Dom Casmurro
Questions
The most common questions about Dom Casmurro, answered from the book.
- What is the summary of Dom Casmurro?Dom Casmurro is the novel in which Bento Santiago, now old, writes his own life, after a house copied from the old one fails to return his youth to...
- Is Dom Casmurro a good book? Is it worth reading?It is worth it, and not only because it is a classic of Brazilian literature. Dom Casmurro tells a simple story, the childhood love of Bentinho and...
- Did Capitu Betray Bentinho?The book does not give the proof, and that is where the discussion about it comes from. No scene shows Capitu alone with Escobar. Everything the...
- What are Capitu's eyes of undertow?Eyes of Undertow is the expression with which Bentinho describes Capitu's eyes in chapter XXXII, recalling the afternoon when, at fifteen, he gazed...
- What Does Casmurro Mean?Casmurro is the word that gives the book its name, and Bentinho explains its meaning in the very first chapter. He says the nickname was born on a...
- Who is José Dias in Dom Casmurro?José Dias is the dependent of Dona Glória's household, that is, a free and poor man who lives on favor in a family. He appeared at the Itaguaí farm...
- Why did Bentinho go to the seminary?Because of a vow made by his mother. When Dona Glória's first son was born dead, she asked God that the second might survive and promised that, if it...
- How Does Dom Casmurro End?Dom Casmurro ends with the conclusion of its own accuser. After the coffee cup scene, Bentinho takes Capitu and Ezequiel to Europe and leaves them in...
- Who is Capitu in Dom Casmurro?Capitu is Bentinho's childhood neighbor, daughter of Pádua, a clerk in an office of the Ministry of War, and of Dona Fortunata. She is fourteen when...
- Who is Escobar in Dom Casmurro?Ezequiel de Sousa Escobar is Bentinho's best friend. The two meet at the seminary, where the narrator describes him as "a slender young man, with...
- Who Narrates Dom Casmurro?The narrator is Bento Santiago, the same Bentinho of the past, now old. He lives alone with a servant in a house in Engenho Novo, a remote...
- Is Ezequiel Escobar's Son?The book does not say, and Bentinho never presents proof: what he has is a resemblance. Ezequiel is the son of Bentinho and Capitu, born after years...
- How Does Bentinho Leave the Seminary?Bentinho leaves the seminary at seventeen, by a solution that is not his own. Dona Glória's vow is not undone: it is discharged by a substitute.The...
- Is Bentinho a Reliable Narrator?The book leaves the question open on purpose. Bentinho does not hide that he chooses what he tells. From the very beginning he confesses that the...
- What is the relationship between Dom Casmurro and Shakespeare's Othello?Dom Casmurro names Othello, the tragedy in which a general kills his wife out of jealousy, and uses it as a mirror. Bentinho gives the title "A Touch...
- What happens in the coffee cup scene?The coffee cup scene is the one in chapter CXXXVI in which Bentinho prepares a coffee with poison to kill himself and, at the last instant, nearly...
- What does Capitu write on the wall in Dom Casmurro?In chapter XIII, Bentinho sees Capitu scratching the backyard wall with a nail. She leans against it to hide it and, when the boy notices the marks,...
- When and where does Dom Casmurro take place?The story takes place in Rio de Janeiro, capital of the Empire, during the Second Reign. The action begins in November 1857, when Bentinho hears José...
- Why did Bentinho build a house identical to the one of his childhood?Old Bentinho had built in Engenho Novo a copy of the Matacavalos house where he was raised, with the same parlor of medallions of Caesar, Augustus,...
- How do Bentinho and Capitu fall in love?The two grow up as neighbors, with a gate between the backyards, and play at Mass: she served as sacristan and the host was always a sweet. But...
- How does Escobar die in Dom Casmurro?Escobar drowns one morning in March 1871, at Flamengo. According to Bentinho's account, he set out to swim, as he was in the habit of doing, ventured...
- What happens to Capitu at the end of Dom Casmurro?After the coffee cup scene, Capitu says that the separation is indispensable, and Bentinho accepts it. He takes the wife and son to Europe and leaves...
- When was Dom Casmurro published and how many chapters does it have?Dom Casmurro, by Machado de Assis, came out in book form in 1899, published by Garnier, in Rio de Janeiro and Paris. It has 148 short chapters, each...
- What is the main theme of Dom Casmurro?The most visible theme is jealousy, but the book is less about Capitu's adultery than about the construction of an accusation. The reader receives...