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Ea and FlaubertAuthor(s): James R. StevensReviewed work(s):Source: Luso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Summer, 1966), pp. 47-61Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3512969 .

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E c a a n d FlaubertJamesR. Stevens

The literaryaffiliationsof Ega de Queirozhave from the beginningsug-gested a relationshipbetween his work, particularlyO Primo Basilio,and that of Gustave Flaubert, most obviously with Madame Bovary.1Criticismhas tended,however,to concentrateon supposed parallelswithEmileZola,and,whereFlauberthas been treated,to limit itself to a com-parisonof particularscenes. This paper is an attempt to indicate theimportanceof the example of Madame Bovary to the structureof OPrimo and particularly o the characterization f Lulsa. The effect of thediscussion s to supportsome of those stricturespronouncedby Machadode AssisagainstO Primowhich have recentlybeen contested by AlbertoMachadoda Rosa2and RichardA. Mazzara,3o whose studies this paperowes much. Its focus, literaryratherthan ideologicalor sociological,hasled to conclusionswhich differfrom but do not contradict heirs.BothO PrimoBasilioandMadameBovaryare builtaround he adulteryof a young marriedwoman,and in each the "fall" s regardedas inevit-able consideringthe past history and present situation of the two. Inwhat ways do the two centralfiguresresembleeach other and how dothey differ?Both are given educations in convents which have neitherpreparedthemfor the lives they are to lead nor given them any securitythrough religion. Religious sentiment,even of the most superficialandtransitorynature, is almost completely absent from O Primo Basilio.Emma is susceptibleto the "pretty" ide of religion as a possible framefor her self-dramatizations,nd after Rodolphe'sdesertion and her con-sequent illness, she has a period of religiosity, roughlycorrespondingoher physical convalescence.Both authorsput great stress on the impor-

1The editions used are: Ega de Queiroz, O Primo Basilio (Episddio d6mestico),(Lello e Irmao, Porto, n.d.); Gustave Flaubert, Oeuvres, ed. A. Thibaudet et R. Du-mesnil, Biblioth6que de la Pleiade (Paris, Gallimard,1952).2Alberto Machado da Rosa, Epa, discipulo de Machado? (Rio: Fundo de Cultura,1963).3Richard A. Mazzara, "Paralelos Luso-Brasileiros:Ega e lrico," LBR, I (1964),63-73.Luso-BrazilianReview,Vol. III, No. 1, May 1966 47


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tance of the reading of "romantic"fiction in the formation of their hero-ines' temperaments. Emma begins with late eighteenth century stories oflove and tender passion and adventure, and then moves on to WalterScott; Lulsa begins with Scott and proceeds to the "modem" fiction ofFrench Romanticism. (This minor difference is logical due to the factthat Emma was born twenty years before Lulsa). In both, this "petit malde siecle" remains a constant and at times overpowering element in themotivation.

Luisa is given a somewhat higher social position than is Emma, butsince her drama is played in the provinces and Luisa's in a national capi-tal their relative ranks are not very different. The relationship of thisposition to their characters, however, is a clue to an important distinctionbetween them. Emma is always conscious that she belongs by circum-stances to a class far below the one to which she believes her qualitiesentitle her. With Luisa this is of such minor importance as to be almostnon-existent as a motivating factor. That is to say, Emma is an idealisticrebel, feeling herself deprived of a paradise which is rightfully hers. Herattempts to enter this paradise are purposeful and sustained, revealinga temperament not weak and acquiescent like Luisa's but strong anddetermined. Specifically, if she is not a member of the privileged classes,she will act as if she were. Materially this involves spending large sumsof money.This difference prepares us to understand the grounds for one of thebasic criticisms made by Machado de Assis against O Primo: that theconflict in the second half between Luisa and Juliana and the former'sconsequent need for money have a purely fortuitous basis. It is by acci-dent that the maid comes into possession of the incriminating letters, andit is from this fact that the action of the entire second half results. Emmatoo is involved in a sordid struggle over money, as a result of her businessdealings with Lheureux, the cloth merchant and rising capitalist. Nowthese dealings are the direct result of her social aspirations and of the cir-cumstances of her liaisons with the two lovers, particularly Leon. Withinthe context of the novel they are inevitable and the result of them is inev-itable, whereas Juliana's finding of the letters and the blackmail whichfollows is not. Eca justifies the circumstances: Luisa is surprised and flus-tered, thus leaving the first letter where it can be found; Juliana is vin-dictive and prying, so that we understand her reasons for discoveringthe others and the use she makes of them; but the first cause does nothave the aspect of inevitability given its analogue in Madame Bovary.Moreover, the financial details Flaubert describes make these transac-tions both particular and representative (the old formula for French real-ism), and give a solidity to the presentation of the society surrounding

