes her seem even darker. The pessimism
that came to mark more and more of Espronceda’s writing seem to be what caused him to cloak
the good-hearted, angelic Elvira in black and have her float in and out of various scenes
somewhat like a shadow. As well, Espronceda seems to want her to suffer, especially
psychologically. After Elvira has witnessed her brother kill a priest, this is how Espronceda has
her react:
Desde entonces cambié mis galas por el cilicio, troqué la blandura de mi lecho por
un poco de paja, comí las raíces de los árboles, los frutos silvestres y traté mi
cuerpo como a un animal inmundo. Vime odiada y maldecida de los habitantes de
las cercanías, creída bruja y mirada como un agente de Satanás; y yo, para más
humillarme y contener al mismo tiempo la curiosidad de las gentes con el temor,
adulé su credulidad confirmándola con mi apariencia. Porque no sólo prometí no
cuidar de mi fama, sino que también ofrecí exponerla a las lenguas de las gentes y
sufrir el oprobio con humildad. (Espronceda 235-236)
Espronceda has Elvira isolate herself, eat tree roots, pretend to be a beggar, as well as making her
treat herself cruelly, acting in a masochistic manner, because of her brother’s sins, which she had
David Rochelero 25
nothing to do with. More than just another manifestation of pessimism on the part of Espronceda,
this is due to a misogynistic streak on his part that Cristina L. Delano has written about in her
work, “Misogyny and (Mis) Representation: The Female Subject in the Poetry of José de
Espronceda”:
“Espronceda’s works present a variety of female objects of desire: prostitutes,
specters, demons, and angels. Whether or not these “objects” are true subjects is
another matter. Espronceda’s female characters are often misrepresented instead
of represented as proper subjects. Espronceda’s women fall victim to the
misogynistic stereotypes of the 19th century. They are Madonnas or whores,
angels or demons, saints or sinners. In addition to suffering from these binaries,
Espronceda’s female characters are often used as mere projections of the male
subject. Their own subjectivity is nullified by their use as a vehicle for the
Romantic’s ideals and desires.” (Delano 1)
And so it is with Elvira - in one scene she is referred to as a witch (which was pretty much
synonymous with “demon” in the Middle Ages,) and, in the next, she is referred to as “angelic”.
Maybe Elvira did something “off-screen” that we are not aware of; something that made her
worthy of being thought of as a demon by Espronceda. More than likely, though, Espronceda is
projecting his misogynistic tendencies because, as Marrast has written, “Algo que está fuera de
duda es que Espronceda se proyecta en sus personajes.” (Marrast 334)
Also, this may demonstrate an ambivalence, or pessimism regarding his ability to act in a
healthy manner towards women, that Espronceda demonstrates and about which wrote John
Beverly. “Espronceda desires the woman as virgin (pure, ethereal, soft, bland etc.) The problem
is that he also wants to make love to her as a woman…” (Beverly 57) It seems that when he finds
David Rochelero 26
that she is not perfect in the “Esproncedian” sense of the word (as happened when he finally
made Teresa Mancha his; she had already had two children with her husband,) she becomes like
a demon, very likely the cause of her significant other’s problems. This is what happens in one of
his more well-known poetry works, Canto a Teresa, an ode to the one woman that Espronceda
truly loved (or thought he truly loved.) What should be a very loving writing turns out to be a
diatribe against her, blaming her for Espronceda’s problems and shortcomings. As Delano has
written:
After describing her purity and beauty, Espronceda mourns the fact that Teresa is
no longer with him and that time has passed so quickly. But instead of continuing
to praise Teresa, Espronceda begins to focus on the corruption that led him to lose
her:
Tú fuiste un tiempo un cristalino río,
manantial de purísima limpieza;
después torrente de color sombrío
rompiendo entre peñascos y maleza,
y estanque en fin de aguas corrompidas,
entre fétido fango detenidas. (vv. 1694-1699)
At the beginning of this stanza, as well as in previous ones, Espronceda equates
Teresa with the beauty and purity of nature, but later she is compared to filth and
weeds. Instead of a life giving, clean river, Espronceda associates Teresa with
stagnate, diseased waters. She has lost her purity and her beauty and has become
ugly and vile. (Delano 37)
David Rochelero 27
If Espronceda was capable of such emotional retribution when dealing with the memory
of the true love of his life, maybe it is not so surprising that Elvira of Sancho Saldaña could so
easily fit into his Madonna/whore model. So, very possibly, Elvira is suffering because of
Espronceda’s own perceived shortcomings and/or failings. Instead of taking psychological
responsibility for these shortcomings, Espronceda writes as if he thinks that he has suffered
enough and in this part of Sancho Saldaña he projects his need to have someone else do his
suffering for him onto Elvira. He may be implying that Elvira actually is culpable for some of
her brother’s misdeeds and that is why she deserves to suffer.
