ABSTRACT
Traditionally, criticism of Benito Pérez Galdós's 1895 novel Nazarín has tended to focus on the idea that the character of Nazarín is derived from two other figures: Christ, and Don Quijote. Francis was born in 1182 in the Italian city of Assisi. Francis and the Franciscan way of life are evidently in Nazarín's mind from the beginning of his journey, since he wonders whether he should join the Tercera Orden, and argues to himself that he would do so if the opportunity arose. Nazarín is presented as a 'saint', in the tradition of Francis, in a number of different ways in the novel. Firstly, Nazarín presents himself to others in ways which are consistent with such a saintly identity. Secondly, many of the characters label him as a saint. Nazarín's fantasy of sainthood is solipsistic in the sense that he reinterprets all events and situations in the light of his own idiosyncratic world-view.
