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Jealousy in the Novels of Machado de Assis

Author(s): Charles ParamReviewed work(s):Source: Hispania, Vol. 53, No. 2 (May, 1970), pp. 198-206Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/338575 .

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JEALOUSY IN THE NOVELS OF MACHADO DE ASSISCHARLES PARAMWestern Washington State College

M UCH HAS BEEN SAID and writ-ten about Machado de Assis'sDomrCasmurro(1901), with the greater partofthe critical comment concerned with thetheme of jealousy. This trait of humancharacteris found by Helen Caldwell tobe a theme in twenty eight of Machado'sstories, plays, and articles. Caldwell notesthat jealousy "has a fat part in seven ofhis nine novels," and that "the plots often short stories turn upon the ugly pas-sion."' Inasmuch as DormCasmurro s per-haps most of all an exercise in jealousy atwork, one might wonder how the theme istreated in Machado's other novels, thefunctions and effects produced by jealousy,and the author's reason, or reasons, foremploying it in the way that he did. Inthis study we will discussthese four points.It is our belief that the principal reasonfor Machado's use of jealousy as a motifcan be found in the author's own life,which is true of other recurringthemes inMachado as well as single references(non-recurring events). Some of these are in-gratitude,2 nsanity,3 the death and burialof a family's pet dog in the garden, aNegro peddler of sweetbreads,5 fear ofdeath,"megalomania,' and epilepsy.8Jeal-ousy in his works does not necessarilystemfrom any of the author's own experiencesin love, but is a reflectionof his changingviews of humanity and life in general.Machado's firstnovel was published whenhe was around thirty-four years of age,and his final one appearedthirty six yearslater, shortly before his death. Given thefact that his novels span almostall his lifeas a writer, and at the same time representall phases of his career better than anyother form of his fiction, an analysisof hisnine novels should be sufficient to establisha link between his life and works withparticularregardto the trait of jealousy.

In Machado'snovels jealousyis presentedin a varyingpatternof frequency,intensity,number of people involved, and functions.The groundworkfor Dom Casmurro,Ma-chado's best-known jealousy-basedplot, isfound in his first novel, Ressurreikao(1872). Among the similarities are thesepoints: there is the involvement of twomen, a woman and her child; no proof ofinfidelity on the part of the woman is tobe found; and the outcome for the twomen is identical in both stories, for eachloses the love of the woman in the case.The jealousy experienced by FRlix (Res-surreiqao) is very moderatein comparisonwith that of Bento (Dom Casmurro).Machado's second novel, A mao e aluva (1874), does not continue the themeof jealousy although there are three suitorsin contention for Guiomar'shand. Helena(1876) marks the return of jealousy, butwith a variation that is unique in Ma-chado's novels. Estaiciobelieves Helena tobe his half-sister,and thus the kind of lovehe feels for her is shameful. Consequentlyhis jealousyis even moreunreasonable hanmight have been the case if no familyrelationshiphad been involved. laid Garcia(1878), the final novel of Machado'sfirstphase, or "romantic"period, carries thejealousy theme further, with a situationthat involves several people and covers aperiod of more than five years in its de-velopment. The theme has not yet reachedthe point at which thoughts of violenceoccur to the jealous individuals. This willbe introducedin Machado'ssecond phase,or the "psychological"period of his writ-ing, starting with Memdriasp6stumas deBras Cubas (1881).The theme of jealousy in BrdasCubasoccasions yet another variation in that theauthor permits his chief male charactertotell his own story. This first-personnarra-198


