Abstract:
This study sets out to consider and compare the writings of two men whose efforts on behalf of liberty have not, perhaps, received as much recognition as they deserve. We shall attempt to show how these two men, in spite of many differences between them - differences of nationality, of age, of social and personal circumstances - acted and reacted wit marked similarity in defence of their personal ideal of liberty. The nature of this ideal, its strength and its weakness, we also hope to show more clearly by comparing both men’s beliefs and opinions on various aspects of liberty and by exploring that deep spiritual kinship which we are convinced existed between them. The main emphasis, then, will be on liberty, as conceived and influenced by the Romantic Movement, but also by the XVIIIth century heritage, and on the efforts of both writers to defend, support or achieve it in a number of different fields. While some of these fields of endeavour coincide - e.g. liberty of the press - others do not. There is also considerable disparity in the volume of the two writers’ literary output, Constant having produced far more than Larra. Partly this is attributable to Larra’s suicide at the age of twenty-seven, but partly also to differences in opportunity; these, in turn, may be attributed to three main causes:1. the conditions (historical, political, social, material) in which each man wrote - 2. the background (intellectual, spiritual) of each -3. the character or personality of the two writers. The aim of this thesis will be to show the effect on their writings of the similarities and dissimilarities in these three spheres of influence. We shall also briefly consider what enduring mark each man’s work has left on succeeding writers, institutions or events (e.g. Larra was acclaimed as the inspiration of the Generation of ’98, and Constant’s political precepts formed the basis of the constitution of Brazil.) Finally it is hoped that by this comparison the personality and particular talents of each man may be more readily and vividly comprehended, as well as the all-important fact that each, within his limitations, was a sincere, ardent and unwavering champion of liberty.