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Helena (Machado de Assis novel)
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Wikipedia article
'Helena' is a novel written by the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis. It was first published in 1876.
Plot summary
The novel opens with the family of Estcio, whose father, Conselheiro Vale, has just died. In his will, the Conselheiro has recognized a natural daughter, previously unknown to both Estcio and his aunt Dona rsula, with whom he shares the family home. The daughter, Helena, arrives to a mixed reception. Estcio welcomes her warmly while his aunt shows marked hesitation over this unknown person. While Estcio grows increasingly more fond of his half-sister, Helena in a series of events succeeds in also winning the affection of the stern Dona rsula.
Life proceeds harmoniously in their household. Meanwhile Estcio, implicitly due to affections for Helena, defers an engagement with the beautiful, but less adroit Eugnia. Well into the novel it is revealed that Helena has been guarding a secret, one which seems to be related to a house nearby which Estcio and Helena frequently pass near while horseback riding. It is later revealed that the biological father of Helena, who is not Conselheiro Vale, lives in the house but in misery.
At this point, Helena is being courted by Estcio's friend, Mendona even though the attraction that Estcio feels for Helena is very apparent to the reader. This affection is never truly recognized by Estcio until the preacher Melchior warns Estcio that he feels romantic love for his new sister. As this is being revealed, the reader learns that Helena is indeed not the daughter of Conselheiro Vale and consequently not a blood relation to Estcio.
However, Helena's neglect to admit that she is not truly related to the family and thus should never have been recognized proves too much for her conscience and she falls ill. Helena does not recover and by her death bed Estcio is horrified and distraught.
Major themes
In Machado de Assis earlier, romanticist, works the role of the female figure is an important and persistent theme.See Pescatello 3841 When Helena arrives there is an air of suspicion regarding her background, especially from Dona rsula. Helena is, in many ways, a transitional character between the fading aristocratic values of the landed oligarchy and the emergent urban middle class.See Guimares 158 and also Schwarz The importance of caste is evident among the novels representatives of the older generation: Dona rsula and Camargo. Prior to the social transitions of the period, feminine selection for marriage was a source of maintenance of the social hierarchy.
Yet, for Estcio, the issue of Helenas class beginnings is of little consequence and he is instead endured to Helena for the virtues and skills she possesses. This is the new female dexterity which the growing middle class lauds in women. Opposed to the aristocratic values which tended towards idle beauty and adornment, the new ethic prized industry and domestic utility in the female figure.See Hahner Helena was this model.
Helena is seen as a light of the future; however, the pressures of the extant social structure allow her no place in society. Trapped in despair, Helena falls ill and dies, thus taking the only escape that would be allowed at that time. She is presented as a model of and martyr for the generation of women to come.
Literary schools of 19th century Brazil
19th century Brazil saw the foundations of the national literature centered around the incorporation of the novel as a suitable genre.See Da Silva 5 Domestic novels were highly scrutinized in question of their impact on society and in particular the nations youth. Until the last quarter of the 19th century, the predominant literary school in Brazil was Romanticism, of which Jos de Alencar was the foremost novelist.See Zilberman 141 In his first novels, characterized to some extent by sentimentality, Machado de Assis maintained affinities with the Romantic school. However, by the 1880s, he was an advocate of Brazilian Realism.See Zilberman 143 Realism, along with Naturalism which Machado de Assis disdained, supplanted Romanticism as the pre-eminent novelistic form of the final two decades of the 19th century.
'Helena' (1876) was followed by 'Iai Garcia' (1878). These two works represented the end of what is usually termed Machado de Assis' first, Romantic, phase. With 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas' (1881) his Realist style would be firmly in place. This is usually considered to be the beginning of his mature work.See Pescatello 40 His romantic novels: 'Ressurreio', 'A Mo e Luva', 'Helena' and 'Iai Garcia' have seen some growth in critical interest but are generally considered inferior.See Guimares 159
Adaptations
The work was adapted as a 2014 comic book, 'Helena'.
Notes
Bibliography
*Chamberlain, Bobby J. 'Portuguese Language and Luso-Brazilian Literature: An Annotated Guide to Selected Reference Works' (Selected Bibliographies in Language and Literature. 6th Edition. New York: Modern Language Association, 1989.
*Echevarra, Roberto Gonzlez and Enrique Pupo-Walker, Editors. 'The Cambridge Companion to Latin American Literature. Vol. 3. Brazilian Literature Bibliographies'. Cambridge University Press, 1996.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cy3DlPcC6yoC&dq=history+of+brazilian+literature&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=yY9Ws7BKVC&sig=HJJIjN0tC47Z8WquwUS5nvetPZE&hl=en&ei=MiMkS5bkApHIlAew4IH9CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CB4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false Google Books]
*Da Silva, Hebe Christina. "Jos de Alencar, Nacionalidade Literria e Forma Romanesca." 'Trajetrias do romance : circulao, leitura e escrita nos sculos XVIII e XIX.' Mrcia Abreu, org. Mercado de Letras: So Paulo, 2008.
*GUIMARES, Hlio de Seixas. 'Os leitores de Machado de Assis: o romance machadiano e o pblico de literatura no sculo 19'. So Paulo: Nankin Editorial, EdUSP, 2004.
*Hahner, June E. 'Emancipating the Female Sex: The Struggle for Womens Rights in Brazil, 18501940'. Duke University Press: Durham, NC, 1990.
*Pescatello, Ann. "The Brazileira: Images and Realities in Writings of Machado de Assis and Jorge Amado." 'Female and Male in Latin America'. Ed. Ann Pescatello. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh, PA, 1973.
*SCHWARZ, Roberto. 'Ao vencedor as batatas: forma literria e processo social nos incios do romance brasileiro'. 2ed. So Paulo: Duas Cidades, 1981.
*Zilberman, Regina. "Brazil". 'Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature' Ed. Smith, Verity. Fitzroy Dearborn: Chicago, 1997.
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