Ninguém morre de fome em Portugal? pobreza e mobilidade social na obra de Eça de Queirós (1878 1888)

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to present an analysis of poverty and social mobility in the Eça de Queiroz s production from 1878 to 1888. To do that, we will examine the poor characters, reflecting on their role in the diegesis, their construction in the text and their influence on the author s artistic conception; on the underlying view of the world expressed in them and, finally, we will compare those characters, based on what has been considered a realistic-naturalistic aesthetics. This research is justified by the proposal of a new focus of analysis within the critical brought up by Eça de Queiroz, which highlight the characters from the working classes. Therefore, we will expose the writer s perspective about the society and the historical moment. This study on some less valued classes (the household, for example) is a gap in works about Eça de Queiroz. Some of the characters we examine are almost unnoticed in his novels. Except for Juliana, from O Primo Basilio , they hardly interfere in the action. Nevertheless, they are detailed characterized, even if sometimes with a few features, and they compose a broader view of the Portuguese society of the 19th century, denying the idea that Eça put in his books only the privileged social classes of his time. Beyond the vague designation of "social critic", Eça witnessed a world in a process of transformation, which could no longer be what it used to be