The tragic action as a reveal of the violence in the personal relationships in the 19th century

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the short story “Pílades e Orestes”, by Machado de Assis, with the intention of demonstrating how the author uses Orestes’s tragic history to reveal the violence which happens in the personal relationships in the 19th century. In this work, through an approach inversion of the original tragic text, Machado reveals the character Gonçalves’s efforts in his search of social ascension. Such situation evidences Quintanilha’s self-esteem annihilation, because of the subterfuge tergiversated by the other character to keep him as his own emotional dependent person. It is perceived, therefore, the narrative is developed through Gonçalves’s interest in Quintanilha’s inheritance, a dream that came true at the end of the story with Quintanilha’s convenient death, victim of a lost bullet when he was taking candies to his friend’s children.

Key words: Brazilian Literature; tragic action; violence.