Carmen de Burgos

Anja Louis (Sheffield Hallam University)
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Life

Born in 1867 into a bourgeois family in Almería (Andalusia), Carmen de Burgos had a sheltered and comfortable upbringing. In 1882 she fell in love with Arturo Álvarez Bustos, a local journalist and poet. Despite family opposition (he was fourteen years her senior), she married him in 1883, this being the only socially acceptable form of escape from paternal guardianship. As for many of her fictional heroines, married life was a rude awakening for Burgos. Her husband turned out to be an abusive alcoholic who showed little respect for his wife. Due to his alcoholism, she was obliged to become the bread-winner and virtually take over his work as a typesetter on his father’s newspaper. This experience gave her both financial independence from her husband — which would later comprise

2278 words

Citation: Louis, Anja. "Carmen de Burgos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12184, accessed 29 March 2024.]

12184 Carmen de Burgos 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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