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JEALOUSY IN THE NOVELS OF MACHADODE Assis 199tion gives Bris the opportunity to tell thestory as he wishes, and he admits toplaying the part of both the jealous personand the interloper.Thus there is no reasonnot to believe his confessionsof passion asthere will certainlybe when Bento accusesCapitu of infidelity. A further develop-ment of the theme of jealousy in Ma-chado's novels is the potential for violencein Brds Cubas. This will be a prospectinthe following two novels, Quincas Borba(1891) and Dom Casmurro(1901).It is in Quincas Borba that jealousyreaches the saturationpoint with respecttothe number of people involved and thefutile, impossible,or ludicrous love affairs.One person, Sofia, is the object of violentattacks of jealousy in the fantasies of twodifferentpeople, D. Tonica and Rubido,asMachado completes his preparation forDom Casmurro. The story of Bento andCapitu reveals the power of jealousy tomold, distort, and destroy a human per-sonality. Bento relates in a dispassionatemanner how his jealousy grew until itbrought him perilouslyclose to suicide andmurder, before it succeeded in destroyinghis role as a husband and a father.After Dom Casmurrothe theme of jeal-ousy disappears,for in Machado's last twonovels, Esauie Jac6 (1906) and Memorialde Aires (1908), the rival suitors declineto be jealous of each other. Machado diedshortly after the publication of Memorialde Aires, and the absence of jealousy inthese last two novels, coveringseven years,is a sharp contrast to those three novelsproduced the previous twenty years, fromBrds Cubas to Dom Casmurro.The jeal-ousy motif had developed in his novels toits most destructive point between 1881and 1901 and then disappeared foreverfrom Machado's storehouse of recurringthemes.The function of jealousy in Machado'snovels is for the most part characterde-velopment or characterrevelation. In onlytwo stories, Ressurreido and Dom Cas-murro does jealousy dictate the direction

and the outcome of the action. Helena,laidi Garcia, Brds Cubas, and QuincasBorba would not have ended very differ-ently had jealousy been absent from theirplots. Characterization, then, is the ele-ment most affected by jealousy. This is astrue of Machado's "romantic"novels as itis of his "psychological"works.Machado's first four novels have beengenerally neglected by the critics. MirioMatos says that they are stories written"para mogas em flor, leves e epis6dicas,leituras de sentimento, livros para cesta decostura ou para quietude solarenga."9Wilton Cardoso is equally unenthusiastic,remarking that of Machado's first fournovels, the one that least meritsanalysisiscertainly the first.1o Ressurreigdo, wing tothe presence of many themes and typesthat become mainstays in Machado'snovels, does merit analysis,in our opinion.In Felix the author combines two traitsthat will later become dominant featuresin two different people: narcissism,whichcharacterizesCarlos Maria (Quincas Bor-ba), and jealousy, which is inherited byBento (Dom Casmurro). FRlix embodiesenough additional traits to warrant Mas-saud Moises, observation that he is anexception to the generally accepted state-ment that Machado's best charactersarewomen. Moises stressesthat it is the jeal-ousy in Fdlix around which the story isdeveloped," and such is the case with re-gard to Bento's jealousy and Dom Cas-murrotwenty-nine years later.

It is the lack of great passions that dis-tinguishes the other characters that Ma-chado creates from 1872 to 1878. Indeed,notable for their colorless aspect are thethree suitorsin A mdo e a luva, a situationthat is repeated thirty-fouryears later inregardto the twins in Esazie Jacd. Mois6ssees Guiomar's three suitors as differenttypes, in spite of their lack-lusterquality:"Estvaio,sentimentale piegas,Jorge,calcu-lista e vazio, e Luis Alves, comedido,am-bicioso e senhor de si"Mois-s, p. 173).Leo Barrow'sdescription is similarly un-


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200 CHARLESPARAMcomplimentary: "Estivao, sentimental,deeply in love, but weak and doomed toobscurity;Jorge ... lacking in ambitionand content to vegetate; and Luis Alves,not very romantic, but strong-willed, am-bitious, and very sure of himself"(Barrow,p. 212). The twins in Esaui e Jac6 areequally colorless. Their rivalry for Flora'saffections, their personal animosity towardeach other, and their political polemics arenot convincing. A solid, ringing, and bitterattack of jealousy in both these novelscould have made the characterscome alivefor the reader.Jealousyis perhapsthe onlynegative trait in another of Machado'sfirst-period characters, Esticio (Ressur-reigao), and it could be considereda wel-comed relief to the monotony of his good-ness and understanding.