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Emma,a soliditycomparativelyackingin O Primo.It is interesting hatbothwritershave foundit necessary o isolate theirheroines.Luisa is an orphan,her husbandleaves on a long trip, she hasno children, he two servantsmore thansufficeto attend to her needs andthose of the house. She has no duties of any kind. The membersof therestrictedcircle of her acquaintancesare for variousreasonsdisqualifiedfrom exerting any effective influence on her. Sebastiao,her husband'sclosest friend, is concernedonly with what the neighborswill say, andwith fulfillingJorge'srequestto keep Leopoldinaout of the house. This isnot because he feels no responsibility,but because his unusual shynessand sensitivitypreventhim fromplayingthe role for which his sincerityand virtues qualify him. Leopoldina,Luisa'sonly woman friend of herage, suffersfrom exactlycontrarydefects;she has the personal qualitiesbut lacks the moralones. The others are likewise unsuitable:D. Felici-dade is a good-heartedbut silly woman (moreover,she is immobilizedwith a brokenfoot duringmost of the period of Luisa'smisadventures);Juliaois an egoist, so consumed with resentmentas to be incapableofacting in this situation;the Counselor,equally egoistical, is a pompouspedant;Ernestino s busy with his play and in any case is an ineffectualperson.Luisa has no one to standbetween her and the consequencesofher faulty upbringing.Ega'smethodis to isolate Luisasociallyand physically;Flaubert's s tolet Emma'sfeeling of isolation grow out of the estrangementwhich aromantictemperament aturally eels towarda worlddominatedby mate-rial interests.Her husbandis a force propellingher into the armsof herlovers, so it is unnecessary or him to be removedphysically.Emma iseven permittedto have a child, but Charles s the father,and, with rareand theatrical exceptions, she feels no attachment for her daughter.Emma,unlikeLuisa,has a living father,but he is distant from Yonville.The mother of Charles,of course,cannot be permittedto live with thefamily:her presencewould soon have broughtto light Emma's inancialmanipulationsand the novel would have been considerablyshorter.Buton the whole Luisa is isolatedby chance,Emmaby her own nature. Fur-ther, Emmais isolated throughoutthe novel, Luisa only at the time ofher affair with Basilio-that is, only when it facilitates the action of thebook.

Probably he most basic elementsof the novels and their leading char-acters are concernedwith the handlingof the "romances"which consti-tute the heart of both novels and the consequenceswhich result fromthem. Given Emma'stemperament, he circumstancesof her life, bothpast and present,her first affairis completelyinevitable,requiring onlythe presence of a professional adies'man to precipitateit. The ground

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has been preparedby Emma'severyactionpriorto this point. Only afterfive chaptersis the readerpermittedfor the first time to learn Emma'sstate of mind directly: "Avantqu'elle se mari&t, lle avait cru avoir deramour;mais le bonheurqui auraitdt r6sulterde cet amourn'6tantpasvenu, il fallait qu'ellese fut trompee,songeait-elle.Et Emmacherchaitsavoirce que l'on entendaitau juste dans la vie par les mots de f6licit6,de passionet d'ivresse,qui lui avaientparusi beaux dans les livres."4Thewords, after her marriage,remainas real as before, only the substanceis lacking. She is disillusionedwith her marriage,not with what sheexpected of it, and the action of the book will be dominatedby herattempts to experience "felicit6,""passion,""ivresse."The novel willend when she has found them, or when she realizesthat she never will.It is thenthat Flaubert,who had until this time concentratedhis atten-tion on Charles,reviews the experienceof life that leads Emmato investthose romantic words with such a content of longing and expectation.And how could Charleshave been expectedto understandher unfulfill-ment, when he himself has been so marvelously fulfilled? Fourteenmonths with the cold-footedwidow, following all the years in which hismotherguided him with concern but not with love, have been repaidtoan extent he had hardlydaredhope and never expected. Unfortunatelyfor him, his very gratitude,coupled with his lack of imaginationandintelligence,make him blind to Emma's discontent and the maneuver-ings to which it leads. No; Charles s a good simpleboy, not the stuff ofwhich dreamsare made.The dullnessandthe vulgarityof her life add to Emma'sdissatisfaction,for she has expectednot only to feel the emotionsof a romanticheroinebut to live in the worldof luxuryandexcitement hat is the propersettingfor such people. The only break in the monotonyof her existenceis theinvitationshe and Charlesreceive to a ball at Vaubyessard,he residenceof the Marquisd'Andervilliers.The effect of the ball is to add fuel toEmma's lame of imagination.For the firsttime she sees, or believes shesees, the life her readinghad told her existed, and she even has a littleadventureherselfwith the handsomeVicomte,whose equally handsomecigarcase they findon theirway home. But monotonycomesdown againuntil the arrivalof Leon, a younglaw clerkof Yonville.Leon is too inex-perienced and timid to profit by Emma'sobvious "penchant"or him,and he departsto study in Paris leaving only a faint perfume of muteand trembling ove.Arrives at last Rodolphe, the made-to-order over, cynical, worldly,unprincipled,an excellent reader of female characterand an accom-

4Flaubert, p.cit.,p.365.

