2 - The Link has Broken: Matilde’s Dream in El balneario

Summary

Introduction

There appears to be some progression through Martín Gaite's works in the response of those characters who dream, from the short stories of the 1950s to the novels of the 1990s, as can be seen in the analysis in this chapter of the dreamer Matilde's response to her dream, and in Chapter 5, which explores the story of Sofía Montalvo in the 1992 novel Nubosidad variable. For the dreams or fragments of dreams that figure in many of Carmen Martín Gaite's fictional works there are no obvious attempts at interpretation. The exceptions to this are where the message of the fictional dream is clear – for example, the dreams in Castillo – which also contrasts them with most dreams in real life. The absence of interpretation is also true of the dreams recorded in Martín Gaite's notebooks. Her notebooks were edited, with some material not included, but among the published writings there is also no indication of attempted interpretation. Martín Gaite frequently makes reference to the difficulties of remembering dreams even when they are so impressive that, on waking, it seems as if it would be impossible to forget them. She, like some of her characters, clearly wrote down her dreams. She may also have stayed with their atmosphere all day as recommended by Jung:

when a dream symbol comes up in a dominating form, one should take the trouble to reproduce it in a picture, even if one does not know how to draw, or to cut it in stone, even if one is not a sculptor, and relate to it in some real manner. […] one should stay with the symbols of one's dreams the whole day and try to see where they want to enter the reality of one's life.

Some of Martín Gaite's characters, like Sofía Montalvo in Nubosidad, stay with the atmosphere of their dream and, as a result, the impact of their response takes effect in their lives. For others, however, the potential of the dream is missed and the failure to understand the meaning of the dream results in it being lived ‘outside’ the dreamer – projected – as can be seen in some of the short stories. The dreams in the novels and short stories are all presented as significant in the lives of the characters.