O tenement of Aluisio de Azevedo can be considered one of the most emblematic works of Brazilian naturalism, its original publication date was in the year 1890. It is a book of reflection and collective scenarios, which seeks and transmits the behavior of the characters through the philosophical current of determinism, or that is, influence of the environment, race and especially the historical moment, bringing mainly the role of women in their environment in society in the century XIX.
The Work tells the simple life of the characters in a tenement, a kind of collective housing in Rio de Janeiro, it is a critical and straightforward work, let's check a little more?
We also recommend: Dry Lives of Graciliano Ramos
Index
The book is composed of 23 chapters in all, the narrative is made by an omniscient narrator, that is, it is the one who knows all the history described there, being the main characteristic of the movement naturalist. The narrator has full knowledge of the work and the characters, always analyzing the behavior and actions through the philosophical current of determinism as already mentioned.
In the chronological aspect, that is, time is shown in a linear way, and what would that be? Linear time is when every context has the beginning, middle and mainly the end of every narrative. The work does not pay much attention to dates, and takes place in Brazil in the 19th century, in the work the precision of time is very important, as it is related to the growth of the tenement and the great leap of life João Pomegranate.
In weaving space, Aluisio's work recounts two moments, the first is the tenement, a space divided by many characters, a place of great criticism social, because the misery was immense and the landscape is poorly distributed huts, in the tenement, there is another area, the quarry of the Portuguese João's tavern Pomegranate.
The second space is next to the tenement, a two-storey house considered noble and with modern features, owned by the then merchant Miranda and his family, neighborhood called botafogo, in other words, the book represents this mixture of classes, between the ascendant bourgeoisie of the century, with the simple-living people of the tenement.
The characters represented in the work have superficial characteristics, social types and mainly behavioral. The main ones are:
João Romão: João Romão is Portuguese, he owns a tavern, a tavern like this quarry, besides everything he owns the tenement. He is a man considered to be capitalist, brute and exploitative.
Bertoleza: She is a slave who lives with João Romão, she is very exploited and works without a time to finish.
Miranda: Like João Romão, he is also a merchant in history and considered a great enemy of João Romão.
Stele: Considered unfaithful wife of Mr. Miranda
Jerome: In the story, the character is also a Portuguese man who takes care of and manages the João Romão quarry, has a love affair with Rita Baiana.
Rita Bahia: Rita Baiana is the great representation of Brazilian women in Aluisio's work, the same one that promotes the pagodas in the then tenement. A sensual, provocative and seductive woman.
pity: She is until then married to Jerônimo, she represents the European woman, after discovering Jerônimo's betrayal, she drowns in drink.
Capoeira Firmo: The capoeira character also had a relationship with Rita Baiana, he is a great mulatto. companionship, unfortunately ended up dying at the hands of Jerônimo, who after discovering the involvement killed him.
Little Dove: She is a girl represented as polite, pretty, discreet, who prostitutes herself for influences.
Liborio: He is one of the most suffered characters of the whole plot, he lives in the streets begging, miserable and lonely.
We also recommend this post: the fifteen
The narrative begins by portraying João Romão, owner of the tenement and with a strong ambition of enrichment, shows his explorer and brute side with the employees, in addition to being the owner of the then tenement, João Romão is also the owner of a small quarry, better known as tavern. Among his employees, Bertoleza is the most exploited of all, she worked every day, and above all, she served him as a lover, during this period the great social inequality is demonstrated.
At another point in the narrative, Miranda, an opponent of João Romão, appears in the book, he is also considered a merchant in the book, however a very good merchant. successful, who fights for a piece of land with João Romão to increase his backyard, but failing to reach a fair deal, both cut relations.
During this time, João Romão feeds a great envy of Miranda, his big dream was to get rich and have the same recognition as the merchant, in view of this, when Miranda receives the title of baron, he realizes that it was not enough just to get rich, but to demonstrate a recognized social appearance and exquisite.
The characters in the tenement do not have much ambition for enrichment, such as Rita Baiana, Capoeira Firmo, Jerônimo and Piedade, all of whom are examples that the novelist's work demonstrates. influence of the environment as a bad influence, we have as an example the Portuguese Jerônimo, a simple, kind and hardworking man who falls in love with the mulatto woman Rita Baiana and changes his whole life. behavior.
As time goes by, João and Miranda begin to have a friendly relationship, mainly due to the fact that Romão also gets the title of Barão, and shows superiority over your opponent, with this title, it promotes changes in your tavern, these changes in characteristics aristocratic. The Cortiço is not left out, through a disorganized and miserable landscape, it becomes a place organized under the title “Vila João Romão”.
João Romão he ends up getting involved with Miranda's daughter, and not only that, João Romão marries Estela. Bertoleza is the baron's slave, realizing the strategy of her then "boss", she demands to enjoy everything he conquers during the marriage, the merchant, not liking his lover's idea at all, ends up denouncing her as a desperate, runaway slave, Bertoleza runs away and ends up taking his own life, leaving the path clear for Romão to finally conquer his long-awaited ascension Social.
The work of Aluisio de Azevedo portrays the best representation ever seen of the naturalism Brazilian. It is an instigating reading that at the same time shows reality in a clear and objective way, leading the reader to question the true behavior of each character.
Every story is told in third person, with the omniscient narrator, the presence of zoomorphism is noticeable, that is, it transforms man into an animal, and the tenement place is personified in the course of the work, all characters involved in that territory are treated according to changes in the location, their way of behaving and speaking.
The philosophical thinking of determinism is portrayed a lot during the work, an example of the dove, a girl considered of low social status and gets involved with Leonie, a prostitute, with this approach a relationship develops lesbian. With the book Aluisio proves how environment, race, and history do determine man and can lead to degradation total, showing that the mixture of races in the same environment, in the same place, has repercussions on sexual promiscuity and moral
The work is portrayed in Rio de Janeiro in the 19th century, previously considered the capital of the empire. The tenement can be considered a true allegory, as it portrays the incipient capitalism, which capitalism is shown that the exploiter lived very close to the exploited, we can notice this passage in João Romão's relationship and his relationship with the lower levels of the tenement, we also have the bourgeois Miranda, with the highest status in comparison to João Romão, who lives in his house considered a palace and fears the accelerated growth of the tenement, showing the great social inequality that still remains in the nowadays
“And for two years the tenement prospered from day to day, gaining strength, punching itself with people. And at his side, Miranda was frightened, restless with that brutal exuberance of life, terrified in front of that relentless forest that grew near his house, for under the windows, and whose roots, worse and thicker than snakes, undermined everywhere, threatening to burst the ground around it, cracking the ground and shaking it. everything."
___
“Now, on the same street, another tenement was germinating nearby, the 'Cabeça-de-Cato'. Its owner figured as a Portuguese who also had a sale, but the legitimate owner was a wealthy counselor, a man in a clean tie, who was not suitable, for social decorum, to appear in a similar type of speculations.”
___
“At the same time, João Romão, in flip flops and a nightgown, was walking around in his new room. A large room lined in blue and white with yellow flowers pretending to be gold; there was a rug at the foot of the bed, and a nickel alarm clock on the pot, and all the furniture was already married, because the smart one wasn't about to buy furniture twice.”
In addition to Aluisio's work, “O tenement” was released in 1978, adapted and directed by Francisco Ramalho Jr.
See too: Eça de Queirós
Subscribe to our email list and receive interesting information and updates in your email inbox
Thanks for signing up.
