Bohemian lights of Valle Inclán

One of the Summit works of Valle Inclán is, without a doubt, Bohemian lights, a work with which the grotesque was inaugurated, a literary subgenre that offered an image deformed from reality and that, according to its author, it was the only possible way to approach reality Spanish. This literary piece stars Max Estrella, an old and blind poet, and Don Latino, a companion with whom they take a walk through the streets of Madrid, a walk that will serve to present Spanish society, the political-social instability that was lived then and the misery that was breathed in the streets.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about Bohemian lights with an overview by scenes so that you can discover the plot of this literary work and discover the new aesthetic defended by Valle Inclán and which, according to him, was the one that best defined the character and the Spanish essence: the grotesque.

Index

1. Summary of scenes 1 to 5
2. Bohemian lights: summary of scene 6 to 10
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3. Bohemian lights: summary of scenes 11 to 15
4. Bohemian lights: main characters
5. Bohemian lights and grotesque

We start with this summary of Bohemian Lights of Valle Inclán starting with the first five scenes because, in this way, we can know what happens at all times during this first moment of Valle's literary work in which the characters are introduced to us and the beginning of the plot. In this other lesson you can discover a summary of the biography of Valle Inclán.

Bohemian Lights Scene 1

We meet the protagonist, Max Estrella, a poor poet who is blind and has grown old. He collaborates in a newspaper and asks his wife to read him the letter from the editor of that newspaper where he tells her that he wants to say goodbye to work. He then he comes on stage Don Latino, the co-star of this literary work. He is about a miserable character, drunk and who has also reached a mature age. He will come to pay the little money that Max's books have managed to raise after the sale, with that money, Max wanted to give his family dinner.

Latino recommends that Max go to the bookstore to ask for more money for his books and that is when the protagonist leaves his home and begins to live the Madrid night.

Bohemian Lights Scene 2 Summary

Now we are in the street with Max and Don Latino whose objective is go to Zarathustra's bookstore to claim more money for his books. But the bookseller does not want to reverse the deal and tricks Max, due to his blindness, indicating that he has already sold them when, in fact, they are in the back room. Don Latino sees what the bookseller does and plays along, so we understand that Latino is actually taking advantage of the blind man as well.

Then, a writer appears on the scene, Don Peregrino Gay, who has just returned from London. This arrival, together with some shouts of "Viva España" abroad make the conversation between the four characters begin to focus on the situation of the country and the differences that exist with England. Here, Valle Inclán takes the opportunity to censor the strong Catholic influence that still exists in the country, a faith "in bad taste", as pointed out in the work.

Scene 3

We continue with this summary by scenes of Bohemian Lights to get to the third where Max and Don Latino arrive at a typically Spanish tavern which is known by the name of Pica Lagartos. Here, the two characters start drinking and getting drunk and the tavern serves as a showcase for different popular characters from the most traditional Madrid.

Enrique la Pisa Bien appears on the scene who demands the money of a lottery ticket that he had given him without charging for it. Max intends to return the ticket to him but, in the end, he ends up keeping it for being a dummy number but, in order to pay for it, Max must sell his cape. In the end, he won't be able to buy it because La Pisa Bien will go first to another place: the Modernista buñolería.

In this scene we witness with greater zeal that, outside, there are great disputes between workers, policemen and political activists. The shouting and confrontation is constant in this work for, well, reflect political-social instability that was lived in the Spain of then.

Summary of scene 4

Max and Don Latino take to the streets to, this time, go to the Modernista buñolería and be able, thus, to stay with the tenth. When they arrive, La Pisa Bien is still there and, finally, Max can buy him the tenth. In this scene, they talk about the disturbances that have occurred in the street and the woman explains that there has been a strong confrontation between the protesters and the members of Acción Ciudadana.

In this place in Madrid they meet a group of modernist poets they start chatting with Max and Don Latino. They all know Max but he complains about the little luck he has had as a writer and, here, is when we see the differences among these modernists and Max: the former feel superior to the rest of the people while Max proclaims himself "the town". During this talk, several criticisms are launched towards the cultural sector of Spain and towards politics.

Don Latino cuts the dispute with a song that, in the end, everyone ends up singing drunk. The police will come to see what is happening with so many screams and, in the end, Max will laugh at the captain, so he will be transferred to the Ministry of the Interior.

Bohemian Lights Scene 5

This chapter of Bohemian Lights places us in the Ministry, place where Max Estrella must give a statement about what happened on the street. He will testify but he will do so with a tone of constant mockery and irony accentuated by the effects of alcohol. Because of his attitude, Max will be sent to the dungeons for scandal, for launching revolutionary cries and for disobeying authority.

The group of Modernists will go to the newspaper to report that Max has been arrested.

We continue with this summary by scenes of Bohemian Lights to, on this occasion, group those found at the heart of Valle Inclán's work: from scene 6 to 10. We begin.

Summary of scene 6 from Bohemian Lights

Max is imprisoned in a dungeon, handcuffed and bloodied. But she is not alone. Next to him is a Catalan worker With whom he begins to talk and discovers that they have many ideas in common, especially related to the urgent need for social revolt and progressivism that the country needs.

Mateo is the name of said worker and in this scene he will begin to explain his story to us: he has been imprisoned because he does not want to go to war and because, to refuse, he caused a riot in the factory where worked. The Catalan is well aware of the future that awaits him: shots in the back for an alleged "escape attempt". In the end, a policeman will come for Mateo and Max will remain crying with rage and helplessness in the cell.

Summary of scene 7

Now we meet in the newspaper El Popular, place where the group of Modernistas and Don Latino have come to denounce Max's arrest and for public opinion to press for his release. Don Filiberto is the journalist who receives them and tells them that he cannot publish anything without the director He from the diary gives his consent but, anyway, says that he will try to do something to help Max.