The action in Sancho Saldaña then shifts back to the place where the shadowy savior is
keeping Doña Leonor safe from the bandits and Sancho Saldaña. This is how Espronceda
explains the area where Leonor is being kept:
A poca distancia de la cueva de los bandidos, y bajando las riberas del Pirón,
había habido en los siglos del paganismo un soberbio templo de piedra, erigido
sin duda por los romanos en honor de alguna deidad a quien habían consagrado
aquel sitio. El furor de los siglos, y acaso la mano del hombre, más destructora
que la del tiempo, había ido poco a poco demoliendo este monumento de la
grandeza de aquellos conquistadores, y en la época de esta historia no quedaban
ya otros vestigios aparentes que algunas piedras cubiertas de musgo, alguna
columna rota u otra infeliz muestra de su antigua magnificencia. Una parte de él,
sin duda en algún terremoto, se había hundido debajo de tierra, habiendo
desaparecido de modo que nadie habría podido sospechar siquiera que entre
aquellos escombros, mansión al parecer únicamente de inmundos insectos,
estuviera oculta una habitación capaz, bastante para servir de abrigo a algunos
David Rochelero 28
hombres en caso de necesidad. Pero una piedra fácil de remover daba entrada a un
arco oscuro que debajo de tierra tortuosamente se prolongaba hasta llegar a una
espaciosa bóveda octangular, asilo tal vez en otros tiempos de algún religioso
ermitaño, y no tan abandonada ahora que no se conociese que servía aún de lo
mismo. Con todo, el adorno de esta sepultura (si tal puede llamarse habitándola
cuerpos vivos) probaba que quien la había elegido en este tiempo por su morada
miraba poco en las comodidades del mundo y sólo pensaba en la salud del alma y
en el retiro. (Espronceda 227-228)
Elvira, the shadowy savior, has been staying in a hole underneath what at one time was the statue
of, or monument to, a deity – somewhat like the soul of Doña Inés which Zorrilla, in a pointedly
different way of presenting his female character, has proudly inhabit a statue that was erected in
her honor, as we see in the introduction to Act One, Part Two of Don Juan Tenorio:
Panteón de la familia Tenorio. El teatro representa un magnífico cementerio,
hermoseado a manera de jardín. En primer término, aislados y de bulto, los
sepulcros de don Gonzalo de Ulloa, de Doña Inés y de don Luis Mejía, sobre los
cuales se ven sus estatuas de piedra. El sepulcro de don Gonzalo a la derecha, y su
estatua de rodillas; el de don Luis a la izquierda, y su estatua también de rodillas;
el de doña Inés en el centro, y su estatua de pie…(Zorrilla 179)
Being what it is, Elvira has found herself in her own Plato’s cave, replete with fire and shadows.
She has vowed to make this her home until, as we soon will find out, she can raise her brother
out of the ignorance of the Lord’s ways. A hole in the ground may not seem like a very holy
place, but this is where the misogynistic Espronceda decided to place Elvira as she tries to free
David Rochelero 29
Sancho Saldaña from the chains of ignorance, help him to see “the truth” and save him from a
certain eternity of damnation in hell.
Leonor has been recovering in what can be called “Elvira’s cave” for three days after her
kidnapping by the bandits and the rescue by the shadowy savior. When she awakens she tries to
figure out how it is that she finds herself in the place that she is and she says to herself that it
must have been because of an angel: “No hay duda que fue algún ángel el que me salvó de
manos de los ladrones y tomó aquella espantosa forma sólo para aterrarlos” (Espronceda 230)
Very similar to this is the scene in Don Juan Tenorio when Don Juan takes Doña Inés to his
mansion after kidnapping her. Doña Inés has fainted and when she comes to in his mansion, she
is unaware of where she is. Brígida (Don Juan’s accomplice) lets her know that Don Juan has
brought her to his mansion, but then lies to her and tells her that Don Juan saved her from a fire
(which would have been a very angelic act by him) that consumed the convent:
BRÍGIDA: Las dos
con la carta entretenidas,
olvidamos nuestras vidas,
yo oyendo y leyendo vos.
Y estaba, en verdad, tan tierna,
que entrambas a su lectura
achacamos la tortura
que sentíamos interna.
