Abstract
This chapter offers an analysis of Machado’s representation of female characters through critical readings of his short stories and his understudied theatrical works, particularly Lição da Botânica(Botanical Lesson). More than mere props or foils for his more famous male characters, Machado’s fictional women possess their own narrative logic and their functions are quite distinct from those of his better-known male characters. Machado’s fictional women are also the mechanism by which he shows his reading public (made up largely of women) that a new, more socially conscious woman is part of what the new Brazil needs as it creates its post-emancipation and post-empire era.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alencar, Mário de. 1962. O Teatrólogo. In Obra Completa, vol. 2, ed. Machado de Assis, 1135–1137. Rio de Janeiro: Editôra José Aguilar.
Assis, Machado de. 1962. Lição de Botânica. In Obra Completa, organized by Afrânio Coutinho, vol. 2, 1171–1187. Rio de Janeiro: Editôra José Aguilar.
Bosi, Alfredo. 1970. História concisa da literatura brasileira. São Paulo: Editôra Cultrix.
Bosi, Alfredo, José Carlos Garbuglio, Mario Curvello, and Valentim Aparecido Facioli (eds.). 1982. Machado de Assis. São Paulo: Editora Ática.
Burns, E. Bradford. 1980. A history of Brazil, 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
Caldwell, Helen. 1970. Machado de Assis: The Brazilian master and his novels. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Callahan, Monique-Adelle. 2011. Literary transnationalism and African American poetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fitz, Earl E. 2014. Machado de Assis and female characterization: The novels. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press.
Gledson, John. 1986. Machado de Assis: Ficção e história. Trans. Sônia Coutinho. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra.
Lisboa, Maria Manuel. 1996. Machado de Assis and feminism: Re-reading the heart of the companion. Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press.
Loyola, Cecília. 1997. Machado de Assis: E o teatro das convenções. Rio de Janeiro: UAPÊ.
Maia Neto, José Raimundo. 1994. Machado de Assis, The Brazilian Pyrrhonian. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
Menand, Louis. 2014. The Sex Amendment: How women got in on the Civil Rights Act. New Yorker, July 21, 74–81.
Pontes, Joel. 1960. Machado de Assis e o teatro. Rio de Janeiro: Serviço Nacional do Livro.
Sant’Anna, Affonso Romano de. 2000. Afterword to The Slum. Afterword translated by Adria Frizzi; book translated by David H. Rosenthal. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Santiago, Silviano. 1978. Uma literatura nos trópicos. São Paulo: Perspectiva.
Skidmore, Thomas E. 1999. Brazil: Five centuries of change. New York: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fitz, E.E. (2016). Writing Womanhood in the New Brazil: Machado’s Lição de Botânica . In: Aidoo, L., Silva, D. (eds) Emerging Dialogues on Machado de Assis. New Directions in Latino American Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54174-1_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54174-1_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-54343-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-54174-1
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)