Joaquim Manuel de Macedo he was a Brazilian writer of the first romantic generation (1836–1852).
He is considered one of the founders of the novel in Brazil, with his work entitled “the little brunette”, published in 1844.
This novel was characterized as the first work of Brazilian Literature, as it focused on the portrait of the habits of the Rio bourgeoisie.
Furthermore, he was one of the main responsible for the creation of theater in Brazil and according to him: “Theater is the most extensive and popular school of good or bad education of the people.”
He was Patron of Chair number 20 at the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) and, in addition to his literary career, Joaquim worked as a doctor, journalist and teacher.
To learn more about this period, visit the link: First Generation Romantic.
Biography
Joaquim Manuel de Macedo was born in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, in the city of Itaboraí, on June 24, 1820.
Son of couple Severino de Macedo Carvalho and Benigna Catarina da Conceição, Macedo completed his secondary studies in Itaboraí.
At the age of 18, he moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he entered the Faculty of Medicine, graduating in 1844, the year of the publication of his best-known work, the little brunette.
He even worked as a doctor, however, he devoted the rest of his life to literature, as this work brought him fame and fortune.
In 1849, together with writers, Araújo Porto-Alegre (1806-1879) and Gonçalves Dias (1823-1864) founded the "Revista Guanabara". As a journalist he founded the newspaper "A Nação", of which he became the main columnist and promoter.
He established a strong bond with the Brazilian Imperial Family, a relationship that enabled him to be a history and geography professor at Colégio D. Peter II.
In addition, he was elected member of the Board of Directors of the Court's Public Institution (1866) and acted as a militant politician in the liberal party, being Provincial Deputy (1850, 1853, 1854-1859) and General Deputy (1864-1868 and 1873-1881).
At the end of his life, he suffered from mental problems and on April 11, 1882, aged 61, he died in Rio de Janeiro.
Read too: Romantic Prose in Brazil.
Construction
Owner of an extensive work, Joaquim was an avid writer, from which novels, short stories, chronicles, poetry, biographies, theatrical works and historical, geographical and medical texts stand out. Some works:
- the little brunette (1844)
- The Blond Boy (1845)
- The Two Loves (1848)
- Rose (1849)
- Vincentian (1853)
- The Outsider (1855)
- My Uncle's Wallet (1855)
- The Nebula (1857)
- Luxury and Vanity (1860)
- The Novels of the Week (1861)
- Lusbela (1863)
- The Magic Spyglass (1869)
- Brazilian Biographical Year (1876)
- Famous Women (1878)
- Cigarette and its Success (1880)
the little brunette
The most emblematic work of Joaquim Manuel de Macedo was the novel, published in 1844, which granted him fame and fortune, entitled “the little brunette”.
This work was a "watershed" in his life, since with the success he had, he abandoned his medical career in order to devote himself exclusively to literature.
The novel tells the story of four medical students (Filipe, Leopoldo, Augusto and Fabrício) during a weekend on an island.
On that occasion, one of them, Augusto, falls in love with the protagonist, moreninha Carolina.
Faced with so much relevance to Brazilian culture, “the little brunette” featured two film adaptations, one from 1915 and the other from 1970; and two for soap operas, one from 1965 and the other from 1975.
Sentences
- “Among the ladies there is a crime that cannot be forgiven; is the crime of hailed and happy superiority.”
- “Just as the perfume is the expression of the flower, thought is the perfume of the spirit.”
- “Love... Love is not effect, nor cause, nor beginning, nor end, and it is all of these at the same time; it's something that... yea... finally, for short, love is the devil.”
- “Love is a hook that, when swallowed, claws itself right in the heart of people, whence, if it's not good enough, the damned rips, holes and deepens.”
- “Love and politics, both taking judgment from man equally, have a remarkable point of dissimilarity: love sacrifices the belly to the heart, and the politics of many people is a sacrifice of the heart to the stomach.”
- “The world is an immense theater, where men, whether in relation to politics or in relation to their professions, the societies they attend, and even religion itself, are more or less comical skillful. All represent, and many, or almost all, even masked.”
- “The more cruel the master, the more vile the slave.”
