8 h 32 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 32 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a good name protect when a secret threatens both a marriage and a friendship?
Among Madrid’s respectable families, Orozco wants a home built on honor, good faith and peace. His wife, Augusta, maintains the calm face of their marriage while struggling with feelings she cannot openly show. Their friend Federico Viera brings desire and duty into uneasy conflict, with a secret placing both bonds at risk.
In Reality, Benito Pérez Galdós lets conversation carry much of the drama. What people hide behind their words matters as much as what they say. Rosalía Pipaón brings the pressure of social opinion into view, while the household faces a difficult question: what does a person owe to love, honor and truth?
What you’ll discover
- A marriage under pressure Look beneath Augusta’s composed manner to the feelings she cannot safely share.
- Friendship caught between loyalties Follow Federico Viera as desire pulls against his wish to act rightly.
- The reach of gossip See how Madrid society presses on private lives, making reputation a constant concern.
- Words that conceal feeling Listen closely to conversations where polite speech leaves strong emotions just beneath the surface.
- The cost of appearances Consider what keeping a respectable face demands when private feelings resist public rules.
Who will love it
You will love this play if you enjoy Spanish drama, stories of marriage and secrets, sharp social comedy, and characters who argue about honor, money and conscience.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A glittering party hides its worries behind gossip
- A secret love is guarded in plain sight
- A saintly husband and a restless wife lie awake
- Federico's pride collides with his sister's choice
- A fallen friend becomes his last refuge
- A father's clever claim meets an unexpected answer
- Rumor, visions and a last meeting close the trap
- Pride and class rule Federico's every choice
- Goodness and reality cannot be joined so easily
- The form lets you hear thoughts and ghosts
Who’s who
- Tomás OrozcoA rich, admired man who gives secretly, wants to be thought selfish, and follows a private system of goodness he hopes his wife will share.
- AugustaOrozco's clever, restless wife, who loves mystery, fears dullness, and wants to rescue the man she loves from poverty.
- Federico VieraA proud, charming gentleman crushed by debt, who needs help yet cannot accept it from the friend he wrongs.
- Joaquín VieraFederico's father, a witty adventurer who flatters, schemes and arrives in Madrid to collect on an old debt.
- Leonor, called La PeriA warm, shrewd woman of fashion who is Federico's most trusted friend and will pawn her jewels to help him.
- Manolo InfanteAugusta's cousin, a polished politician who watches the household and wants to win her for himself.
- Cornelio MalibránA vain diplomat, refused by Augusta, who sets out to find her secret and expose it.
- Clotilde VieraFederico's sister, who leaves home to marry a young clerk and seeks her brother's forgiveness.
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Wirklichkeit
by Benito Pérez Galdós · 1889
A saintly husband hides his charity, a wife hides her lover, and a proud spendthrift sinks into debt.
Medium level5–10 hours to readDeutsch
Excellent
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In short
Imagine a bright drawing room in Madrid, full of politicians, collectors and wits, all arguing about a murder in the newspapers. The host is admired for his goodness, though some guests suspect hypocrisy, and he privately wishes to be thought stingy.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A glittering party hides its worries behind gossip
The play opens on a mild January night in Orozco's house in Madrid. Villalonga storms in. He longs for a lifetime seat in the Senate, and only eleven places are free, so he wishes a cold wind would carry off a few old senators. Nobody is shocked.
Aguado, newly home from Cuba, thunders against immorality. Don Carlos Cisneros, a wealthy old man with a sharp tongue, answers that whenever someone shouts about virtue, he puts a hand on his wallet. Augusta turns the talk into a game and says morality is a fashion that returns every few years while human nature stays the same. Yet she keeps one eye on the door.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- Deutsch
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Pérez Galdós, Benito. Reality. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/reality.
Pérez Galdós, B. (2026). Reality. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/reality (Original work published 1889)
Pérez Galdós, Benito. Reality. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/reality.
@book{perezgaldos2026reality,
author = {Pérez Galdós, Benito},
title = {Reality},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/reality},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is the play Reality by Galdós about?
It follows a rich, much admired man named Orozco, his wife Augusta and their friend Federico Viera. A secret love, a proud refusal of help and a schemer's claim on an old debt drive the story.
Who is Orozco's shadow in Reality?
The shadow is an image of Orozco that appears in the dreams, fevers and sleepless hours of Augusta and Federico. It speaks in his voice, and the play leaves open whether it is a mind's creation.
Is Reality based on a true story?
No, it is fiction. Galdós sets it in his own time among Madrid's upper class, and the text carries the date of July 1889. The characters are invented, but the clubs, salons and gossip feel real.
The author
Benito Pérez Galdós
1843–1920 · Spanish realist novelist
Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920) was a Spanish novelist and playwright. He was born in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and moved to Madrid in 1862. He wrote Marianela (1878), Fortunata and Jacinta (1886–1887), and Miau (1888), as well as the historical novel series Episodios nacionales. He died in Madrid.
More by Benito Pérez Galdós
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