Social vs. sensual: the struggle for identity within the characters of Clarín’s La Regenta.

This study approaches the novel La Regenta, by Leopoldo Alas Clarín, by exploring the three types of forces that act upon the characters of Fermín de Pas and Ana de Ozores as they construct their personal identities. The Catholic Church acts in the novel as it controls its female devotees and protects its corrupted clergy. Physical influences in the form of scientific discourse and corporal desires also motivate and control the characters. Societal expectations are expressed in the form of filial duties and behavioral pressures on women to conform to the ideal of the ángel del hogar. The conflicting influences of these forces create a world in which Fermín and Ana must struggle in order to understand themselves