“The common people are very naive. . ." from Fortunata y Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós

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Cover: Detail from Chica in a Bar (1892) by Ramón Casas, 

in El Museo de la Abadía, Montserrat (Photo: The Bridgeman Art Library)

 

“The common people are very naive, they’re just plain stupid.  They’ll believe anything you tell them as long as you use pretty words.  She fell for me, hook, line, and sinker, and I just walked off with her honor–thought nothing of it.  Men, us señoritos I mean, are a rotten lot; we think that the honor of a village girl is just a toy for us. . .And after having my fun with her, I left her to fend for herself, in the gutter. . .like a bitch.  Didn’t I?” - -  Juanito Santa Cruz to his wife, Jacinta, characters in Fortunata y Jacinta, a 19th Century Spanish novel by Benito Pérez Galdós.