THE work Posthumous Memories of Brás Cubas it was and is considered the most read and celebrated novel in the history of Brazilian literature. It is a work of fantastic realist content, as the writer creates a character who returns from the dead to tell his life story, that is, Machado de Assis innovated in the literary scene.
The work is considered the landmark of the presence of realism in Brazil, in the year 1881, the year that marks the date of publication of the work and the emergence of the first serials, to later be published as a book by Tipografia National.
Let's get to know a little more about this brilliant work?
Index
The Work of Machado de Assis is divided into 160 chapters, it was published in 1881. The first chapter is called Author's Death, the protagonist narrates his death, marking the beginning of the narrative, the last chapter, or that is, number 160, is called: "Das Negativas", the latter addresses everything that the narrator wanted to have done but was unable to accomplish during his life, that's why the name given, in this last part of his biographical, he quotes: “I didn't have children, I didn't transmit to any creature the legacy of our misery."
Storyteller: In the narrative, the narrator is shown in the first person, he is characterized as a deceased author, that is, a dead person who decides to tell his entire life trajectory before his then death, the book becomes a kind of fantastic realism, as it is a dead person who no longer belongs to the terrestrial world, telling his memories in the Earth. In this narrative, the narrator effortlessly manages to go beyond the reader's judgment, the deceased author tells the story as it should be told, without judgment.
Narrative Focus: As the whole story is told by a narrator in the first person, that is, narrator-observer and at the same time protagonist of the whole plot, in this scenario it leads the reader to understand their worldview, such as feelings, illusions, thoughts about life, in addition, Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas through its narrator demonstrates the backstage profile of the Rio society of the century XIX.
Time: The work is written in two parts, the first part is psychological, the psychological time is transmitted from the author beyond his tomb, that is, beyond his then death, in this characteristic the character tells his story in a way that only comes from his will, it does not follow a linear order, death, for example, is told before birth and before the facts of the life.
In chronological content, the events follow a logical order of the facts that occurred, such as the beginning from childhood, adolescence, to the city of Coimbra, and back to Brazil, until then his death. The title of the book in the first moment causes strangeness on the part of the readers, as it is a deceased man narrating his life trajectory, that is, a dead person who is capable of writing.
The verisimilitude undergoes changes in its realistic content, as the writers of the time, accustomed to linearity, or that is, beginning, middle and end, they feel kind of obligated to adapt to this new situation, which for them is somewhat unusual.
Bras Cubas: In the narrative, he is shown as the wealthy son of the then Cubas family, he is the main character in the book, in addition to being the narrator of the work. Brás Cubas recounts his private memories after his death at the time, and for this reason, every characterization shown in the book's narrative is in charge of him.
Virgilia: The character is Brás' great passion, in the narrative she is the minister's niece, the protagonist's father sees in the relationship the possibility of his son entering into national political issues
Marcela: The same is also considered the great love of Brás cubas, changing only the protagonist's life moment, this love happens still in adolescence
Eugenics: In the words of the narrator himself, it is considered "Flor da Moita", the name is given by the fact that as a child she ended up catching the girl's parents dating behind a bush, the protagonist as even mentioned, he had great passions, and with Eugenia it was no different, Brás Cubas was also interested in the girl, but over time he realized that he couldn't carry on the romance, the girl was "thigh".
Nha Lo Ló: Brás cubas sees in this character the only possibility of getting married, but the young woman dies of yellow fever at the age of 19
Prudence: As a child he was a slave of Brás Cubas, after some time he gained his freedom.
Lobos Neves: The character marries the great love of the life of Brás Cubas, with the marriage he managed to establish himself in political life, later suffers adultery on the part of his wife with the protagonist
Quincas Borba: A scholar and theorist of Humanitism, a doctrine which Brás Cubas had great admiration for during his life, the character Quincas dies insane.
Mrs Placida: In the work, she is a middle-class character, during her life she was a hardworking and suffering woman.
The narrative begins by analyzing the then life of Brás Cubas, a man who during his life experienced everything he could have member of a society considered patriarchal, a society filled with privileges and whims, whims given by the country.