In this scene there is also a talk between the characters who will talk about different topics such as politics but also literature and freedom of the press. After this conversation, Don Filiberto will get Max's release when calling the minister's secretary.

Bohemian Lights Scene 8

Max has been released but does not want to leave without protesting to the minister about the treatment he has received. The secretary of the minister tells him that he cannot attend to him because he is working to which Max will be altered in such a way that, finally, he will provoke the appearance of the minister whose name is Paco and he was an old friend of Max with whom they shared the bohemian life and passion for literature.

Max will pass on their complaints about the treatment received and, in the end, they will end up having a conversation about the shared experiences, about the family, and so on. In the end Paco will order that a part of the reptile fund (the public fund that can be spent on rulers without justifying it in any way) is given monthly to Max so that he can live with dignity.

Summary of scene 9

Don Latino and Max meet again and, now, decide to go to the Café Colón, where he is also Ruben Dario. This reunion between the two poets will make them begin to talk about different metaphysical issues such as, for example, death, theology, philosophy, and so on. Max expresses his atheism in front of a Christian and very believing Darius.

Bohemian Lights Scene 10

After having dinner, Don Latino and Max return to the streets of Madrid. Their walk takes them to the Paseo del Prado, an area where prostitution abounded and where two prostitutes will try to convince them to have clients that night. Don Latino will go with one of them but Max will stay with Luna, talking about different aspects of her personal life but also about her life.

Image: The World

We continue with talking about Bohemian lights and the summary by scenes to place ourselves in the final part of the work, in the scenes that lead to the outcome of it.

Abstract scene 11 of Bohemian Lights

We continue to accompany Max and Don Latino on their night walk through the streets of Madrid when they meet a woman crying because her son has been killed one shot. A battle has taken place between the police and the workers that has ended with this absurd death. Witnesses to the dispute argue about what has happened and two groups are created: those who defend the action police and those who defend the demonstrations of the workers who only want a more dignified salary so as not to spend hunger.

Max is horrified at this situation and at the heartbroken cry of his mother. But, then, the noise of a shooting can be heard from afar and the protagonist is certain that Those shots are being fired on the back of his Catalan friend, the worker he met in the dungeon.

Abstract scene 12

In this Bohemian Lights chapter, the two protagonists return to Max's house after their nocturnal adventure. Max sits at the door of his house and, here, begins to deliver a monologue with which he ends up performing a literary feat: defines the concept of grotesque, a subgenre invited by Valle Inclán and that is described, for the first time, in this scene. In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about grotesque in Valle Inclán.

He will begin to feel intense cold and will gradually fade away. Don Latino will try to call his wife but he does not arrive on time: Max dies stiff from cold and drunk. Latino, upon seeing the body of his friend, will decide to take his wallet from him on the pretext that no one will steal it from him. The concierge will find Max's dead body and notify his wife.

Bohemian Lights Scene 13

We are in Max's attic where his body will be and different people watching over him. Don Latino will arrive and exaggerate his pain and regret over Max's death, even comparing him to Victor Hugo. The hearse will arrive to take him directly to the cemetery and bury him.

Abstract scene 14

We meet at the civil cemetery where the gravediggers will finish covering Max's dead body. They will talk about him and then the Marqués de Bradomín and Rubén Darío who will talk about life and death, literature and the situation of culture in Spain.

Bohemian Lights Summary: Scene 15, Final

We are in the Pica Lagartos tavern. Don Latino, drunk, is pretending to feel great sorrow for Max's death. In this scene they will realize that the prize of the tenth bought by Max, finally, touched and that it is Don Latino who is enjoying it. So all the members of the bar will try to get a slice of the prize with false pending accounts that they had with the deceased.

They begin to argue but, in the end, the dispute will be closed with the announcement of the death of a woman and a girl. It will be known that they are Max's daughter and wife who have ultimately committed suicide.

Now that you know what this work is about, let's briefly discover who the Bohemian Lights main characters. We can differentiate between two characters, the co-stars, who are the ones we find in the entire play: Max Estrella and Don Latino.

• More Extrella: is the protagonist of this work by Valle Inclán. He is about an old man, bohemian, poet and who has gone blind. It represents the fallen hero, the situation of decadence to which Spain is plunged at the time. He is a man who suffers from great economic misery and who has experienced firsthand the injustices of a corrupt and unjust society.
• Don Latino: he is the co-star of the play. He apparently is a very loyal man to Max Estrella but, nevertheless, as the plot progresses we see that he hides hidden intentions. He is an interested and greedy man who, takes advantage of the slightest opportunity, to get his own benefit from him. He is a character who represents the people and, therefore, is dressed in a colloquial language and full of vulgarisms.

Valle Inclán was the author who promoted the use of grotesquewithin literature and, above all, this use is seen in the work "Luces de bohemia". From 1920 the author began to create his texts from this distorted vision of reality, a vision that seems to be seen through a concave mirror that shows us a deformed and caricatured reality. This is why Valle Inclán's characters often move within the fine thread that separates comedy from tragedy and makes us laugh while shaking our hearts.

The grotesque is not something Valle Inclán invented at all: it was a term that already existed within the Spanish language but that, until its use by the author, had not been used or popularized. But Valle turned his work into grotesque and, therefore, nowadays the author is related to this term from Castilian.

With "Luces de Bohemia" is when the grotesque is given a dramatic dimension. A resource that allows us to deform reality and make it appear funny but sad at the same time. An exaggerated deformation that, more than reality, returns something like a caricature of life itself.

Image: Slideshare

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