"Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) was the most prolific and influential woman writer of late nineteenth-century Spain," write the editors of this volume in the MLA's Approaches to Teaching World Literature series. Contending with the critical literary, cultural, and social issues of the period, Pardo Bazán's novels, novellas, short stories, essays, plays, travel writing, and cookbooks offer instructors countless opportunities to engage with a variety of critical frameworks. The wide range of topics in the author's works, from fashion to science and technology to gender equality, and the brilliance of her literary style make Pardo Bazán a compelling figure in the classroom. Part 1, "Materials," provides biographical and critical resources, an overview of Pardo Bazán's vast and diverse oeuvre, and a literary-historical time line. It also reviews secondary sources, editions and translations, and digital resources. The twenty-three essays in part 2, "Approaches," explore various issues that are central to teaching Pardo Bazán's works, including the author's engagement with contemporary literary movements, feminism and gender, nation and the late Spanish empire, Spanish and Galician identities, and nineteenth-century scientific and medical discourses. Film adaptations and translations of Pardo Bazán's works are also addressed. Highlighting the artistic, social, and intellectual currents of Pardo Bazán's writings, this volume will assist instructors who wish to teach the author's works in courses on world literature, nineteenth-century literature, and gender studies as well as in Spanish-language courses.

Set against the background of civil unrest in the late 1860s after the overthrow of the monarchy - a period of turmoil, brief restoration, and the eventual triumph of the republicans in 1873 - the novel portrays the life of a young girl, Amparo, growing up in the streets of La Corufia, the city Dona Emilia knew so well from her own wanderings there some years earlier.

Mother Nature is certainly Emilia Pardo Bazan's greatest contribution to the Realistic/ Naturalistic Spanish novel of her time, and represents her literary powers at the very height of her career as a writer. It has been said that this novel presents the keenest challenges and the most compelling rewards, offering the reader the purposefully overgrown ecological, social, and moral background for a poignant central narrative of human frailty that pits the desire for personal happiness against the necessity of meeting moral standards.

Although written a century ago, the sixteen stories by Emilia Pardo Bazan collected in this volume are strikingly relevant to contemporary concerns. Noted for narrative complexity, stylistic variety, and feminist themes, Pardo Bazan's stories explore many aspects of the relationships between men and women. Both outspoken and witty, melancholy and humorous, these stories will interest general readers as well as students and scholars of Spanish literature.

The House of Ulloa follows pure and pious Father Julian Alvarez, who is sent to a remote country estate to put the affairs of the marquis, an irresponsible libertine, in order. When he discovers moral decadence, cruelty and corruption at his new home, Julian's well-meaning but ineffectual attempts to prevent the fall of the House of Ulloa end in tragedy.