Machado de Assis, Houses, and the Gaze: Between the Universal and the Local

Abstract

A central theme throughout Machado de Assis’s works is the way characters look at each other inside and outside houses. This article argues that vision, race, and houses define his narrative strategies in the short stories “Pai contra Mãe” and “O Caso da Vara,” and the novels Dom Casmurro, Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas, and Esaú e Jacó. In doing so, it shows how eyes are key to understanding racism, houses, and, more broadly, Machado de Assis’s position as a writer who engaged in universal topics as well as those specific to Brazilian society.