Jealousy could have been the dominanttheme in laid Garcia. There was no spark,however, to ignite the highly explosivesituation created by the presence of somany jealous hearts and innocent indi-viduals under the same roof a great dealof the time. There were Estela, Jorge,IaiaiGarcia, Luis Garcia, and at times thereprehensible Proc6pio Dias. Moises doesnot refer directly to jealousy in the novel,but touches on these matters: the "amorfruste" of Jorge and Estela; Iaii's concernwith the "perdida de ascendancia moralem casa";Iaia'sknowledge of the previousrelationshipbetween Jorgeand Estela;andLuis's marriageto Estela. Moises calls Iai4the precursorof Capitu; the former is acold and calculating female who uses herheart and her head to solve the problemexisting aroundher. Her marriageto Jorgeis the best solution to this problem, but itis not dictated by any erotic desire as isthe case with Capitu (Moises, p. 176). Itshould be noted that Iaia's jealousy is anobsession, which describes the jealousy ofall the affected characters in Machado'sfirst period, but in his second phase ob-sessive jealousy is deepened into an awe-some force in the lives of his personages.BrnisCubas' jealousy is responsible for

bringing out his true character. It alsobrings into clear focus the personality ofLtbo Neves and one of Machado's mostimmoral female characters,Virgilia. Thelatter is described by Cardoso as being abeautiful creature at first, then "apetitosa,"a personwho passivelyacceptsa firstlover,then marriesanother man, and almost im-mediately gives herself to her first lover"sem qualquer drama intimo, provivel-mente sem paixio, como simples joguetesde estimulantesvulgares" Cardoso,pp. 39-40). Virgilia is a puzzle to Bras, however,for he observesthat at L6bo's funeral Vir-gilia's tears are genuine. Bris must havewondered about the jealousy he had ex-perienced; were his jealous tantrums justwasted emotional energy? That is, Vir-gilia had never told Bris that she lovedher husband;she had given herself to Briswith no reservations;L6bohad not thoughtVirgilia was worth the sacrificeof his politi-cal career;and now Virgilia's grief at herhusband'sfuneral appearsto be authentic.The episode recalls another occasion whenBras must have considered his jealousy awaste of emotional strength. At the age ofseventeen Bris had taken Marcela as hismistressand once became violently jealouswhen Marcela admitted having had aprevious lover. Bras recalls that years laterhe saw Marcelaagain and that her disease-scarredface had shocked and revolted him.He says that he wondered how he couldhave spent so much money on her. Surelyhe must have been chagrinedto recall thathe was once jealous of her other lovers.Marcela'srole, although small, makes pos-sible a good comparativestudy of Bris asa boy of seventeen and as an adult. Thedegeneration is obvious.Jealousyplays a large partin the charac-ter development in Quincas Borba. In noother novel does Machado afflict so manypeople with jealousy, and in no othernovel are so many innocent peopletouched by such intense jealousy. Never-theless, Agrippino Grieco reacts adverselyto these colorful characters.They do not


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JEALOUSY IN THE NOVELS OF MACHADO DE Assis 201develop "dentro de um perfeito nexo de16gica"; the changes in the characters,rather than being subtle, are fast andbrusque.'2 However when one considersthe intensity of such elements as jealousy(in Rubido, Tonica, and Sofia) and greed(in Sofia, Palha, Camacho, and Rubido,when the last learns of his inheritance), itshould be acceptable that these rapidchanges are logical. More important, f theelement of jealousy alone were removedfrom the story, many of the charactersweknow so well would appear less real andcertainlyless memorable.

Grieco admits that Sofia is well por-trayed, but her vacillations distract thecritic. From time to time she is attractedtoRubido,but suddenlydisdainor some otherform of revulsion drives her away fromhim (Grieco, p. 75). Sofia's complex andcolorful personalityis due in large part toher jealousy. In between the tides ofjealousy she wavers between Rubido andCarlos Maria, between feelings of revul-sion, on the one hand, the frustration,onthe other, of realizing that her own hus-band is too busy with his financial deal-ings to worry about her behavior.Octivio Mangabeiraprefersto placepartof the blame for Sofia's weak attempts atadulteryon Palha.Sofia,em "QuincasBorba," Carlota, o conto0 Casode Romauldo, enunciamosmaridosconduta, respectivamente, de Rubiao e Vieira,procurandoseduzi-las;e ambas se sentem ofen-didas ao verificarem que os esposos, CristianoPalha,da primeira,Romualdo, a segunda, edeixam antes levar pelo inter.sse que tinhamem manter boas relan6escom os amigos que ostraiam. Com tal marido, ndo ' muito de estra-nhar que encontremos,mais tarde, Sofia, tipotamb6mde beleza, em namtro com CarlosMaria.13Neither is it any wonder that Virgilia iswilling to continue her illicit relationshipwith Brais Cubas indefinitely, since L6boNeves values his political careermorethanthe sanctity of marriage.Carlos Maria and Maria Benedita, bothof whom claim a lot of Sofia's thoughts,are repulsive to Grieco. Carlos Maria is"um jovem vaidoso, rico, elegante, cheio

