Les héroïnes (fatales) brésiliennes : archétypes et métamorphoses

Abstract

This work proposes to observe the appropriation of the myth of the femme fatale, the great guiding myth of French decadence and its system of symbols in the Brazilian imaginary. Three Brazilian heroines, which fall under the theme of fatality in women, constitute the main corpus of this research: the oblique Capitu, the heroine of Machado de Assis in the novel Dom Casmurro (1900); Gabriela, la mulâtresse de Gabriela, cravo e canela (1958) by Jorge Amado, and Hilda Furacão, the prostitute from the homonymous novel by Roberto Drummond (1991). The echoes of the myth allow us to see that these heroines are fatal women par excellence, their figures moving within an evolving patriarchal society in Brazil.

Keywords

• brasilian literature
• machado de assis
• jorge amado
• roberto drummond
• femme fatale
• myth
• metamorphosis