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plished actorin domestic dramasof his own contriving.He realizesveryquicklywhat Emma'sdreamis and converts himself into it. The rest istechnique: Rodolphe'sand Flaubert's.Emmais genuinely,sincerely n love with him, wholly, for her tragedyis thather capacityfor feeling has been almostcompletelyreduced to theformulaherreadinghas taughther is the properone for love. She is play-ing a role, but the role is the only realityshe has. This permitsFlaubertto retainthe dramaticcontrastbetween the woman,innocentand sincerein her feelings,and her seducer,heartlessand calculating,so dear to theRomanticnovel. At the sametime he keepshis heroinewithin the boundsof the real by showingus the limitationsof her sincerityand innocence.When the affairbegins to pall, as it eventuallymust, Rodolphemanageshis escape by appealingto one of the stock pieces in the repertoireofromanticism.He agrees to run away with Emma,and managesto keepup the pretenceof love for some weeks more until at last he goes awayalone,leavingEmmawith a messagein the bottomof a basket of fruithesendsher. She takes to her bed, with a long and mysterious-to her hus-band-illness from which she at length emerges, miraculously, ike thePhoenix,with most of her illusions intact.Therefollows a long periodof convalescenceduringwhich she enjoysa shortflirtationwith religion,and then takesup againthe dull monotonyof her pre-Rodolphian xistence.She is now ready for the next phase, aphase far more serious in its spiritualand materialconsequencesthanthe affairjust ended.Emma meets Leon again. After some time in Paris he has come toRouenas a clerk.He has learnedenough of life and women in Paristobe able to undertake he physical conquestof Emma,but not enoughforhim to understand he forces which have made her what she is. He haslearned the techniquesof romanticseduction,but unlearnedthe roman-ticism of mind and spiritwhich had attractedthem to each other in thebeginning.Still he is not Rodolphe,and after a few preliminary ungesandparries, t is Emmawho "capitulates"nd arranges or them to meeton a permanentbasis.The affairtakes its course,and the desperationwhich has been latentin Emma'sprevious experience-that the great emotionsand experiencesof life aregoingto passherby-becomes an increasinglydominant heme.It is not that she is to be deprivedof the life of romance; t is that thelife of realityis going to have its revengeon her for her aspirations.DonQuixotemust meet defeat and be paraded n a cage as an objectof scornand derision.Realityhas always ringedher in, held barelyat bay by thestrengthof her illusion,and its bordershave been so diligently guardedthateven the familiarandfamilyaffectionshave been refusedadmittance.

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The love of her childwouldbe a reallove, so the child is rejectedas lack-ing the visa of romance.But now reality s to make anentranceand underthe most unpleasantof aspects.He who calls the tune pays the piper,and Emma'sneglect of the bour-geois virtues,particularly hose relating to money, receives appropriatepunishment,culminating n the notice of forced sale tacked on her door.It is the necessityof finding money to satisfy the importunateLheureuxwhichbringsaboutthe finalcompletetriumphof realityover illusion. Theexperiencesshe has-the realization hat Leon has neither the desirenorthe capacityto help her, the scene with MaitreGuillaumin,otherhumili-ations-all culminate n the terriblescenewith Rodolphe, he scene whichjustifies he concludinghorrorsof the book.She has not seen him for three years, and since the beginning of theaffairwith Leon has scarcelythoughtof him, but now in this crisiswhenall else has failed, his memory"commeun grand eclair dans une nuitsombre,"comes into her soul. "I1etait si bon, si delicat, si genereuxl"5So quickly does Rodolphe again become the vehicle for her illusions.This illusion s soondestroyedby his refusalto help her,and with it crum-ble all the others. "La folie la prenait, elle eut peur, et parvint a seressaisir,d'unemaniereconfuse,il est vrai;car elle ne se rappelaitpointla cause de son horribleetat, c'est-a-dire a question d'argent.Elle nesouffraitque de son amour,et sentait son ame rabandonnerpar ce sou-venir, comme les blesses agonisant,sentent l'existencequi s'en va parleurplaie qui saigne."6This is her situation: he illusion that love by itselfis sufficientand that it justifieseverythinghas gone, swept away by thecrueller disillusionmentof realizing that she has never been loved bythe men for whom she has been willing to sacrifice so much. How doesshe act in this dark night of the soul? "Alors sa situation,telle qu'unabime,se representa.Elle haletaita se rompre a poitrine.Puis, dans untransportd'heroismeque la rendaitpresque joyeuse,elle descenditla c6teen courant, raversa a plancheauxvaches,le sentier, 'allee,les halles, etarrivadevantla boutiquedu pharmacien."7 er decision has been made,and she proceedsto put it into effect with her usual initiative and dis-patch,but even now an illusiondeceives her-that death by arsenicpoi-soningwill come easilyand painlessly.Insteadshe, and the reader,mustgo throughthe agony of an excruciatingand degradingdeath. Flaubertdoes not stop with this, but presentsus with the pitiful death of Charlesand a glimpseof the future which shows us their little daughterforced