de ambiq6es,"and Maria Benedita is "des-graciosa, feia, canhestra"(Grieco, p. 76).But were it not for the jealousy and envygenerating from two other people, Sofiaand Rubido, their characterizationswouldlose force.The jealousy of Sofia and Rubido alsoaids in the revelationof the good qualitiesof D. Fernanda. Even Grieco admits thelatter'sunusual character: Fernanda"aindavale por um rasgo luminoso, e enternece-me a piedade que demostra em relagqoaocachorro Quincas Borba . . ." (Grieco,p. 76). Another critic, Cardoso,also notesthe good, and thereforeunusual, characterof D. Fernanda, "a boa alma da hist6ria"(Cardoso, p. 186).Machado is cruel in his treatment of D.Tonica who perhaps enjoys the reader'ssympathy even though she nourishes ahatred and jealousy of almost cosmic pro-portions for Sofia. Matos says that Tonicais an example of the passionate womanwho never succeeds in getting her man.She has ardorin her heart and is willingto give herself to a man, to any man, butwhen she appears to have succeeded atlast, her man dies. Matos sees a final spite-ful thrust of the author's knife in thenarrator'sdescriptionof Tonica's last hope,Rodrigues. The latter has "nenhuma ex-pressdomasculina,"Matos notes. On suchwomen as Tonica, Machado afflictseternalspinsterhood (Matos, p. 206). The addi-tion of jealousy to Tonica's personalityre-veals the depths of her desperation.While jealousy is revealing Bento's truecharacter, it is bringing into sharp focusthe object of his jealousy, Capitu. Theeffect of the protagonist-narrator'sccusa-tions against her has been to move thecritics to see Capitu rather as Bento seesher or as he wants her to be seen. Pereirada Silva calls her the completion of thetheme of adultery in Sofia. The latter"ndovai alem do que a fidelidadeconjugalimp6e a uma esp6sa usada desonestamentepelo marido para facilitar neg6cios lucra-tivos."4 While Sofia never commits adul-


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202 CHARLESPARAMtery, Pereirada Silva maintains, the readercan ascertain from the youthful acts ofCapitu that she, Capitu, is destined to doso.15 The critic bases this statement onCapitu's great self-control, citing her coolbehaviorwhen she and Bento are surprisedseveraltimes by the appearanceof Capitu'sparents.She is probablyguilty of adultery,just as Bento says, but she is not a passion-ate woman.'16

Astrojildo Pereira also sees Capitu as acomplex and sinister woman, a "tipo deextraordiniriavitalidade, soma e fusio demuiltiplas personalidades," a kind of"supermulher"n the skin of a pervertedand clever creature."7 n the absence ofabsolute proof of her adultery, it shouldbe impossibleto accept Bento's word abouther or the critics' adverse opinions abouther. These opinions,basedsolely on Bento'saccount of the story, have no doubt dis-tracted the attention of critics from hergood points. For example, a point in Capi-tu's favor is that she never turns Ezequielagainst Bento, even after she and the boyleave the family home after that finalargument.Helen Caldwell's Brazilian Othello is adeparturefrom the traditionalapproachtothe study of Dom Casmurroin that sheregards Bento's story with considerabledoubt. Keith Ellis calls Caldwell's studythe "establishingof the essential jealousyof Bentinho by tracing his developmentinto the jealous, self-centered Casmurro.." Ellis adds that there are "sufficientinstancesof our protagonist-narrator'sani-festationof jealousy to evoke the possibilitythat it could be at the root of his finalaccusation of Capitu."18Whether or notCapitu is guilty, it must be recognizedthat her behavior while under this sus-tained attack of jealousy is certainly hu-man.

