19 Riquín. Where Gordon is predisposed to regard the latter as portrayed for, ―moral and symbolic purposes36 [...] as a kind of ironic commentary on the figurative swollenheadedness of his mother‖(Gordon, falta 30), I would lean toward emphasizing the literality of the infant‘s large head as the end-stage of the degenerative process described by Morel (Morel, maladies 585), prefigured in fiction by an equivalent instance in Zola where Jacques-Louis Lantier also represents the end of a family line, suffering from oligofrenia con hidrocefalia 37 (Huertas García-Alejo, Herencia 30). I hope to make clear that, in the period 1860-85, psychiatry was far from being, ―dominated by the belief that mental illness was invariably a symptom of degeneration‖38 and that Isidora was suffering from something more serious than a ―psychological quirk.‖ In sum, I propose to show that the theory of degeneration was much more all-encompassing than Gordon suggests and comprised physical, sexual and social applications at the time that Galdós wrote.
moral and symbolic purposes: Chamberlin also stresses the symbolic character of Riquìn‘s macrocephaly without appearing to be aware that it also had a ―scientific,‖ degenerative basis (Chamberlin 271). 37 hidrocefalia: it is worth noting that Galdós‘s portrayal of Riquìn, for which a mild form of spina bifida may have been the model, suggests an infant of relatively normal intelligence in that he is able to play normally with the Castaño children and to develop strong bonds of affection with Emilia Castaño and the Sanguijuelera. The fact that Riquín is allowed to make his own decision to stay in the Castaño household rather than to accompany his mother, Isidora, suggests that all concerned respected his judgement. The striking cranial deformity, associated with abnormal lower limbs, such as can be seen in mild spina bifida, was attributable to hereditary degeneration as Miquis suggests in his comment about Isidora‘s ―descendencia de cabezudos raquìticos‖ (Pérez Galdós, desheredada 290). Raquítico, in figurative parlance can simply mean delgado y débil (DRAE) and does not necessarily signify that Riquín suffers from vitamin D deficiency rickets. 38 psychiatry [...] ―dominated by the belief that mental illness was invariably a symptom of degeneration: I have cited elsewhere an assessment of a much more confused situation, ―las aportaciones de la psiquiatría española al degeneracionismo fueron confusas. Con frecuencia se mezclan conceptos o se hacen interpretaciones contradictorias, resultando muy difícil valorar el grado de penetración y, sobre todo, de comprensión de la doctrina original.‖ (Campos, Martínez & Huertas 17) 36