5 Flaubert,pp. 606, 607.6Flaubert,p. 611.7 Flaubert,p. 612.



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to earn her breadby workin a factory.Flaubertseems like one who hasby chance wounded an animal,and who in a frenzy of remorsekicks itto death,and goes on kickinglong after the animalis dead.Is Emma's death justified?This requirestwo answers,one relatingtothe motivationprovidedfor the death and the second to its place in thedevelopmentof the theme. Practically, t is very well motivated.Emmadoes not die by illnessorby accident.She takesher own life. The novelisthas then only to show that a person of her temperamentand circum-stances would be apt to see suicide as the only solutionto her problems.Her characterwe know has been formedaround the illusionof romanticlove as the guidingforce in the universeand the thing of greatestvalue.Accompanying his has been a strongsense of self-respectand a desirefor esteem, which neverthelesshas permittedher to subject herself tohumiliationsbecausethey could be justifiedas occasionedby love. Withher belief in love gone, she must bear the full force of the consequencesof these humiliationsas well as the realization hat the centralfact of heruniverse has disappeared.These materialconsequences,coincidingwiththe loss of the illusionwhich might have permittedher to bear, perhapseven avoid, them,leaves herno real alternative o suicide.She dies whenher illusiondies, that is, when Rodolphe rejectsher need in the present,and by extensionthe realityof their love in the past; and her actualsui-cide is really more a process of decay in the abandonedphysical bodythanit is the death of anythingalive.Emmadoes not die to makea point to a moral esson,nor does she dieto prove the folly of romantic ove; she dies to show us that this greatnineteenthcenturyworldof scientificand materialprogress"Hathreallyneitherjoy, norlove, nor light, // Nor certitude,nor peace, nor help forpain;". t is not that Emma's llusions make her unfitfor reality;it is thatrealityis unworthyof her illusions.She dies not as the defendantin

anactionwith life, but as the accuser.And she accusesnot merely FrenchsocietyunderNapoleonIII-Homais in the Tuileries-but the human con-ditionand God himself,who has permittedsuch aspirations o exist in aworld of paltry mediocrity, where love, because it must, ". .. has pitchedhismansion n // Theplace of excrement."WhatFlaubertforgets or wasincapableof knowing is what Yeats'old beggar woman so well knew:that it is love which makes a mansion out of the "placeof excrement"and that it is Don Quixote's llusion we remember,not the realitywhichkilled him. It is this defect of visionwhich rendersMadameBovaryoneof the long series of brilliant,passionate,but partial representationsoflife-books not artisticallywrongbut humanlylimited.This novel then becomes a dialoguebetween Emma's llusion and theillusionof her creator,a dialogueilluminatedby the occasionalslipping

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of the mask of objective impassivitywhich Flaubert so conscientiouslybut with so muchagonyassumes.The man who writes,describingEmmaas she runs to meet her death at the hands of Rodolphe, ". .. son pauvrecoeur comprime s'y dilatait amoureusement,"8egardshis creationnotwith the serenityof an imperturbabledivinity,but with the intense pityof a god who suffers or and throughhis creation.It is the nature of thingswhich makesEmmasuffer; t is the natureofEmmawhichmakesLuisasuffer, orshe hasnot a natureof her own, thatis, a consistencyand wholeness of personality.She is and does whateverher creatorrequires;and althoughEca is at times in love with her, it isnever to the extentthat he allowsher to go her own way. Luisa is guidedand restrictedby E9a'sreadingof MadameBovary,and the differencesbetween the two novels are every bit as much the result of Flaubert'sinfluenceas arethe resemblances.The chief differenceandthe one whichplaces O PrimoBasilioin a lower categoryof fictionalquality is the lackof consistencyin Luisa's character and actions. With minor class andnationaldifferences, he is given the same conditioningas is Emma,andwith the same result of a preoccupationwith romantic ove.Whether Ega himself would agree, Luisa'sportraiture s a labor oflove, both in its result (as Basilio says: "... 6 uma linda rapariga! Valeimenso a penal" (552),9 and in its procedure.Luisa is the product of abourgeois society infested with the disease of romanticism,that is, amaterialismunable to recognizethat it is materialism.Her educationhastaughther how to read and play the piano, and to expect of life a con-tinued gratification f her emotions.It is emotional,not sensual,satisfac-tion she demands.The particularform of this emotionalsatisfactionisdeterminedby the books she has read, for she is as much the result ofthe readingof French romancesas Don Quixoteis of readingromancesof chivalry, ". . . veio estenderse no voltaire, quase deitada, e, com ogesto acariciadore amorosodos dedos sobre a orelha, comegou a ler,todainteressada.Era a Damadas Cam6lias."13). She has been readingthem all her adult life, beginning at eighteen with Scott. But her tastehas changed,and "agoraera o modernoque a cativava."(14) And this"modern"s Paris and the "Bohemegalante,"where sincerityof passionjustifiesall. Moreover,her experienceof life has done nothingto correctthe harm done by reading. Her life has been frivolous and protected;even the endingof her understandingwith her cousinBasiliohas left nopermanenteffect. He went away and after a time she met Jorge. Theymarryand life flows along evenly, almost without incident. She lacks