Machado, in abandoning the theme ofjealousy after Dom Casmurro,discardedapowerful novelistic element, one that hadserved him well. He left but one mysteryin all his novels in regard to the theme:

was Capitu guilty of adultery? Caldwellstates that the author left it up to theindividual reader to decide her guilt orinnocence for himself (Caldwell, p. 158).Many criticsaccept Bento'sword and findCapitu guilty. Among these are AlfredoPujol,19 Octivio Mangabeira (p. 20),Pereira da Silva,20 Eloy Pontes,21 andJos6-MariaBelo.22Capitu's accuser, how-ever, has escaped general scrutiny untilfairly recently. Caldwell centers her atten-tion on Bento and points out that "theguilt or innocence of Capitu depends en-tirely upon the testimony of Santiago,whose jealousy alone renders that testi-mony suspect" (Caldwell, p. 12). Cald-well sees the seed of DomnCasmurro,the"Othello theme,"or jealousy, in Ressurrei-g~ioand wonders how FRlix would havetold his story if he had had the oppor-tunity to do so, as did Bento (Caldwell, p.19). Licia Miguel-Pereiraalso commentson FMlixand Bento, noting that there is agreat deal of difference between them:"Um e ciumento segundo as regras decomposigqoromantica,o outro o e segundoa auto-observagqo e Machado de Assis."23One of the greatest differences betweenFRlixand Bento is that the formerrealizesthat his jealousy is the cause of his finalunhappiness, while Bento, on the otherhand, blamesCapitu for everything.It would be difficult to maintain thatMachado could have refrained fromafflicting his characterswith jealousy andstill have created such a vividly portrayedgallery of types and individuals. His pup-pets would still be universaltypes,but theywould have lost some of the depth andcolor that make them memorable. WhyMachado used jealousy in the way that hedid, instead of some other human failing,to achieve the same strength of portrayalof his characters may never be known.But since the intensity of jealousy in hisnovels parallels periods of pessimism andoptimism in his life, we believe that jeal-ousy, like other negative elements, re-


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JEALOUSYN THE NOVELSOF MACHADO DE Assis 203flects Machado's views of humanity andhis relationshipwith it.The author's use of the jealousy motifdoes not necessarily reveal jealousy as hemight have experienced it in matters oflove. It does prove that he knew humannature well enough to use the theme veryeffectively in his fiction. Joao GasparSim6es, discussing the personalitytraits offictional charactersin general, states thata writer does not have to be a jealousperson in order to reflect the element inhis works. It is enough to have merelyexperienced it: "Minutos de chiime daoao romancistao tom desse insidioso senti-mento."24The writer, continues Simfes,should be capable of every feeling regard-ing his characters(Sim6es, p. 62). HelenCaldwell finds many significant traits ofcharacter n Machado'sworks,among themambition, vanity, insatiability, pride, andfear (p. 161). Some of these elementssuggest a more negative than positive feel-ing, and the remainder, in excess, wouldhave the sameeffect.

Since the writer is analyzing his ownfictional creatures, one might wonder ifthe inclusion of such elements as thoselisted by Caldwell indicates that the authorhates his characters. Machado seems tohave done so, and his hatred is rooted inhis own life experiences, in the opinionof Simbes who remarks that "Machadodespreza t6da a humandade, incluindo lepr6prio" Sim6es, p. 63). ArmandoCorreiaPacheco also believes that Machado hatedhis characters.The critic claims that whenone of Machado'spersonagesdoes a gooddeed the author takes revenge on himsooner or later, exposing him to ridicule,scorn, and ingratitude.25If indeed Machado hated his charactersout of personal animosity, it is clear thathis feelings towardthem were not constantfrom 1872 (Ressurreigdo) to 1908 (Me-morial de Aires). There is a great deal ofdifference among the charactersof his twoperiodsof writing. Livia, Guiomar,Helena,Iaii Garcia, and Estela (first period) do

