“NECKTIES OF A CERTAIN COLOR” – POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT IN MACHADO DE ASSIS’S ESAÚ E JACÓ

Abstract

Machado de Assis’s view of politics is a controversial topic. Since the late nineteenth century, critics have diverged on the degree and nature of the Brazilian writer’s political engagement, as registered in his crônicas, short stories, and novels. I begin my essay with a review of the most important critical works that touch upon this theme, and propose that Machado often comments on politics in his fiction, but that he does so in a subtle, indirect manner. In this essay, I focus on Machado’s novel Esaú e Jacó, and argue that the metafictional observations that abound in this novel can be applied not only to fictional narratives, but also to political discourse. I interpret these metafictional comments as Machado’s strategy to highlight the partial and subjective quality of political discourse. Finally, I analyze the protagonists of the novel, the twins Pedro and Paulo, as symbols of the paradoxical nature of human beings and, by extension, the instability of individual political opinions.