8 Flaubert,p. 607.9Paginationrefersto O PrimoBasilio,vid. note 1.



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strengthof characterand the habits of her social class in Lisbon haveprevented her from acquiringany genuine religious convictionswhichmight have compensatedfor her individualweakness.Her strongestconviction,then, is her romantic llusion.But is it reallyan illusion,that is, an all-pervasivedistortionof the appearanceof realityas it is with Emma?What does Luisa do and what does she think beforeBasilio returnsto her life? Despite the misgivings of some of Jorge'sfriends (who must have read Flaubert): ". . . Luisa . . . saiu muito boadona de casa: tinha cuidados muito simpaticosnos seus arranjos:eraasseada,alegrecomo umpassarinho, omoumpassarinhoamigado ninhoe dos caricios do macho;e aquele serzinho ouro,e meigo veio dar a suacasa um encantoserio."(9) And this conditionhas lastedfor threeyears.The only cloud is Leopoldina,and Lulsa'sregardfor her stemsat least asmuch from her feelings of loyalty toward an old and somewhat unfortu-nate friend as fromany admiration or her way of life. It is true that, likeEmma,she continues to read romanticfiction,but there is no evidenceat this point that she is accustomedto substituteits values for those ofeveryday reality.She is leading the typical life of a personof her condi-tion; Emma was not. There is no evidence of a basic discontent,eitherlatent or overt,with herself,her husband,or their circumstances.This isby no meansin itself a fault in the novel, but it leaves the novelistwiththe necessityof so presentingthe love affairthat it will provideits ownmotivation,whereas Flaubert could rely on Emma'stemperamentandattitudeto justifyalmostany affairshe might involveherself in. It mighthave been possible,if Ega had been as much of a Naturalistas some ofhis criticshave thoughthim, to base Luisa'sfall on sexual appetite,butthe courseof the affairdoes not bear this out. Everythingthen dependsuponthe qualityof Luisa'sfeeling for Basilio as revealedin her relation-ship with him, and in the effects of this relationshipon her.Two things strike the reader familiar with Madame Bovary aboutLuisa as she is presentedbeforeher reunionwith Basilio: that she is con-tented with her way of life, and that Emmawould not be. It is impos-sible to imagine her reacting to the imminentdepartureof Charlesasdoes Luisa to that of Jorge."Eladeixoupesaro corposobreas maos delecruzadas,olhou-o com um longo olhar que se enevoava e escurecia,eenvolvendo-lheo pescogo com o gesto lento, harmoniosoe solene dosbragos,pousou-lhena boca um beijo grave e profundo.Um vago solugolevantou-lheo peito. 'JorgelQuerido!,'murmurou."61) It is not that shedoes not have momentaryfeelings of resentment toward her husbandand occasionalmoods of vague sadness,not that she has more commonsense than Emma;the difference s that she findsit easier to incorporatethe actual facts of her existence into the substance of her dreams.When

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she thinks of the child they hope to have she sees him and his father asnever changing, never aging: ". . . um sempre amante, novo, forte; ooutro sempre ... louro e cor-de-rosa." (61) Reality and illusion mergeinto each other in a rose-colored haze where they are bitterly incompat-ible for Emma.Luisa's fall from virtue cannot be motivated by a deep-seated discon-tent with her situation. Nor in the twelve days that elapse between thedeparture of Jorge and the first visit of Basilio does anything happen thatwould serve to explain her later conduct. We must therefore look for themotivation in the actual events of her affair with Basilio.

We may safely discount her earlier feelings for him as an explanationfor this affair. When she learns through a newspaper that he has returnedafter a long absence as a visitor to Lisbon, the knowledge does not affecther greatly.