not shock one's sensibility as do Marcela,Virgilia, and Sofia (second period). Sig-nificantly, the defects in both male andfemale characters increase dramaticallyafter Iaid Garcia. This can be verified bycomparing Fdlix, Luis Alves, EstvaSo,Jorge (A mdo e a luva) Estaicio,and Jorge(laid Garcia) of the firstperiod with BraisCubas, L6bo Neves, Palha, and Camachoof the second period. In his "romantic"phase Machado createscharacterswho be-come fully-developed individuals later on,such as the parasiteViana of Ressurreigdowho is the precursor of other parasites,specifically Freitas of Quincas Borba andJose Dias of Dom Casmurro.The humanparasite n generalin Machado's irstperiodis a sharpcontrastto the masterparasitesofhis second phase, but only through DomCasmurro. Perpetua (Esaui e Jacd), al-though a "dependent," enders a valid serv-ice in return for her keep, and Memorialde Aires has no characterresembling theusual Machadian human parasite. Whenall the characters from Ressurreigao toMemorial de Aires are considered, it be-comes clear that what appears to be theauthor's hatred for his charactersis mostpronounced in the novels that appearedbetween 1881 and 1901. During these twodecades only one characterseems to haveescaped almost completely the author'scondemnation, Fernanda,of Quincas Bor-ba.Brds Cubas seems to be the point ofMachado's darkest outlook on life, andone might wonder where such a state ofmind began. It is presentto a small degreein Machado's first four novels, but it isoutweighed by a more balanced point ofview. Iaid Garcia, the novel of transitionfrom the "romantic" o the "psychological"phase, is also the bridge between relativepersonal happinessand great pessimisminthe author's life. Augusto Meyer relatesthat Mario de Alencar once asked Ma-chado how, after writing Helena, he couldwrite laid Garcia. Meyer states Machado'sanswer was that he had lost all his illu-


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204 CHARLESARAMsions "sobre os homens."26 Perhaps mostsignificant in the search for a reason forthe author's changed outlook regardinglife and humanity is the recurrenceof hisepilepsy around 1877. The renewed on-slaught of this ancient malady did indeedalter Machado'sviews on life and affectedhis writings, in the opinion of Luiz VianaFilho (pp. 109-10). Afranio Coutinho,speaking of the bitterness to which Ma-chado's epilepsy gave rise, maintains thatthe author subconsciously sought revengeon life. Machado struck out in his works,"demostrandoum odio sistematizado davida."27 t is known that before and dur-ing the writing of Brds Cubas Machadosuffered other setbacks in his health andexperienced serious difficulties with hisvision. All these things could have beenthe cause of the cynicism, sarcasm,pessi-mism, and rejection of humanity in BradsCubas.

Quincas Borbaseems to be the point atwhich Machado began to show distinctlyoppositeand divergingviews on humanity.We have noted the presence of Fernanda,a woman with no defects, the only truefriend that Rubido has after losing hisfortune and his sanity. Pujol sees a changein the author in regardto another charac-ter in the novel, the most unusual actor,the dog. "Aocabo da narrativa,parecem-lhetio frivolas, tdo odiosas e detestaveis asprincipais figuras da agao, que a sua sym-pathia se volta para o triste animal, queamanheceu morto na rua, depois de ganirinfinitivamente em busca de novo dono"(Pujol, pp. 213-14).These two diverging tendencies did notcontinue to coexist for long, for the onerepresenting a softening attitude towardhumanity slowly gained its victory. AlceuAmorosoLima notes the slowly developingtriumph of the more compassionate atti-tude: "Sofiavem depois de Virgilia. Nati-vidade depois de Sofia. D. Carmo depoisde Natividade."28A comparison of thecharactersbetween 1881 and 1901, (BrdsCubas, Quincas Borba, and Dom Cas-

murro), with those of Machado'sfinal twonovels, (Esaci e Jacd and Memorial deAires), revealsa lengthening list of peopleseemingly free of the author'sspite. Easilyrecognized as examples of this differenttreatment are Natividade, Aires, Fiddlia,Aguiar, D. Carmo, and Tristao.The reversal of the author's state ofmind and the pessimistic outlook of BrdsCubas can also be given a reasonableex-planation. By the time the much revisedQuincas Borba was readyfor its firstpubli-cation in book form, the two greatest na-tional problemsof Machado'sage had beenresolved. The abolition of slavery was ac-complishedin 1888, and the Republic wasestablishedin 1889. Surely Machado,whohad taken no active part in either cam-paign, was relieved. He had been viciouslyattackedby partisansof both sides in bothissues, but especially bitter was the abuseheaped on him by the abolitionists. Theposition of both sides was that any manwho did not support them actively wastheir enemy. Raymond Sayersremarks hatMachado might have been expected tocome to the aid of the slaves, lending themhis talents as did many other gifted mulat-toes. After all, during the firsttwenty yearsof his life he owed "almostall the affectionhe had received, almost all the opportuni-ties he was given, to people of his ownrace, to other mulattoes."29We do notbelieve that Machado failed to aid theabolitionistsbecause he was indifferent tothe plight of the slaves, as has been statedby some critics, for example, OctivioBranddo.30 Nor do we believe that he wasan "absenteeist"because he was a pureman of letters, as Jos#-MariaBelo (p. 34)and Erico Verissimo31have said. In ourarticle cited above we stated our opinionthat it was Machado'sepilepsy that causedhim to shrink from controversial issues(Param, pp. 438-40). Thus, when Aboli-tion and the Republic became realities, agreat threat to Machado's mental andphysical health was removed. Then, in1891, the death of his mulatto stepmother