Apenas ya respirar
podíamos, y las llamas
prendían ya en nuestras camas:
David Rochelero 30
nos íbamos a asfixiar
cuando don Juan, que os adora
que rondaba el convento,
al ver crecer con el viento
la llama devastadora,
con inaudito valor,
viendo que ibais a abrasaros,
se metió para salvaros
por donde pudo mejor. (Zorrilla 156)
Leonor is trying to get used to this dark, shadowy place that she has been brought to
when: “Por último, imaginó que veía una figura negra que se acercaba, cerró los ojos, volvió a
abrirlos… y halló detrás de sí, en pie, inmóvil, el bulto negro” (Espronceda 231) The “black
shape” has appeared once again. When Doña Leonor asks him/her to identify itself, the shadowy
figure responds…
-Soy -le respondió la misma voz dulce que entonces la sorprendió tanto- el
instrumento de que Dios se ha servido para libertarte a ti y estorbar un crimen al
pecador. No temas nada de mí, pues yo sólo, cumpliendo con la voluntad del
Señor, he tratado y trato de hacerte bien; soy la que ya no es conocida en el
mundo, y la que tú has olvidado en tu corazón. (Espronceda 231)
She sees herself as an instrument of God, sent not only to save “el pecador”, referring to Sancho
Saldaña, but to save Leonor as well. Espronceda was an accomplished versifier and, after a rather
lengthy exchange between Doña Leonor and the shadowy figure, we finally find out that the
latter actually is Elvira:
David Rochelero 31
-¿No me conoces? -prosiguió, viendo que Leonor la miraba atónita sin hablarle ni
recordar su fisonomía-; seis años hace que no nos vemos. ¿Es posible que ya no te
acuerdes de Elvira de Saldaña, la hermana de Sancho Saldaña, o, por mejor decir,
la compañera de tu niñez?
-¡Elvira mía! ¿Eres tú? -exclamó Leonor, loca de alegría de haber hallado una
amiga en su libertadora, echándole los brazos al cuello para estrecharla en su
corazón. (Sancho Saldaña 232-233)
Leonor is very happy to find out that her liberator is her childhood friend. She probably thought
that she would never see the sister of Sancho Saldaña again because Elvira mysteriously
disappeared three years ago. The shadowy savior that is Elvira then tells us why she did a
disappearing act three years earlier - she has taken vows to isolate herself from all human beings
as well as to live a life of extreme austerity and pray for the salvation of her brother:
Tres años hace que no me ha dirigido su voz ninguna criatura humana, rara vez he
visto la luz del sol; mi única habitación en la tierra es esta tumba; mi alimento, las
lágrimas de la penitencia; mi cama, el suelo; el alivio de mis pesares, el ayuno y la
disciplina, y Dios ha sido mi único compañero en la soledad. Tanto tiempo
desterrada del mundo, tantas maceraciones, no han bastado aún a fortalecer mi
alma: ¡miserable vaso de perdición! Yo ofrecí delante de los altares sacrificarme
en vida a Dios para salvar a mi hermano del infierno que le amenazaba.
(Espronceda 235)
For the first time in three years, Elvira is speaking with another human being. This self-imposed
isolation is probably what drives her towards the psychological instability that she exhibits as we
progress through the novel. She refers to herself as “a miserable vessel of ruin” and to the place
David Rochelero 32
where she has been staying as a tomb, almost as if she had already died. This is the spot in
Sancho Saldaña where Elvira explains her situation and where we see a real connection of
purpose to Doña Inés. Like Elvira, who has taken a vow with God that she will do whatever it
takes, even die, to save the soul of the man towards whom she feels such strong love (her
brother, Sancho Saldaña) Doña Inés of Don Juan Tenorio also took a vow. She made a deal with
God that if she could get the man that she loved (Don Juan) to ask for the forgiveness of his sins,
then the two of them would spend eternity together in heaven. But, if he does not repent, both he
and Doña Inés will spend eternity burning in the fires of hell:
Para ti;
mas tengo mi purgatorio
en ese mármol mortuorio
que labraron para mí.
Yo a Dios mi alma ofrecí
en precio de tu alma impura,
y Dios, al ver la ternura
con que te amaba mi afán,
me dijo: "Espera a don Juan
en tu misma sepultura.
Y pues quieres ser tan fiel
a un amor de Satanás,
con don Juan te salvarás
o te perderás con él.
Por él vela: mas si cruel
David Rochelero 33
te desprecia tu ternura,
y en su torpeza y locura
sigue con bárbaro afán,
llévese tu alma don Juan
de tu misma sepultura". (Zorrilla 191-192)
Elvira’s goal is to save her brother, Sancho Saldaña. He has committed numerous crimes
against humanity, only one of which is mentioned by José de Espronceda. Moments after the
previous citation from Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar, Elvira says:
Yo le vi, yo le veo aún sordo a la voz de mi padre moribundo, que le llamaba para
darle su última bendición, negándose a recibirla, embriagado en los deleites de su
manceba, y maldiciendo al siervo que le interrumpía en sus placeres para llamarle.
Yo le vi cuando furioso, hirviendo en toda la cólera del infierno, alzó el puñal,
guiado por los demonios, y lo hincó en el corazón del sacerdote que piadosamente
le reprendía. Yo le vi después, cubierto aún de sangre, reposarse en brazos de su
Zoraida y oí su risa y sus carcajadas emborrachándose en el festín. El infierno se
estremeció de júbilo y los demonios alargaron sus manos para agarrar su presa; yo
los oí que reían, y me horroricé. Entonces me postré delante de Dios, oré por el
pecador y ofrecí sepultarme en vida, cubrir mi rostro y alejar de mí todas las
vanidades del mundo para expiación de los crímenes de mi hermano. (Espronceda
235)
Now we know that, among the crimes that Sancho Saldaña has committed, he murdered a priest
(another religious reference) who was trying to help Sancho Saldaña to see the wrongfulness of
his ways. This scene was made even more repugnant to Elvira because her brother was “drunken
David Rochelero 34
in the delights” of his mistress, Zoraida, while laughing, seemingly enjoying being covered with
the priest’s blood. Maybe this is why Elvira has taken her extreme vows of servitude to the Lord,
offering herself in order to save her brother from eternal damnation for his sins and crimes. She
believes that only if she were able to save him, he would be able to discover a higher reason for
his being, just as she believes that she has done. Possibly, he could discover a higher awareness
of the inherent goodness of people, including his own, that would allow him to care for the
subjects of his kingdom much more in line with the ways of the Lord. And she would also
thereby atone for the killing of one of God’s instruments.
