The Theme in the Work
The desire of Brás Cubas is born in chapter XIV, when the seventeen-year-old follows Marcela as her page, and he pays for it in chapter XV with family money and obligations secured against the inheritance. In chapter XXXIII, Eugênia gives him his first kiss after asking him not to come down.
With Virgília the desire changes its nature. In chapter L, the waltz; in chapter LVI, the theory of the opportune moment; in chapter LVII, prohibition as the measure of love, for now that all social laws keep them apart is when they truly love each other. In chapter LXIV Brás wants to make her his alone, and chapter LXVII gives him the little house.
After the mountaintop, in chapter LXXXV, desire is measured by seasoning: in chapter XCVIII the anonymous letter restores the salt of mystery, in chapter CVIII the note provokes fear and not fear, love without delirium, and in chapter CXVIII Brás names a desire without an object, that of stirring himself in something.
Desire also feeds on jealousy and movement. In chapter XIV, Brás follows Marcela on the night of the independence illuminations and, three days later, after a supper at her house, kisses her on the stairs. In chapter LXXVII, he confesses to Virgília that he missed the previous evening out of jealousy, because two days earlier she had waltzed twice with the same dandy, and she stares at him in astonishment and taps his forehead lightly. In chapter CXXI, he goes down the Livramento hill with Nhã-loló, loses years along the way, reaches the bottom at twenty, and says that, with the sunshade tilted, he added a page to Quincas Borba's philosophy.
In the book, desire asks for obstacles. Brás wants Virgília more when she is married and when her husband might find out, and less when she becomes a steady beam of light, calm and constant. Marcela shows the other side: the desire that is paid for, and the doubt over whether what one buys is love. The text supports both readings, that of a pleasure that needs no justification and that of a possession that needs one, and the love without delirium of chapter CVIII marks the end of the arc.
Where It Appears
- Chapter XIV: At seventeen Brás is smitten with Marcela, follows her on the night of the independence illuminations and, three days later, on leaving a supper at her house, kisses her on the stairs.
- Chapter XV: Brás spends thirty days reaching Marcela's heart, exploits his father, induces his mother to divert money, and signs bonds against the inheritance to sustain the reign that costs him dearly.
- Chapter XXXIII: Brás returns mulling over the enigma of the pretty, lame girl, postpones his descent by a week at Eugênia's side and, on Sunday, receives from her the first kiss.
- Chapter L: Brás meets Virgília, now married, waltzes with her at a ball and, weeks later, at an intimate gathering at her husband's house, squeezes her hand hard during the waltz, and she lets him.
- Chapter LVI: Brás asks himself why he had felt only spite about Virgília's marriage before, and now, after a few turns of the waltz, he loves her to the point of delirium, and answers that it was the opportune moment.
- Chapter LVII: Brás says that now, when all social laws prevent them, the two truly love each other, and hands over to Destiny the question of where the sly roads will lead them.
- Chapter LXIV: Brás spends the night imagining Virgília desired by everyone at the theater, to the point of wanting to undress her and make her his alone, and the next day, finding her in tears, says he is jealous of the other man.
- Chapter LXVII: Virgília refuses flight with a "Never," and Brás arranges the little house on a street in Gamboa, which promises him exclusive possession and an end to the curtains and dinners of the other man.
- Chapter LXXVII: Brás confesses to Virgília that he missed the previous evening out of jealousy, because two days earlier she had waltzed twice with the same dandy, and she stares at him in astonishment and taps his forehead lightly.
- Chapter LXXXV: Brás and Virgília, saved from separation, love each other with more ardor, and he says that this was the peak of their love, the mountaintop, from which they began to descend.
- Chapter XCVIII: Brás says the anonymous letter restores to the affair the salt of mystery and the pepper of danger, and at the theater he finds Nhã-loló prettier.
- Chapter CVIII: Brás relates what he felt on reading the note, in pairs of opposites: fear and not fear, pity and not pity, vanity and not vanity, in short love without delirium.
- Chapter CXVIII: Brás names the third force that called him to the bustle, the pleasure of shining, and the inability to live alone, and says the desire came to stir himself in something, with something, and for something.
- Chapter CXXI: Brás goes down the Livramento hill with Nhã-loló, loses years along the way, arrives at the bottom at twenty, and says that, with the sunshade tilted, he added a page to Quincas Borba's philosophy.
Passages
The young man obeys an order that was not meant for him.
Segue-me, disse ela ao pajem. E eu segui-a, tão pajem como o outro, Follow me, she said to the page. And I followed her, as much a page as the other one
Impetuous desire turns into the patience of courtship.
Gastei trinta dias para ir do Rocio Grande ao coração de Marcela, não já cavalgando o corcel do cego desejo, mas o asno da paciência, I spent thirty days going from the Rocio Grande to Marcela's heart, not riding the mount of blind desire, but the donkey of patience
Prohibition becomes the measure of love.
Agora, que todas as leis sociais no-lo impediam, agora é que nos amávamos deveras, Now that all social laws were keeping us apart, now we truly loved each other
Jealousy calls for exclusive possession.
a torná-la minha, somente minha, unicamente minha, to make her mine, only mine, uniquely mine
Love loses its fever and continues.
Era medo, e não era medo; era dó e não era dó; era vaidade e não era vaidade; enfim, era amor sem amor, isto é, sem delírio, It was fear, and was not fear; it was pity and was not pity; it was vanity and was not vanity; in short, it was love without love, that is, without delirium
Desire without an object is satisfied with any matter.
Veio o desejo de agitar-me em alguma coisa, com alguma coisa e por alguma coisa, The desire came to stir myself in something, with something, and for something