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JEALOUSY IN THE NOVELS OF MACHADO DE Assis 205represented the destruction of the finallink with his past, a past that he con-sidered shameful. Shortly afterward, hav-ing already received many minor honorsfor literature,Machado received the high-est honor of his calling when he waselected to serve as the firstpresidentof theBrazilian Academy of Letters. This posi-tion was to be his for life.Before the publication of Esacze Jacd,Machado's wife entered her final illness.Her death and the deaths of many ofMachado's old friends, combined with avastly changed Rio de Janeiro,created themood for Memorial de Aires. Jose BarrettoFilho calls this melancholic work "umdepoimento em favor com a vida.""32hebitternessof the novels of 1881, 1891, and1901 was gone; time was still the enemyof man, but death held no terrorfor Ma-chado de Assis. Life had been good to him,after all.IN THIS STUDY WE HAVE ANALYZED theelement of jealousyin Machado'snovels.The remarks of various critics regardingthe author's possible views on life havebeen noted, and we have drawn attentionto those important dates and events thatcould have contributed to the author'schanged stateof mind. Of greatimportancealso are the loss of Carolina and so manygood friends, the new aspect of Rio deJaneiro, and the many honors he was ac-cordedin the latteryearsof his life. Whenall of these things are considered,it mustseem logical that Machado's use of jeal-ousy as a novelistic theme could have beena reflection of his own changing conceptsof life and not solely the artistic employ-ment of a common human failing.

NOTES'Helen Caldwell, The Brazilian Othello ofMachado de Assis (Berkeley and Los Angeles:University of California Press, 1960), p. 1.Subsequent page references in the body of the

text refer to this edition.2Leo L. Barrow, "Ingratitude in the works ofMachado de Assis," Hispania, 49 (May 1966):

p 211-17. Subsequent page references in they of the text refer to this edition.3ClotildeWilson, "Machado e Assis, En-comiast of Lunacy," Hispania, 22 (May 1949):198-201.4Luiz Viana Hilho, A vida de Machado deAssis (Sio Paulo: Livraria Martins Edittra,1964), pp. 144-45. Subsequent page referencesin the body of the text refer to this edition.5Lindolfo Gomes, "Vocabulirio de Machadode Assis," Machado de Assis (estudos e ensaios)(Rio de Janeiro: F. Briguiet e Cia., Editores,1940), p. 161. Also Jose Barretto Filho, Intro-ducio a Machado de Assis (Rio de Janeiro:Livraria Agir EditOra, 1947), p. 13.6Jose Bettencourt Machado, Machado of Bra-zil (New York: Bramerica, 1953), p. 73.7H. Pereira da Silva, A megalomania literariade Machado de Assis (Rio de Janeiro: Edit6raAurora, 1949).sCharles Param, "The case for Quincas Borbaas confession," Hispania, 50 (Sept. 1967):430-41. Subsequent page references in the bodyof the text refer to this edition.9MArio Matos, Machado de Assis, o homen ea obra (Sao Paulo: Companhia EditBraNacional,1939), p. 193. Subsequent page references inthe body of the text refer to this edition.1'Wilton Cardoso, Tempo e memdria emMachado de Assis (Belo Horizonte, 1958), pp.67-68. Subsequent page references in the bodyof the text refer to this edition.11Massaud Moises, nota preliminar, Machadode Assis Ressurreigao, A mao e a luva, organi-zacdo, introdulqo, revisio de texto e notas deMassaud Moises, 4a ed. (Sao Paulo: EdittraCultrix, 1964), p. 30. Subsequent page refer-ences in the body of the text refer to this edition.12Agrippino Grieco, Machado de Assis (Riode Janeiro: Conquista, 2a ed., 1960), p. 75.Subsequent page references in the body of thetext refer to this edition.130ctivio Mangabeira, Machado de Assis (Riode Janeiro: Sao Paulo, Bahia: Edittra Civili-zagqo Brasileira S/A, 1954), p. 33. Subsequentpage references in the body of the text refer tothis edition.14H. Pereira da Silva, Sdbre os romances deMachado de Assis (ensaio crilico) (Rio deJaneiro: Sociedade Editbra e Grafica Ltda., nodate), p. 76.15Ibid., p. 82.16Ibid., p. 85.17Astrojildo Pereira, Machado de Assis (Riode Janeiro: Livraria Sao Jose, 1958), p. 24.18Keith Ellis, "Technique and ambiguity inDom Casmurro," Hispania, 45 (Sept. 1962):437.19Alfredo Pujol, Machado de Assis (Rio deJaneiro: Livraria Jos Olympio, 2a ed., 1934),p. 247. Subsequent page references in the body