After finding out that her brother has been badly wounded in the jousting duel with
Sancho Saldaña, Doña Leonor is quite worried and wants to return to her family’s castle in order
to be with him. She and Elvira make their way through the darkness, but are eventually captured
by El Velludo and his band of men, then brought to Sancho Saldaña’s castle to be put in holding.
When the two of them are told by a maid that Sancho Saldaña is coming (most importantly to see
his captured love interest, Doña Leonor, as he does not yet realize that the other lady is his sister)
Elvira is taken over by enthusiasm:
Pero ¡ojalá Dios se complazca en perdonarte, oh Saldaña! -prosiguió Elvira en
uno de sus arrebatos de entusiasmo, sin atender a la respuesta de la camarera-.
¡Ojalá, y que descargue sobre mí el peso de su ira y cumpla yo de esa manera mis
votos!” (Espronceda 297)
Once again, Elvira has uttered her wish to save her brother and to take on the weight of his sins,
to fulfill the vows she has made with God, like Doña Inés’ vows to save Don Juan. When Sancho
Saldaña enters the room, his attention is focused on the unrequited love of his life, Leonor. After
he tells her that he will adore her as if she were “the Virgin that is on the altar” he hears these
David Rochelero 35
scolding words from behind him: “-¡Silencio, impío! -interrumpió una voz suave, pero en acento
terrible, detrás de Saldaña-. ¡Silencio, y no profanes con tu boca de podredumbre el puro nombre
de la Santa Madre de Dios!” (Espronceda 300) Sancho Saldaña reacts angrily to the words of this
“mujer fantástica” who, speaking from within the shadows, has interrupted his tender words to
Leonor. As she steps out from the shadows, Elvira reveals herself to her brother:
-¡Hermano mío! -exclamó Elvira con entusiasmo, echando atrás su capucha, y
descubriendo el rostro-. ¡Yo te amo!, ¡yo soy tu hermana, que te ama con todo su
corazón! ¡Ah! sí, tú tienes necesidad de amor, y yo te ofrezco el mío, puro, amor
de hermanos, lleno de ternura, de ilusiones y de verdad. (Espronceda 302)
Sancho Saldaña is very much taken aback when he realizes that it is his sister:
-¡Elvira! -gritó Saldaña espantado y retrocediendo algunos pasos con susto-. ¡Por
Santiago! ¿eres tú Elvira? ¡Qué horror!, ¡qué horror! ¡Eres tú, que has dejado la
tumba para venirme a ofrecer el amor de hermana! ¡Elvira!..” (Espronceda 302)
He is so surprised because he thinks that his sister has returned from the grave; Sancho Saldaña,
like Leonor and many others, has believed her to be dead for the past three years. Zorrilla takes
this one step further with Doña Inés. She actually does return from the dead in Don Juan
Tenorio, in the form of the mysterious shadow, not unlike Elvira who always wears black, keeps
her face covered in mystery, and floats in and out of scenes darkly, like a shadow. Compare the
just-cited passage from Sancho Saldaña to the words of Don Juan Tenorio, after he speaks with
the shadow (soul) of Doña Inés for the first time: “¡Cielos! ¿Qué es lo que escuché? / ¡Hasta los
muertos así / dejan sus tumbas para mí!” (Zorrilla193) “Even the dead leave their graves for
me!”
David Rochelero 36
Shortly after Elvira reveals herself to her brother, Zoraida enters the scene. Zoraida is
Sancho Saldaña’s former lover who he inexplicably keeps under lock and key in his castle. As
suggested earlier, this need to make women suffer in seemingly needless ways very likely
exhibits some of the misogynistic tendencies of the author, José de Espronceda. Zoraida and
Sancho Saldaña had been passionate lovers, but when he convinced himself that having Doña
Leonor was a possibility, he dropped Zoraida as a lover. He knows that she still loves him
passionately, so he keeps her as a hostage to make her suffer – she can look at him, but she better
not touch and definitely cannot have Sancho Saldaña. It really seems that Espronceda is
projecting onto Sancho Saldaña a psychological need of his to get back at his lover, Teresa
Mancha; to somehow control her and to make her suffer for problems that he was experiencing
in his life, and because she had to audacity to not be perfect (possibly because she did not
maintain her virginity intact for Espronceda?) As has been mentioned, Teresa Mancha was
turning into Espronceda’s former lover at the time that Sancho Saldaña was being written, and as
Espronceda would like Teresa to suffer, so, it seems, must Sancho Saldaña control and make his
former lover, Zoraida, suffer as well.