"-Ah! -fez Luisa de repente, toda admiradapara o jornal,sorrindo.-Que 6?-8 o primo Basilio que chega!" (9)She then reads to her husband the newspaper account. She does notthink of Basilio again until, after finishing her Dame aux Came'lias, shesings to herself the final aria of La Traviata, beginning: "'Addio, delpassato... '." Then she remembers him, but in what terms? "Um sorrisovagaroso dilatou-lhe os beicinhos vermelhos e cheios-Fora o seu pri-meiro namoro.. .," (15) not precisely an outburst of passion, but rathera stylized emotion conditioned by conventional romanticism and triggeredby a book and an opera which epitomize that romanticism.Neither in Madame Bovary nor in O Primo Basilio is any particularattention paid to the motivation of the seducer; in both the concentrationis on the seduced. Only the technique of the seducer is important becauseit is the key whose conformation reveals that of the lock it fits. Hence inthe first conversation between Luisa and Basilio, the reader's attention isfocussed upon the words of the man, which in themselves reveal thedeveloping pattern of responses within Luisa, a pattern whose outlinesare reinforced by certain physical reactions on her part, particularly bywhat she notices about him as the interview continues.

Norwood Andrewsl? has pointed out Eva's use of the cook Joana's sex-ual appetite as counterpointing in O Primo. On the afternoon of her cou-sin's visit Luisa had intended calling on Leopoldina, Juliana had receivedpermission to see a doctor, thus leaving Joana alone in the house and ableto "entertain"her Pedro. When Juliana informs her of this, "A cozinheira

10Norwood H. Andrews, Jr., "The Artist and the Servant Problem: Example, Egade Queiroz,"LBR, II (1965), 43-55.

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fez-se vermelha . ." (65) and a few secondslater,after anotherallusiveremarkby her fellow-servant,"A raparigaficou escarlate."(66) WhenLuisa recognizes her cousin ". . . fez ah! toda escarlate." (68) After theinitial greeting, they are both silent, ". . . ela cor todo o sangue norosto ..." (68) Luisa'sblushes run like a leitmotifthroughout he scene,their effect on the readerpredeterminedby his earlier associationof thisreaction with Joanaand her uninhibitedenjoymentof sex.The relationshipbetween Basilio and Luisa is indicated early in thescene by describinghow they are seated: "Ele no sofa muito languida-mente;ela ao pe, pousadade leve a beira dumapoltrona,toda nervosa."(68) From this contrast,the woman at the man'sfeet, he calculatinglyat ease, she poised nervouslyon the edge of a chair,the relativeimpor-tance of the subsequentaffairfor its participantscan be predicted.The conversation s a study in stimuli and reflexresponses,as Basilio,like a salesmandisplayinghis samples,placesbefore her, not the facts ofhis life since last seeing her, but ratherthe interpretationof a carefulselection of those facts-including some that it is difficultto accept asfacts-designed to arouseLulsa's atent romanticism.11Througha progres-sive deformationof theirpast relationshipand the circumstances f theirparting,he succeeds in transforming he resentmentwhich she mightlegitimatelybe feeling into compassionand interest,as she sees in himthe evidenceof her attractiveness.Earlyin the conversation he had sim-ply remarked o herself: "No cabelo preto anelado havia agora algunsfios brancos . ."; (68) later the same physical reality becomes "... oscabelosbrancos-que lhe dera a separacao."71) Still later Basilio'shairreappears n yet anotherguise: "Luisasentia o aromafino que vinha deseus cabelos."(74) Her perceptionshave passedfrom their initial objec-tivity through a stage of romanticnostalgia to sensuality-or to whatpasses for sensualityin Luisa.Basilio, a being completely immune to any sort of romanticfeeling,eventuallytires under the strainof projectinga romanticimage of him-self, and ratherhurriedlyannounceshis departure.The strainhe hasbeenunder to disguise cynical sensualityas deeply-felt emotion reveals itselfin his reactionto the news that Jorge'smotheris dead: "-E o que umasogra pode fazer de mais amavel ..." (75) Soon afterwardshe leaves,havingmaintainedhis psychologicaladvantageby terminating he inter-view while Luisais becomingmore andmore avid for it to continue.Out-side, in a beautifully incongruoussimile, he reveals his real attitudetoward Luisa: "-A ela!-exclamou com apetite:-A ela, como S. Tiagoaosmouros!" 76)No furtherexplanationof Basilio'smotives is necessary;but what ofLuisa's?Her thoughts and actions immediatelyafter his departureare

