Machado de Assis : a estrutura social em Quincas Borba e Esaú e Jacó

Abstract

The research analyzed two Machadian novels from sociological concepts. The main author whose concepts guided this research was Max Weber. In the classic text entitled “Class, status and party” (1982), Weber discusses the different types of distribution of resources such as prestige, economic and political power among individuals, reflecting on the different distributive criteria. Weber draws distinctions between status societies, whose distinctive criteria are based on birth and traditions, and class societies, organized on economic criteria. The concepts of status, social classes and political parties developed by Weber (1982) contribute to the understanding of the concept of social structure, used in this research according to Peter Blau (1974). According to this last author, the social structure is understood as the distribution of individuals among different social positions, based on various criteria. This research analyzed the structure of Machado's society in the novels Quincas Borba and Esaú e Jacó. The first book was published in serial format between 1886 and 1891, with the final version as a novel in 1892. The second book was published as a novel in 1904. In each novel, all characters were analyzed considering aspects such as the social origin of each one of them, as well as their trajectories, occupations, ways of life, status level, beliefs, values, political behavior, networks of social relationships. When considering these aspects, we aim to place each character at a specific point in the social structure, in addition to drawing a general panorama of the latter. The choice of the novels Quincas Borba and Esaú e Jacó for this analysis was due to the fact that the narrative of the first book ends in the year in which the narrative of the second begins. There are continuities between the two novels. Machado's society is going through a slow transition, which begins but is not completed. With the decay of the nobility and status, there is the timid rise of the bourgeoisie and the emergence of class society