After a sometimes testy exchange between Doña Leonor, Elvira, Zoraida, and himself,
Sancho Saldaña, who is still weak from his duel with Don Hernando de Íscar, appears to faint.
While tending to her brother and feeling the iciness of death in his pulse, Elvira cries out for his
salvation, expressing once again her willingness to even die in order to save him:
-¡Oh, hermano mío! -exclamó-: ¡ojalá Dios te vuelva a la vida, y te dé tiempo de
arrepentirte! Caiga su maldición sobre mí; yo te amo, hermano mío, vive tú y
muera yo por ti. ¡Oh! Sí, es un desmayo; él volverá en sí. Tú volverás a ser
virtuoso; tú tenías en tu infancia todos los gérmenes de la virtud en tu alma. El
David Rochelero 37
vicio la ha cubierto de sombras y de nieblas perpetuas. Pero escrito está que Dios
no quiere la muerte del pecador. (Espronceda 306)
Elvira is like Job in the Bible. It is almost as if she welcomes suffering; no matter how much pain
she has to endure, her faith will not be shaken. Even though she did not participate in any of the
crimes against humanity that her brother has committed, here, once again, she has repeated her
vow to save her brother or to die for him, just as the shadow/soul of Doña Inés repeats her vow
to Don Juan:
…si piensas bien
a tu lado me tendrás;
mas si obras mal causarás
nuestra eterna desventura. (Zorrilla 192)
Sancho Saldaña is then taken to his room, where he comes to and so ends chapter 15.
After Elvira has been allowed to leave Sancho Saldaña’s castle, she then disappears from
the action for quite a while (Espronceda is not clear at all regarding what has become of her.)
She appears again in chapter 29 of Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar. At this point in
the novel she crosses paths with a character named, Abraham. Another religious reference,
alluding to Abraham of the Holy Bible, Abraham and his assistant, Benjamin, who are posing as
friars, seem to be on a long journey by foot. They have decided to stop and are resting by a
riverside when they hear someone sweetly singing a sacred hymn to the “Divine Virgin”. In one
of the verses, the singer (who turns out to be Elvira) mentions a black shadow:
¡Ay!, yo pequé y abandoné el camino
que lleva sólo a la mansión de paz,
David Rochelero 38
y en negra sombra el resplandor divino
trocarse vi de tu amorosa faz. (Espronceda 480)
Here again we have a shadow, one that the character in the song that Elvira is singing sees
converted into the divine splendor of the loving face of “La Virgen Divina”. The verses from this
song provided another re-enforcement for José Zorrilla to use the shadow symbolism in Don
Juan Tenorio as the way to represent the return of Doña Inés, as well as the virgin imagery
which influenced the emphasis of Inés being a pure, innocent virgin. Elvira is distraught (and
really beginning to show signs of being psychologically unstable) because of not being able to
comply with her vows to save her brother. As it turns out, Abraham is actually working for the
King of France and wants to see King Sancho el Bravo of Castile dead. He knows that King
Sancho el Bravo is meeting with other leaders at Sancho Saldaña’s castle. Abraham is very
intelligent and opportunistic; sensing the weakened state of Elvira, as well as finding out that she
is Sancho Saldaña’s sister, he tells her:
Eleva tu espíritu a la presencia de tu Criador; pon tu confianza en el que da aliento
a mi voz e inspira mis palabras, arráncate de los lazos del mundo, olvida a tu
hermano, olvídate de ti misma, y el entusiasmo divino de la religión exalte tus
potencias para que seas digna de la grande empresa a que tú sola puedes dar fin.
