A condição feminina na literatura: um estudo comparativo entre as protagonistas de Senhora e O Primo Basílio

Abstract

Despite being published only three years apart, the novels Senhora (1875), by José de Alencar, and O Primo Basílio (1878), by Eça de Queirós, are classified by literary historiography as belonging to two distinct movements: Brazilian Romanticism and Portuguese Realism, respectively. According to the categorization made by critics, in Romanticism one can see an idealized profile of the characters and situations, while Realism lays bare the social reality. In this article, we will seek to draw a parallel between the protagonists Aurélia and Luísa, in order to analyze the literary project of their authors, based on the female condition portrayed by them. The reading of the novels establishes a dialogue with critical texts that reflect on the female condition at that time, through which it will be possible to analyze the pattern constructed for women in the 19th century, on which the characters are based.