Abstract
The different aspects of family structures are a central issue on the so-called "first period" of Machado de Assis's literary works, which includes the novels Ressurreição (1872), A mão e a luva (1874), Helena (1876), and Iaiá Garcia (1878), among other texts. The subject, which is commonplace on nineteenth-century Brazilian and international literature, was important not only on Machado…