The boy had a peculiarity, let's say very strange and cruel, had as a favorite "toy" called "Negrinho Prudencio" the black boy served him as a mount and for mistreatment in general. At school, the protagonist was Quincas Borbas's mischievous friend.
Already in his adulthood and with his fleshly desires aroused, Brás spent his money with the so-called courtesans, better known as prostitutes of luxury, one of these prostitutes, he met Marcela, to whom Brás dedicates the following sentence: “Marcela loved me for fifteen months and eleven contos de réis”.
It is important to emphasize that the writer does not make these terms mentioned in the book clear, it is the typical Machadian way of writing, the author in the work he works deeply with the figures of languages, that is, he uses the euphemism so that the reader can thus grasp the true meaning of the excerpt read.
Brás cubas during the narrative demonstrates to be truly liking Marcela, spending all his money on gifts, parties, money that was not his, but family resources. The father, seeing that situation, decided to stop, he sent his son to study abroad, in Europe, the father I had a great desire for Brás Cubas to study laws and dedicate himself to earning the title of Bachelor in Coimbra.
The protagonist does not accept his father's idea, is forced to leave Marcela, and goes sad and upset to Europe. In Coimbra, Brás' life does not change much in relation to the life he had before, he manages to graduate, and with a diploma in hand, he was not very interested in the work, he was never unfit for it. Returning to Brazil, he resumes his old life, a true parasite, taking advantage of the privileges of the well-born
During the narrative, the second love of Brás Cubas appears, the second and the most lasting of his entire life, the protagonist is filled with love for Virgilia, the father via in that courtship and possible marriage, the possibility of the son taking directions in political life, as Virginia was related to the Minister of the Court, but unfortunately the she herself ends up marrying another, Lobo Neves, ending the dreams of the protagonist and the whole family, for them the entry of Brás Cubas into Politics was seen as social ascension.
Machado de Assis' book is considered an innovative and at the same time revolutionary work, they are posthumous memories, that is, the narrator, already in his state of death, relives with memories of his past life, in this narrative he constitutes a deceased author with a protagonistic content, here the question arises, What is the purpose of Machado de Assis to create a narrator already dead? The answer is on the tip of his tongue, Machado de Assis created this character to narrate his life with total exemption, that is, the character Brás Cubas would have to be totally detached from any kind of relationship with society, that is, with his own life.
Death provides a certain distance from the commitment to the people around him, that is, a sincere and ironic narrative is created, and ironically, Brás Cubas writes the dedication of his then book:
"To the worm that first gnawed the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate these Posthumous Memories as a nostalgic remembrance."
As we can see in this dedication passage, the verb “gnawed” is in the past, which leads us to believe that the protagonist is nothing else, no longer exists, should not more satisfactions or answers to anyone, he is free, absolute, sovereign, and owner of the words to portray life, people, settings, and himself, as well. to understand.
“What makes my Brás Cubas a particular author is what he calls “pessimism rants”. There is in the soul of this book, however cheerful it may seem, a bitter and harsh feeling. (…) I don't say any more so as not to criticize a deceased, who painted himself and others, as he felt was better and more right.”
Other articles:
“For some time I hesitated whether to open these memories at the beginning or at the end, that is, whether I should put my birth or my death first. Assuming the common usage is to start at birth, two considerations led me to adopt a different method: a The first is that I am not exactly a deceased author, but a deceased author, for whom the grave was another baby crib; the second is that the writing would thus be more gallant and younger.”
“I died of pneumonia; but if I tell you that it was less pneumonia than a great and useful idea that caused my death, you may not believe me, and yet it is true. I will briefly present the case to you. Judge it for yourself.”
In 2001, Machado's work created life on movie screens, debuting as a comedy with a dramatic content. The then character of Brás Cubas was brilliantly interpreted by the author Reginaldo Faria, and Virgilia, by Viétia Zangrandi.
The feature film was and continues to be considered the best film ever seen in book adaptations, it received several awards, such as the Gramado Festival.
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