¡Considera que quizá Dios te destina para que libres de la servidumbre a su
pueblo! (Espronceda 484)
“Why be selfish and just think of yourself and your brother? Think of your people and prepare
yourself to truly do God’s will and be a real savior,” Fray Abraham seems to be telling her. Not
yet sure exactly what he is referring to, Elvira seems hesitant. This prompts Abraham, who wants
to take advantage of Elvira’s weakened state, to sternly say to her:
David Rochelero 39
Mujer, ¿por qué has de dudar tú de la elección del Señor, cuando él ha puesto en ti
los ojos para que vengues su pueblo y le libres del cautiverio y pone en tu mano la
espada de la victoria, que arrojará en el polvo al hijo impío que se rebeló contra su
padre, al hijo maldito que excomulgó el pontífice, al nuevo Nabucodonosor que
ha encadenado los mancebos y las vírgenes de Sión? Mujer, enciende tu ánimo en
santa ira y regocíjate en el Señor. Vano será tu arrepentimiento y vanas tus
lágrimas, aunque derramases mil veces más que lleva gotas de agua el océano, si
no sigues a ciegas la voz del que en este momento me inspira y me revela tus
destinos. Los crímenes de tu hermano han rebosado ya del vaso de la
misericordia, tu pecado es grande, y la clemencia divina no la alcanzarás sin que
antes hierva en tu brazo la sangre que salte del corazón del impío….El tirano está
en su castillo (Sancho Saldaña’s). Yo mismo te guiaré y te fortaleceré hasta el
momento de dar el golpe. Un ángel sin duda me ha traído aquí para anunciarte la
voluntad de Dios. Ven; sígueme; despréndete de todo miedo, de todo sentimiento
terreno, y tuyo es el triunfo sobre el infierno. (Espronceda 485-487)
Elvira has been trying to save her brother from eternal damnation for his crimes and, thereby,
saving her own soul. “Fray” Abraham is trying to make her see the selfishness of her selfimposed vows; that it would be so much more pleasing to God if she were to save an entire
people. He is manipulating Elvira to do his deed for him; trying to convince her that it is
acceptable to kill King Sancho el Bravo to save not just herself and her brother, but to save and
free her people who have been subjugated by the King. After some prodding, in her unstable
psychological state, Elvira finally convinces herself that it would be best for her to kill King
David Rochelero 40
Sancho el Bravo, be a true savior and liberator of her people, and then, she believes, she will
truly earn her way into heaven.
Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar has many Biblical references in it. A number
of names of Biblical origin are used in this chapter alone – Abraham, Benjamín, Débora, and
then there is Judith. “Fray” Abraham uses the story of Judith to help convince Elvira that it
would be acceptable to kill King Sancho el Bravo. Judith was the Biblical character who, fearful
for her fellow Israelites, seduces the Assyrian general Holofernes and causes him to drink
himself into a drunken stupor. At an opportune time she then beheads him, thereby saving her
people:
Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, “O Lord God of all might, look
at this hour upon the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem.
Now indeed is the time to help your heritage and to carry out my design to destroy
the enemies which have risen up against us.”
She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes' head, and took down his sword that
hung there.
She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me
strength today, O Lord God of Israel!”
Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. (Coogan
1405)
Elvira is obviously familiar with the story of Judith and, with this Biblical precedence to help
give her the strength that she needs to do “the will of God” she uses these savior-like actions of
Judith to make more acceptable to her psyche the idea of killing King Sancho el Bravo.
David Rochelero 41
Studying the character of Elvira in depth and seeing the influence that she had on Doña
Inés leads one to wonder whether there is another possible connection between the two. Related
to the Biblical references, another connection between Elvira and Doña Inés could be good, oldfashioned, Christian guilt. Even though it is not her fault that she has not yet been able to “save”
her brother, more than once does Elvira become distraught and mention how she has failed the
Lord, how she feels guilty for having sinned while on her way to trying to save her brother,
Sancho Saldaña:
¡Dichosos aquellos que sin pecar ni faltar a los votos que contrajeron pueden
desahogar su alma en la de su amigo y sentir en su corazón herido gota a gota el
bálsamo suavísimo del consuelo! Pero yo -añadió, empujando de sí a Leonor y
como horrorizándose de sí misma-, yo he atraído sobre mí la maldición de un
Dios colérico contra el perjuro. La amistad en mí es un crimen; yo he jurado
olvidar el mundo, olvidarme hasta de mi existencia. ¡Infeliz! ¡Infeliz! ¡Yo he
quebrantado mis votos! ¡Ah, hermano mío! ¡Yo que los hice por ti, como si yo no
tuviera nada que reconvenirme! El Señor ha castigado mi orgullo y debilidad…
Dios mío, recibe benigno esta privación, la más cruel que puedo imponerme, en
descargo de mis pecados. (Espronceda 237-238)
As well, Elvira could be feeling some displaced guilt because of the rupture between the families
Íscar and Saldaña. Since the families decided to back opposing kings, it is possible that she took
it upon herself to try to make “spiritual amends” for the resultant bad blood between the two
formerly friendly families. This rupture between the two families also caused the cancellation of
the matrimonial union that had been planned for Leonor and Sancho. Possibly, even though she
realized later that Leonor did not feel attracted in any way to Sancho Saldaña, Elvira also still
David Rochelero 42
took it upon herself to also try to make “spiritual amends” for the break-up of the marriage plans
of her brother and Leonor. All of this guilt would have weighed heavily on Elvira’s psyche.
Zorrilla never mentions this in Don Juan Tenorio, but it could be that one of the reasons
that Doña Inés takes the vow that she does is because she feels guilty for loving such a demonic
character as Don Juan, who never shows much remorse for all the killing that he has done. While
it is possible that Doña Inés is caught up in the moment and savoring her first love, wouldn’t
someone who had been destined for a life wearing the cloth be more conflicted about falling in
love with a man who had committed adultery so many times, had killed so many people
(including the father of Doña Inés) and who was referred to by a number of the characters in the
play as the devil? Even one of Don Juan’s accomplices in the kidnapping of Doña Inés, his
servant Marcos Ciutti, refers to him as the devil:
CIUTTI:
¿Y esa niña está reposando todavía?