of the text refer to this edition.20Pereira da Silva, Sdbre os romances deMachado de Assis, p. 85.


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206 CHARLES ARAM21Eloy Pontes, A vida contradictdria de Ma-chado de Assis (Rio de Janeiro: LivrariaJos,OlympioEditora, 1939), p. 265.22Jos&Maria Belo, Inteligdncia do Brazil

(ensaios s6bre Machado de Assis) (Sao Paulo:Cia. Edit6raNacional, 1938), p. 57.23Lucia Miguel-Pereira, Machado de Assis(estudos criticos e biograficos) (Rio de Janeiro:Cia. Edit6raNacional,2a ed., 1939), pp. 155-56.24Jodo Gaspar Sim6es, Caderno de urnm o-mancista, ensaios (Lisboa: Livraria Popular deFranciscoFranqa,1942), p. 17. Subsequentpagereferences in the body of the text refer to thisedition.25Machado de Assis, romancista, selego, pre-f~icio e notas de Armando Correia Pacheco(Washington: Unioo Pan-Americana, 1954),p. 14.26Augusto Meyer, Machado de Assis, 1935-1958 (Rio de Janeiro:LivrariaSao Jos6, 1958),p. 213.

27Afranio Coutinho, A filosofia de Machadode Assis (Rio de Janeiro: LivrariaSdo Jos6,1959), p. 40.28Alceu Amoroso Lima, Trds ensaios sdbreMachado de Assis (Belo Horizonte: LivrariaEdit6ra Paulo Bluhm, 1941), p. 56.

29Raymond S. Sayers, The Negro in Brazilianliterature (New York: The Hispanic Institutein the United States, 1956), p. 201.300ctivio Branddo, 0 niilista Machado deAssis (Rio de Janeiro:OrganizaiaoSim6es Edi-t6ra, 1957). Branddo'sbooks is an appraisalofMachado de Assis from the Marxist-Leninistpoint of view, claiming,in effect, that Machadowas a productof the capitalistworld and thuswas indifferent to the sufferingof the slaves.31Erico Verissimo, Brazilian Literature, anOutline (New York: MacMillan Co., 1945),p. 72.32See note 5, Barretto Filho, p. 226.

CAN YOU ANSWER YOUR STUDENTS' QUESTIONS ABOUTVOCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN LANGUAGES?See Chapter 18 of the AATSP Handbook for Teachers of Spanish and Portu-guese (D. C. Heath and Co., 125 Spring St., Lexington, Mass. 02178 - $5.78).

Reprints of "WHY STUDY SPANISH? IS IT WORTH THE EXTRA EFFORT?SOME GUIDANCE FOR COUNSELORS" by Donald D. Walsh are available at10P a copy from Prof. Eugene Savaiano, Secretary-Treasurer,AATSP, WichitaState University, Wichita, Kansas 67208

TWO QUESTIONSDoes your school's library take Hispania? Do you have a colleague in Spanishand Portuguese who is not a member of the AATSP?

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Ciúme em Machado