Ambition

The Theme in the Work

The ambition of Brás Cubas appears first as a desire for a name. In chapter II, the plaster would let him see the words Brás Cubas Plaster printed in newspapers, shop signs, leaflets, and street corners (see the plaster). In chapter III, his father had already invented that the Cubas line came from three hundred taken from the Moors.

In chapter XX, he trades Marcela for ambition and imagines himself a banker, a politician, or even a bishop, as long as he has a post, prominence, and reputation. In chapter XXVIII, hypochondria gives way to the love of fame, and in chapter XLIII Lobo Neves takes from him both the candidacy and Virgília.

Ambition passes from one man to another: in chapter LVIII, Lobo Neves confesses his lack of public glory; in chapter LIX, Brás wonders why he will not be a minister. In chapter CXXIX he says he only wants to be a minister of state, in chapter CXL he suffers the loss of his seat as deputy, and in chapter CLX the list of denials says he was neither minister nor caliph.

Ambition comes from home and is measured in posts. In chapter XLIV, Brás's father repeats "Um Cubas!" in astonishment on seeing the castles he engineered come undone, and Brás says he died of the sadness of not seeing his son placed high. In chapter LXXVIII, Lobo Neves announces that he may take a provincial presidency and treats it as settled, citing political necessities and the promise to make Virgília a marquise; in chapter LXXXIII he will refuse the post because of the number 13, tied to the deaths of his parents, and Brás concludes that, since he is ambitious, the sacrifice must have been sincere. In chapter CXXXVII, Brás speechifies about the National Guard cap in order to reach a cabinet post, encouraged by Quincas Borba, who says it is the age of government.

Brás's ambition is for a place, not for a work: any post will do, as long as it is a position. It comes from the father, who wanted to see him placed high, and it catches on by example, like the energetic wine of politics he wishes for when he sees Lobo Neves's sadness. At the two ends of the book, the plaster and the list of denials, the result is the same: the name he wanted to see printed and the cabinet post that never came. The narrator recounts the lack without complaint, and the reader decides whether there is disillusion or pride in it.

Where It Appears

• Chapter II: Brás Cubas conceives an anti-hypochondriac plaster and presents it to the government as a Christian work, but admits, already dead, that the main motive was seeing his own name printed everywhere.
• Chapter III: Brás's father, thinking the surname smelled of cooperage, tries to attach himself to the captain-major Brás Cubas and, rebuffed, invents that the Cubas came from three hundred taken from the Moors.
• Chapter XX: Hearing the captain predict a great future, Brás trades Marcela for ambition and imagines himself a banker, a politician, or even a bishop, as long as he has a post, prominence, and reputation.
• Chapter XXVIII: Brás's father describes the bride as the daughter of Councilor Dutra, a political influence, and his son's hypochondria gives way to the love of fame.
• Chapter XLIII: Lobo Neves takes from Brás both Virgília and the candidacy within a few weeks, and Virgília asks Lobo Neves when he will be a minister and whether she will be made a baroness, and he answers that he will make her a marquise.
• Chapter XLIV: Brás's father repeats "Um Cubas!" in astonishment on seeing the castles he engineered come undone, and Brás says he died of the sadness of not seeing his son placed high.
• Chapter LVIII: Lobo Neves confesses to Brás that a sad worm gnaws at his existence, the lack of public glory, and tells him of the boredom and bitterness of politics.
• Chapter LIX: Leaving Lobo Neves's house, Brás sees in a chaise a minister who was his schoolmate and wonders why he himself will not be a minister too.
• Chapter LXXVIII: Lobo Neves announces that he may take a provincial presidency and treats it as settled, citing political necessities and the promise to make Virgília a marquise.
• Chapter LXXXIII: Lobo Neves is about to refuse the post because of the number 13, tied to the deaths of his parents, and Brás concludes that, since he is ambitious, the sacrifice must have been sincere.
• Chapter CXXIX: Brás states that he had no remorse, only the wish to be a minister of state, and that in place of Priam's pleas he heard Lobo Neves's speech.
• Chapter CXXXVII: Brás speechifies about the National Guard cap to reach a cabinet post and backs off when he sees opposition in the speech, encouraged by Quincas Borba, who says it is the age of government.
• Chapter CXL: Brás suffers over the loss of his seat as deputy, and Quincas Borba calls his ambition a whim, to which Brás replies by sending the philosopher to the devil along with Humanitism.
• Chapter CLX: Brás lists what he was not and did not have, such as minister and caliph, and concludes that he had no children and passed on to no creature the legacy of our misery.

Passages

The remedy is a pretext for the name.

Hypochondria withdraws into the bud and gives way to the love of fame.

Brás sees himself as the peacock who loses to the eagle.

Ambition passes from Lobo Neves to Brás like wine.

Lobo Neves asks his wife not to weigh down the wings of ambition.

Ambition takes the place of remorse.