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inevitablysignificant.No sooner has the street door closed behind himthan she looks at herself in the mirror in her bedroom. "Comengouentao a despir-sedevagardiante do espelho, olhando-semuito, gostandode se ver branca,acariciandoa finurada pele, com bocejos lAnguidosdum cansagofeliz." (77) This is one of the most importantpassagesinthe entire novel, for all of Lufsa is here, reflectedin the mirrorwhichBasilio's nteresthas providedher.Machadode Assis has seen Luisa as a puppet, reacting only to thestimuli of others, incapableof acting out of her own nature, since hercreatorhad failed to give her one. His conclusionabout Luisa'slack ofindividualizedcharacter eems on the whole justified; he metaphor,how-ever, is, if not inexact,at least misleading.There is no real Luisa, that istrue;there areonlyreflectionsof Luisain the variousmirrorsprovidedforher. She sees herself only as otherswould have her see herself. Basiliowants her to see herself as a sophisticatedwoman capable of romanticadventures,so she becomes a romanticadventuress.Earlier Jorge hadimposeduponher a role as the coddled inhabitantof a respectable ove-nest, and she had played that role beautifully.LaterJulianawill be ableto transformher into the helpless victim of the maid'styranny.And allthroughthe book Ega forces on her the role of the middle class LisbonEmma Bovaryuntil that role-not her own nature,not her real circum-stances-brings her, shaven head and all, to her deathbed. Her finalwords in life reinforcethe message of the mirror-scene."-Cortaram-me cabelo . . -murmurou ristemente.Ela nao respondeu; uaslagrimas ilenciosas orreram-lheelos cantosdosolhos.Deviaser a uiltimaensagao . ." (533)

The scene of actualseductionis, as a reader of nineteenthcenturyfic-tion would expect,not described at all. Lulsahas been badly frightenedwhen Basilio,havingfailed to visit her at the usual hour,arrivesat ninein the evening and has himself announcedas coming to say goodbyeto her."Quesustoquetivel -suspirouLuisa.-Tiveste?Ela nao respondeu;a perdendoa percepgaonitida das coisas;sentia-secomo adormecer..." (206)And "as if asleep" s what she seemsto be in the greaterpart of her lifeand actions.While still in bed the next morningshe receives a senti-mental note from Basilio. On reading it ". . . sentia un acrescimodeestima por si mesma e parecia-lhe que entravaenfim numa existencia



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superiormente interessante . . ." (213) Again she has recourse to hermirror: ". . . achou a pele mais clara, mais fresca, e um enternecimentohumidono olhar;-seria verdade . . . que 'nao havia como uma malda-dezinhapara fazer a gente bonita?'Tinha um amante,ela!" (214) Shedoes not say to herself:"The man I love loves me,"but rathercongratu-lates herself on her newly acquiredromanticstatusand on her increasingphysicalattractiveness.Onlyas a personage n an orthodoxromanticsitu-ation and as the reflectionof another'snterest andpraisecan she achievereality.These two concerns are evident throughout her relationship withBasilio,and neitherof them can be related to the raw sensualitywhichsome have attributed to her. Even in the "Paraiso"they dominateheractions. Before she has actually seen it she realizes that ". . . o aparatoimpressionava-amais que o sentimento;e a casa em si interessava-a,atraia-amaisque Basiliol"(232) E9a describes or us the roomas it is insuch a way thatwe feel Luisa'sdisappointment. Luisamordiaos bei9os,sentia-se entristecer." 235) When Basilio gives evidence, through hislack of consideration, f tiringof her, she is wounded,not in her love butin her pride. Followinga scene in which she has chargedhim with lackof feeling, she returnshome,and afterabusinghimmentallyasks herself:"Amava-o, ela?", (268) and, searching for an answer ". . . ficou todapasmadade encontraro seu cora9aovazio." (269) She then seeks anexplanation for having engaged in the affair, and she finds it: ". . . naoter nada que fazer, a curiosidaderomancescae m6rbida de ter umamante, mil vaidadezinhas inflamadas, um certo desejo fisico . ." (269)The readerhas no reasonto disagreewith her self-analysis.Basilio sensesthis, for he writes to her after she fails to meet him ". .. 6 decerto o teuorgulho,nao o teu amorque te domina...." (270, 271)While we accept the motivesgiven for her actionsas the correctones,we need not accept them as sufficient.We cannot but recognize thatwhat we have here arereflectionsof the motivationgiven by FlauberttoEmma Bovary, especially when we recognize in the Portugueseaffairdetails identical with or analogousto details in the French affair: theParadiseitself, particularly he romanticrepas a deux, the use of thecoach at an earlier stage, the excuses used by the lovers to break offrelations.An examinationof one such analogueis particularlyuseful inindicatingwhat Ega'sreading of MadameBovaryhas done for and to0 PrimoBasilio.In both novels the attemptsmade by the women to stave off the ruinwhich the lack of money threatens lead them to seek help from menwhom they find personallydistasteful. With Emma it is Maitre Guil-lauminwhom we alreadyknow to be fully awareof her difficultiesand