BRÍGIDA:
¿Y a qué se ha de despertar?
CIUTTI:
Sí, es mejor que abra los ojos en los brazos de don Juan.
BRÍGIDA:
Preciso es que tu amo tenga algún diablo familiar.
CIUTTI:
Yo creo que sea él mismo
un diablo en carne mortal,
porque a lo que él, solamente
se arrojara Satanás. (Zorrilla 152-153)
More than just trying to save the man that she loved, Doña Inés may be trying to relieve herself
of the weight on her soul of her “perceived sin” of consorting with the devil. She may have saved
Don Juan more out of guilt for her own sins and trying to atone for them than because of her love
for Don Juan. Just as José de Espronceda projected his psyche onto the characters of Sancho
David Rochelero 43
Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar, the final scene in Don Juan Tenorio, where the shadow of
Doña Inés saves Don Juan because of her love for him, could actually be José Zorrilla projecting
his own feelings of Christian guilt onto Doña Inés. Having it appear that Doña Inés is making
this deal with God to save Don Juan simply because of her love for him could have been just a
shrewd move on Zorrilla’s part. He may have decided to make the character of Doña Inés much
more appealing to the Christian sensibilities of the people of the time, as opposed to having a
virginal, God-fearing character that is also tormented by guilt, torn between her spiritual love for
God and her ardent, passionate love for Don Juan.
Elvira ends up losing her mind after entering into her brother’s castle where King Sancho
el Bravo is meeting with various other leaders to make plans to thwart a possible attack on his
kingdom being led by Don Hernando de Íscar. Unlike Judith, who successfully kills Holofernes
and saves her people, Elvira, in her weakened psychological and physical state, fails quite
miserably in her attempt to murder the King:
Salieron primero las damas, y en seguida iba el rey a salir. Iba a su derecha el
señor de Lara y a su izquierda el de Cuéllar. Salcedo y los demás caballeros le
seguían a corta distancia. Volvía el rey la cabeza en aquel momento dirigiéndoles
la palabra, cuando la fanática Elvira se aparece delante de él como por encanto,
tira del puñal que llevaba escondido en el pecho, y antes que pudiese ninguno
estorbarlo hiere al rey, que apenas tiene tiempo para poner el brazo.
-Cúmplase la justicia de Dios -exclamó Elvira.
Pero su brazo desfallecido, sin dar impulso al golpe, bajó el puñal sin acierto
alguno y con tan poca fuerza, que no hizo sino rasgarle el cutis, hiriéndole
levemente en el hombro. (Espronceda 526)
David Rochelero 44
After the commotion settles down a bit, Elvira is found dead on the floor; Espronceda
does not give a reason for her death. Her life in Sancho Saldaña is extinguished as easily as the
torches of Elvira’s cave no doubt were extinguished - they were simply left to burn out. And so it
was for Elvira; the well of religious passion that had fed her for over three years, simply ran dry.
That is where Elvira’s part in Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar ends, which is not at all
an uplifting ending for her. This is stark contrast to Doña Inés’ exit from Don Juan Tenorio after
Don Juan asks God to forgive him for his sins, thereby ensuring his soul and that of Doña Inés an
eternity in heaven:
DON JUAN: ¡Clemente Dios, gloria a Ti!
Mañana a los sevillanos
aterrará el creer que a manos
de mis víctimas caí.
Mas es justo; quede aquí
al universo notorio
que, pues me abre el purgatorio
un punto de penitencia,
es el Dios de la clemencia
el Dios de Don Juan Tenorio.
(Cae don Juan a los pies de doña
Inés, y mueren ambos. De sus bocas
salen sus almas representadas en
dos brillantes llamas, que se
pierden en el espacio al son de la
David Rochelero 45
música. Cae el telón.) (Zorrilla 224-225)
Although Elvira failed in her attempt to murder the King, it could be said that she
actually ends up at least helping to save her brother, as he does not die during the novel. And,
what is more important for the soul of Elvira, Sancho Saldaña does give up his evil ways at the
end of Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar: “Saldaña hizo donación de todas sus riquezas
a un monasterio y acabó sus días en la Trapa, vestido de estameña y llorando sus pasadas
culpas.” (Espronceda 686) Although, with Sancho Saldaña having given up all his riches and
dressing in the garb of a monk, crying over his past wrongdoings after his love interest has been
murdered by Zoraida, we get the feeling that his is a lonely survival.
