Desire

The Theme in the Work

In chapter XXVIII, in the Botafogo garden, Rubião wrestles with temptation over Sofia, his friend's wife. The narrator pauses in the middle of it to describe the Quincas Borba (the dog), who likes to be loved and is content to believe that it is.

In chapter XXXII, Sofia sends strawberries and a note which, at her husband's order, summons Rubião to dinner in Santa Teresa. He is upset, the guests suppose an adulterous love, and in the end he kicks the dog.

In chapter XXXVII, Dona Tônica sees in Rubião the husband Heaven would reserve for her and, noticing the glances between him and Sofia, feels despair, but persists.

In chapter XXXIX, in the garden, under the moonlight, Rubião compares Sofia's eyes to stars, and she does not know whether to understand or pretend not to.

In chapter XL, the chaste stars hear Rubião, once reserved and now libertine, propose to Sofia the purchase of soul and body.

In chapter XLI, he holds her by the arm and by the hand and asks her to gaze at the Southern Cross, until a voice wakes him.

In chapter XLIX, at home, love for Sofia overcomes remorse, and Rubião sleeps only before four.

In chapter LXXIII, Sofia swears to forget the episode of the ball, but the declaration of Carlos Maria repeats in her memory like a stubborn musical phrase.

In chapter LXXVII, Sofia promises a fiancé to her cousin Maria Benedita, thinks of Rubião and cannot release his name.

In chapter LXXXII, in dreams, all of Rubião's titled brides end up with Sofia's face, and he even comes to think about the death of her husband.

In chapter LXXXVII, on Rua da Saúde, he thinks of women he could choose, even the major's daughter, but hears the guitar of sin, played by Sofia's fingers, and loses the chastity of the plan.

In chapter XCVIII, among the flowers of his own garden in Botafogo, they seem to ask him to put an end to his desire.

In chapter CIII, he pours out what he feels to Sofia, louder and louder, until she covers his mouth.

In chapter CXVIII, Maria Benedita confesses to Dona Fernanda that she loves Carlos Maria as one loves God, without expecting an answer.

In chapter CXX, Carlos Maria, who had found the girl cold, begins to like her when he learns she is loved, and enjoys feeling adored like a god.

In chapter CLIII, in Sofia's coupé, Rubião speaks to her as a lover, asks her to call him Luís and calls her his Sofia.

In chapter CLIX, on a rainy morning, Sofia turns over names from the past and asks herself why she has kept none.

In chapter CLXIII, what seemed Sofia's imperious will turns into a whim within a few hours.

Desire almost never comes from the object. Rubião sees Sofia's face in every bride, Maria Benedita adores a god she built alone, Carlos Maria begins to like whoever adores him, and the false declaration from the beach is engraved in Sofia like music. Each desire starts from whoever desires and from what it gives back to whoever feels it. In Sofia the book shows desire undoing itself within a few hours, with moral refuge in the body without stain, and this undoing separates her from Rubião, who goes on desiring her in the delirium of chapter CLIII.

Where It Appears

• Chapter XXVIII: In the garden, Rubião wrestles with temptation over Sofia, his friend's wife, while the loose dog celebrates, gets beaten and forgives, for it likes to be loved.
• Chapter XXXII: Sofia sends Rubião strawberries and summons him to dinner in Santa Teresa; he is upset, the guests suppose an adulterous love, and he kicks the dog.
• Chapter XXXVII: Dona Tônica sees in Rubião the husband Heaven would reserve for her and, noticing his glances at Sofia, feels despair, but persists.
• Chapter XXXIX: In the garden, under the moon, Sofia leads Rubião by the arm, and he, suddenly talkative, compares her eyes to stars, without her knowing whether to understand or pretend not to.
• Chapter XL: Under the chaste stars, Rubião, once reserved and now libertine, proposes to Sofia the purchase of soul and body.
• Chapter XLI: Rubião holds Sofia by the arm and the hand in the garden and asks her to gaze at the Southern Cross, until a voice wakes him.
• Chapter XLIX: At home, after stroking the dog and telling it to go down without blows, Rubião is muddled all day; love for Sofia overcomes remorse, and he sleeps only before four.
• Chapter LXXIII: Sofia swears to herself to forget the episode of the ball, but the young man's declaration repeats in her memory like a stubborn musical phrase.
• Chapter LXXVII: Sofia promises a fiancé to her cousin, Maria Benedita, but cannot release the name of Rubião, who would be the fiancé, and the young woman, hopeful, thinks of Carlos Maria.
• Chapter LXXXII: Rubião dreams only of marrying titled ladies from the Laemmert almanac, but all the brides end up with Sofia's face, and he even thinks about the death of her husband.
• Chapter LXXXVII: Rubião crosses a poor young woman and a boy and thinks of women he could marry, but hears the guitar of sin, played by Sofia's fingers, and loses the chastity of the plan.
• Chapter XCVIII: Sofia sends to ask how Rubião is, and he replies and lingers among the flowers, which seem to ask him to end his desire.
• Chapter CIII: After the seventh-day Mass, Rubião takes the letter to Sofia at Flamengo and pours out what he feels, louder and louder, until she covers his mouth.
• Chapter CXVIII: Maria Benedita has loved Carlos Maria since the ball on Rua dos Arcos, keeps the secret, and confesses to Dona Fernanda, without saying the name, that she loves him as one loves God.
• Chapter CXX: On learning from Dona Fernanda that Maria Benedita adores him in secret, Carlos Maria exchanges his wariness for sympathy, and the courtship begins.
• Chapter CLIII: Rubião speaks to Sofia in the coupé as a lover, evokes a meeting in the caleche and a kissed threshold, asks her to call him Luís, and promises her husband a dukedom.
• Chapter CLIX: On the rainy morning, Sofia turns over the letter, Carlos Maria, Maria Benedita, Dona Fernanda and Teófilo's admiring glance, and these names flash like lightning in the sky of possibilities.
• Chapter CLXIII: What seemed Sofia's imperious will becomes a whim, and the narrator says that the sin of thought becomes a habit, with refuge in the body without stain.

Passages

The dog gives the portrait the narrator offers of Rubião.

A word from Sofia becomes complicity for whoever wants to hear it.

The invented declaration stays in the memory of whoever heard it.

Rubião's desire gains music without his choosing it.