Who She Is
Sister of Brás Cubas and wife of Cotrim, present at his deathbed in The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas. She appears in family scenes, in the inheritance, in the truce, and in the marriage she decrees for her brother; the book leaves open whether the affection she shows is blood or interest.
Trajectory
She is at Brás's deathbed, married to Cotrim, beside their daughter (chapter I). On Brás's return from Europe, she collapses from fatigue at home (chapter XXIII). After the seventh-day mass, Brás refuses his father and sister and isolates himself in Tijuca (chapter XXV). In the division of the inheritance, the "What for?" she gives to the idea of marrying almost makes Brás forget his interests, but the proposals for agreement fail and the divisions are made with the brothers at odds (chapter XLVI).
Era tão sublime esta pergunta, que por alguns instantes me fez esquecer os interesses, This question was so sublime that for a few moments it made me forget my interests
She comes veiled to propose a truce, because the family is dying out, and when she hears of the trip north, she condemns it and says he needs to marry (chapter LXXXI). At dinner she seats Brás beside Nhã-loló and declares that he is going to marry her (chapter XCIII).
Pois, meu rico, quer você queira quer não, há de casar com Nhã-loló., Well, my dear, whether you like it or not, you are going to marry Nhã-loló.
She drives forward Nhã-loló's candidacy with impetus (chapter CXVII) and decrees that Brás must marry, because a bachelor without children has a bad future (chapter CXX). Later she alternates pleading and threats to prevent him from launching the newspaper (chapter CXLVII).
Themes Embodied
The theme that runs through her is Appearance and reality: the reconciliation of Sabina and Cotrim with Brás comes on the same day he decides to accept the appointment, and the text supports both family affection and the interest in stopping the trip (chapter LXXXI).
Sabina treats her brother's marriage as a decision already made and speaks with the certainty of someone who does not ask permission: "must marry" is her phrase twice, at dinner and in the decree on the bachelor without children. What the book does not show is her interest, and the chapter on the newspaper only brings it into view when it lets us see on what Cotrim's supply contracts depend (chapter CXLVIII).
Relationships
- Brás Cubas: the brother with whom she quarrels over the inheritance, whom she proposes a truce to, and whom she pushes into marriage.
- Cotrim: the husband, with whom she forms the couple who warns and dissuades.
- Nhã-loló: the young woman she chooses to marry Brás.
- Bento Cubas: the father, at whose death she is beside her brother (chapter XLIV).