To this reader it certainly appears that misogynistic tendencies got the best of José de
Espronceda during the writing of Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar. It is interesting that
he kills off the often angelic Elvira, as well as Sancho Saldaña’s love interest, the good-hearted
Doña Leonor, but allows Sancho Saldaña, who has committed many crimes and probably killed
more than a few individuals, to survive. Thinking of the way that Espronceda seemingly
projected so much of his psychology into his writings, though, maybe it makes sense that he
should let Sancho Saldaña live. While Wesley J. Weaver wrote that a number of the characters in
Sancho Saldaña show traces of their creator: “Usdróbal, Sancho Saldaña, Zoraida, Nuño, hasta
Leonor de Íscar son todas pálidas sombras de su creador” (Weaver 476), Díaz-Plaja has written
that of all the characters in Sancho Saldaña, Espronceda identified most with the character of
Sancho Saldaña: “Creo que aunque Espronceda admira sobre todo a Usdróbal, acorde con su
sentir de la vida, se siente identificado con el complejo personaje de Saldaña, por lo que éste
concede su nombre como título a la novela.” (Díaz-Plaja 250)
David Rochelero 46
The second, it seems, would be the more correct insight. Espronceda adheres steadfastly
to a main tenet of romanticism (the divine importance of the “Yo”) by naming the novel after the
character that he most identifies with. As well, if we follow Díaz-Plaja’s line of thought (and
think of Espronceda’s psyche,) killing off Sancho Saldaña would have been like the author
killing himself. That, obviously, would have been too painful for the romantic sensitivities of
José de Espronceda. It makes much more literary romantic sense as well as personal,
“psychological safety” sense to kill off the shadowy savior who would help to inspire the
creation of Doña Inés, as well as having the love interest of Sancho Saldaña killed. That is what
allows Sancho Saldaña to suffer for the rest of his literary life, just as Espronceda may have
thought that that would be his own destiny, as well.
David Rochelero 47
Conclusion
Doña Inés’ purpose in Don Juan Tenorio is to save the soul of the only man that she
loved, Don Juan. She died out of grief from losing he who had been the love of her life. Whether
she then saved Don Juan solely out of strong sense of romantic love or because of a combination
of that love and Christian guilt, those feelings/needs were so strong that during the second part of
the play, her soul returns and she makes a deal with God that if Don Juan is repentant, then the
two of them could go to heaven together. If he does not repent, then, the two of them will spend
eternity in hell. She has taken a vow, somewhat more severe than that of Elvira’s, to take on the
weight of Don Juan’s sins if it means the possibility of saving him from eternal damnation. This
is quite similar to Elvira in Sancho Saldaña, whose overriding purpose in life is to save the man
that she loves (albeit, in a sisterly fashion) Sancho Saldaña and clear up any Christian guilt that
she might have been feeling. It has also been shown how the shadow symbolism follows Elvira
throughout her appearances as she repeatedly lets God know that she will be like Job and
willingly take on the weight of her brother’s sins (even welcoming her own death) if it means his
salvation. This usage of shadows by Espronceda with his character of Elvira was, no doubt, a
great influence on the José Zorrilla’s decision to have Doña Inés reappear and communicate with
Don Juan via a shadow.
In spite of all of her earlier, angelic deeds, readers really don’t connect emotionally with
Elvira. She gets lost amongst all the other suffering characters in Sancho Saldaña o el castellano
de Cuéllar and just gets passed by at the time of her death. Because of her literally dark
appearances and unstable psychological state, Elvira is not as likable of a character as is Doña
Inés; readers don’t feel nearly as much for Elvira when she dies. Zorrilla assuredly read Sancho
Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar and was attracted to the imagery of the Elvira character as a
David Rochelero 48
savior and, especially, to the shadows that seem to follow her throughout her appearances in the
novel, but not her tortured psychological state. While her dark psychological state helped to
reinforce the effectiveness of the shadow imagery, it probably would not have made a very
sympathetic romantic counterpart to Don Juan. Zorrilla had not had much success publishing his
works and he wanted to be sure that his redoing of the Don Juan story would not be held back by
a possibly unattractive characterization. This is why Doña Inés is presented as a much more
pleasant, very innocent, and pointedly virginal character, one who was inherently more likeable
and acceptable to the conservative crowds of the day.
Sancho Saldaña o el castellano de Cuéllar was published in 1834, ten years before Don
Juan Tenorio, a time during which José Zorrilla assuredly read and was influenced by the
imagery in Sancho Saldaña. Elvira’s part in Sancho Saldaña ends with her losing her mind, and
attempting to commit murder. She then dies mysteriously (José de Espronceda doesn’t seem to
think Elvira worthy of having the reason for her death revealed) before she has the chance to
save the man that she loved. Zorrilla gave his character, Doña Inés, a much more positive
presentation. Doña Inés died nobly of a broken heart. Then, in a meta-physical sense, she saved
the man that she loved, Don Juan, allowing the two to spend eternity in heaven. I believe that
after having compared the two works and their lead male characters, Don Juan and Sancho
Saldaña, and then demonstrating the similarities between Doña Elvira of Sancho Saldaña o el
castellano de Cuéllar and Doña Inés of Don Juan Tenorio (especially the use of the shadow) as
well as some marked, calculated differences, I have shown that the character of Elvira helped to
influence José Zorrilla to create the character of Doña Inés in the way that he did.
David Rochelero 49
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David Rochelero 50
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