Alarcon Biography

Alarcón, Pedro Antonio de:

Alarcón is best known as the author of El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat, 1874), a retelling of a common and humorous tale full of entertaining coincidences and mistaken identities, detailing a jealous miller's mistaken belief that his beautiful wife is conducting an adulterous affair. This novel served as the inspiration for the ballet by Manuel de Falla, and an opera by Hugo Wolf. Alarcón was born in Guadix in 1833, the fourth of ten children from a once wealthy family fallen on hard times. He initially studied law, but was forced to drop out due to his family's precarious financial situation. He wrote his first novel, El Final de Norma (The Final Act from Norma, 1850) and several plays and poems, but they were poorly received.

In the 1850's he became interested in politics and wrote for several literary journals which were often extremely anti-clerical, including La Redención (Redemption) and El Látigo (The Whip), and served as a showcase for his short stories. However, his interest in politics flagged after he was challenged to a duel for his beliefs. Fortunately, his opponent magnanimously fired into the air after Alarcón's shot missed. His literary career was revitalized after publication of his account of the brief Moroccan campaign (Diario de un testigo de la guerra de África, 1859) in which he served in General O'Donnell's army and was wounded. Alarcón then renewed his interest in politics and abandoned writing for nearly a decade.

By the 1870's, the impetuous Alarcón once again changed careers and proceeded to write novels as inconsistent as every other aspect of his life. The Three-Cornered Hat is clearly his best work, but El Escándalo (The Scandal, 1875) and El Niño de la Bola (The Child with the Globe, 1880) were generally well received. Alarcón had a stroke in 1888 and died three years later in Madrid.