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whose interestin her personhas been hinted at earlierin the book. Shecan only go a shortway in the tacit bargainthey makebefore her pride(and this is a part of her character,particularlyas far as self-esteemisconcerned,which has been well developed previously) makes her saywith the haughtinessof a marquiserepulsingan immonde: Vous profitezimpudemmentde ma d6tresse,monsieur!Je suis A plaindre,mais pas avendre!"After this speech, whose rhetoric s in perfect accord with hernature,she leaves. In MadameBovarythis misadventure s but one of aseries of humiliationsreceived in Emma'sattemptsto undo the resultsof her irresponsibility. n O Primo Basilio the analogueto this scene isdevelopedin much more detail, and has been carefully plannedby Egaalmost from the beginning of the book. Leopoldina has been tellingLuisa for some time that Castro, one of the richest men of Lisbon,admires her greatly. Before Jorge'sreturn she had considered gettingthe moneyfromhim, but her nerve had failed her. Now she learnsthathe is going to retire to Bordeaux,and that the next day this literallygolden opportunitywill be gone forever.Leopoldinahas him come toher house and after some preliminarieseaves him with Luisa that theymay "come to some agreement."This is one of Luisa's"hoursof truth."What will happen?Egaregards hisas a scene tfaire,andthere is indeedmore interest in whether or not she will "fall" hen than there was inher affair with Basilio. After a number of advances and retreats sheapparentlyrealizes the true nature of what she is contemplatingandpiteously begs: "Deixe-me!Deixe-me!"He is understandablyannoyed,and chargesat her with his teeth clenched. Luisa seizes his whip andproceeds to vent all her fury on the poor man. He finally escapes, andwhen Leopoldinahears what has happened (she has seen him runningout) she explodeswith laughter.The whole scene is in the characteristiccomicstyle of Ega.As a scene it is magnificent,but it belongsin a Frenchor Italianfarce,not in a Realisticnovel, at least not in this one. In impor-tance this episode could be ranked with Emma's ast visit to Rodolphe,much less fully preparedfor by Flaubert (Emma has not previouslythoughtof him as a way out of her troubles,and the readerhas perhapsforgottenthat he lives within walkingdistanceof Yonville), but once ithas gottenunderway,proceeding n a completelynatural ashionbecausethe two act and speakalonglines thatall ourpreviousknowledgeof theirnatures eads us to accept as inevitable.In Flauberttoo the scene is inti-matelylinkedto the denouement, ince it is the culminatingpoint of Em-ma's emotionaland materialbankruptcyand thus immediatelyand ade-quatelymotivatesher suicide. In O Primo a scene so carefullypreparedand presentedhas surprisingly ittle connectionwith the eventual con-clusion; and, most damning, t confuses ratherthan clarifiesthe reader's



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grasp of Luisa's nature. Could a woman capable of such violent and deci-sive action on this occasion be so completely lacking these qualities onall others? We might accept this as an eruption of her character whichhad been deeply suppressed up to this point, but we cannot accept herlater complete relapse into her former state of almost hopeless acceptanceof what others do to and for her.This distinct break in consistency of characterization, occurring as itdoes in a scene so analogous to one in Madame Bovary, draws attentionto the overall structural resemblance between the two novels. The sametwo motifs are employed: extramarital affairs and consequent financialpressures on the two women; the same motives within these heroines:the desire to replace the prosaic world of reality with the glittering worldof romantic illusion; the same terrible revenge taken on both by thatscorned world of reality. The basic differences in temperament betweentwo heroines given similar motivations in similar situations-Emma, head-strong and energetic; Luisa, timorous and languid-become indicators ofthe debt of the creator of one to the creator of the other when we seeLuisa acting in dissonance with her basic temperament but in consonancewith the temperament of Emma.A final indication of the relationship between Madame Bovary and OPrimo Basilio develops from the deaths of the two principal characters.Emma's suicide, so consistent with her character and so abundantly moti-vated, has already been discussed, but what of Luisa's? How and whydoes she die? She dies not by her own hand, nor by the hand of another,but by illness, apparently as a result of the shock of Jorge's discoveringevidence of her infidelity, just as Charles Bovary discovers similar evi-dence, but only after Emma's death. Everything about this death hasbeen carefully prepared by E9a: the emotional tensions to which Luisahas been subjected over a period of months; Jorge's statement very earlyin the book that he would not tolerate infidelity; references to variousillnesses of Luisa's in the past, particularly the very understandable phys-ical collapse which follows Juliana's death. Everything has been pre-pared, and yet the reader is not convinced that so superficial, dreamilyegotistical a creature as Luisa, particularly one in such generally goodphysical health, would have succumbed so easily. Lulsa had never actedas if romantic illusions were her bread of life; to her it has been morethe dessert that completes a meal. Emma dies because her world wasdestroyed. Luisa dies to complete the parallel her creator has so assidu-ously traced between the burguezinha of Lisbon and the gallant rebel ofNormandy.

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eça and flaubert

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