321 Mauricia as a, ―mujer singulìsima, bella y varonil. Rostro [...] el mismo de Napoleón Bonaparte antes de ser Primer Consul‖ such that her, ―voz era bronca, más de hombre que de mujer‖ (Fortunata I 607), there can be little doubt that he was portraying a woman at the masculine end of the spectrum. Galdós echoes the contemporary hygienist descriptions of, ―algunas marimachos ó mujeres hombrunas (viragines) de costumbres masculinas, voz ronca‖ (Monlau, matrimonio 158), from which, a medical historian notes, ―nacerán los futuros personajes de (la) [...] ‖lesbiana‖ conceptualizad(a) como individuo(s) con cuerpo de varón y alma de mujer o viceversa‖ (Vázquez Garcìa, homosexual 151). Both were considered, at the time, to be perversions for which degeneration was postulated as a cause.487 According to opinions prevalent in Galdós‘s time, therefore, the character of Mauricia that he creates, for all her honesty, directness and loyalty to Fortunata,488 can be considered as a compilation of degenerative processes. She represents many of the transgressional features that the middle-class tended to see in the more threatening aspects of the pueblo (Campos Marín & Huertas García-Alejo, social 281). It is characteristic of Galdós as an artist, however, that despite all this, he should give her an appealing character of, ―indecible fascinación‖ that invites the reader‘s interest and sympathy.
9) The Degeneration of Juanito
degenerative perversion: Magnan refers to, ―les perversions sexuelles qui se montrent dans cette catégorie d‘aliénés que l‘on désigne sous le nom de dégénérés‖ (Magnan, perversions 4). 488 loyalty to Fortunata: Mauricia is devoted to Fortunata to the extent of wanting them to die together so that they could keep company in heaven. Fortunata, in turn, experiences deep feelings for Mauricia, especially on her expulsion from Las Micaelas and at her deathbed. Such attraction between a very feminine woman and a very masculine might suggest a lesbian emotional tension, at least on Mauricia‘s part. 487