SOURCE: Natella, Arthur A., Jr. “Saint Theresa and Unamuno's San Manuel Bueno, mártir.” Papers on Language and Literature 5, no. 4 (fall 1969): 458-64.

In the following essay, Natella finds parallels between St. Theresa and the character of Angela in Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr.

Miguel de Unamuno's last novel, San Manuel Bueno, mártir is a pessimistic and provocative tale of the conflict between faith and reason in an unbelieving priest who despite his own doubt attempts to maintain spiritual values in the lives of his flock. Don Manuel is a martyr who expends his energy in giving spiritual comfort to the humble peasants of the Spanish village of Valverde de Lucerna while he himself suffers in the mortal struggle between his inability to believe and his deep dedication to this evangelical work.

Various symbolic and analogical references are skillfully interwoven into the fabric of the novel which heighten...