ABSTRACT
Eighteenth-century Spain, in spite of the progress brought about by the Enlightenment, was not a hospitable country in which to write and publish works that were critical of the government, the Catholic Church, or the nobility. This chapter explores how José Cadalso and Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos – two of eighteenth-century Spain’s most important authors – nonetheless engaged with the problems that were holding Spain back. Their rhetoric of protest focused on the notion of superficiality among the intellectual elite, the many shortcomings of the nobility, and what Cadalso and Jovellanos understood to be the “virtuous ideal.” Although they both focused on similar problems, this chapter illustrates how each author structured and focused their rhetoric, in spite of the very real danger of censorship and public persecution.
