SOURCE: Combs, Colleen J. “The Development of The Short Story,” “Stories Not Included in the Obras completas,” and “Conclusions.” In Women in the Short Stories of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, pp. 19-26, 111-32. Lewiston, N.Y.: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1997.

In the following essay, Combs traces Alarcón's development as a short fiction writer, examines his portrayal of women in “La cruz de palo: Novela romántica,” “Dos ángeles caídos,” and “Mañanas de abril y mayo,” and explores the defining characteristics of his female characters.

It seems appropriate to study Alarcón's evolution from Romanticism to realism in his short stories for a variety of reasons. First, he wrote stories over the whole of his career, from as early as 1848 to 1881. Secondly, several of his longer narratives turned into novels of religious theses, in which the character development was always subject to the moral theme...