Women characters by Machado de Assis: stylized portrait of an epoch

Abstract

We analyze how some female characters by Machado de Assis reflect and dialogue, fictionally, with the position of women in Brazilian society at the time. Making an effort to contextualize the situation of women in a society marked by male chauvinism, we show that Machado, in fact, does not bring a simple image of this woman. The author seems to go against the image of women only submissive to men in general or to their husbands, typical of the time. Without being able to be branded a feminist, as it would be anachronism, Machado creates strong, calculating and very socially active characters, based on individual interests – such as Guiomar, from the novel A Mão e a Luva, Sofia, in Quincas Borba, and Capitu, from Dom Casmurro. We analyze the strategies of these characters in relation to men and marriage, the social status and the posture required of women in an effort to give a more complex view of the way in which Machado figures social reality, which he never simplifies.