Better than the best of dreams: family and social order in Machado de Assiss prose (decades of 1860 and 1870) and in Brazilian theatrical realism

Author(s)

Amanda Rios Herane

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-11-10

Examining board members

Hélio de Seixas Guimarães; Sílvia Maria Azevedo; Joao Roberto Gomes de Faria; Erwin Torralbo Gimenez; Francine Fernandes Weiss Ricieri

• Advisor: Hélio de Seixas Guimarães

Abstract

This research establishes a comparison between short stories and novels written by Machado de Assis during the decades of 1860 and 1870, on the one hand, and Brazilian plays pertaining to the theatrical realism, which has been developed in Brazil during the decades of 1850 and 1860, on the other hand. The comparison focuses representations of familial order in those texts. Considering that Machado de Assis was an enthusiast of the theatrical realism, as many of his journalistic texts show, it is possible to identify important similarities between the authors prose and Brazilian realistic plays, in their approach to matters related to familial order. Those texts usually associate these matters with discussions about the changes in the paradigm of family relations in Brazil in the 19th century, standing up for volitional marriage, an ideal of the rising urban bourgeoisie, in contrast to patriarchal arranged marriage, commonly practiced by rural elites. It is possible to recognize an esthetical-ideological structure in both Machado de Assiss prose and realistic plays, characterized by the idea that art had a didactic and moralizing objective, contributing to the development of society institutions such as family and marriage, which these texts present in a positive way. The thesis is divided into two sections. The first one is dedicated to Machado de Assiss prose, including the first four novels written by the author and a selection of the short stories he has published during the selected period. The second one offers an interpretation of some of Brazilian realistic plays, almost all of which were commented by Machado de Assis. From the comparison between these plays and the productions studied at the first section, we argue that Machado de Assis incorporated esthetical elements from theatrical realism, in order to compose a literature directed towards concrete life, which the author stands up for in some of his short stories. This literature, as we shall see, is consistent with the discussions about family and social institutions that are presented in the writers prose in the decades of 1860 and 1870. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/15967-1 - Familiar images: Marriage and social order in Machado de Assis and his contemporaries (1860-70)
• Grantee: Amanda Rios Herane
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate