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- Title
Um vasto prazer, quieto e profundo.
- Authors
Moraes, Eliane Robert
- Abstract
The description of the torture of a rat, in the short story "A causa secreta" by Machado de Assis, can seem timid in comparison to the scenes of torment narrated by the Marquis de Sade. However, a close reading reveals the essential conditions for an outbreak or a mysterious form of pleasure that is normally associated with the character of the "sadist". Such a reading becomes even more surprising on the discovery that the protagonist's sadism assumes much more realistic contours than the unconceivable images of cruelty presented by Sade. This article intends to compare the two authors; proposing a dialogue between an aesthetic dimension (realista) and ah ethic one (the evil), in order to offer an interpretation of the story by Machado de Assis.
- Subjects
CRITICISM; A Causa Secreta (Short story); MACHADO de Assis, 1839-1908; TORTURE in literature; SADISM in literature; LITERARY characters
- Publication
Luso-Brazilian Review, 2009, Vol 46, Issue 1, p75
- ISSN
0024-7413
- Publication type
Literary Criticism
- DOI
10.1353/lbr.0.0049