Who She Is
Miranda's wife and mother of Zulmira, whom her husband moves to the townhouse to keep her away from the shop assistants, and whom the book shows through the eyes of others: the husband who knows of her adultery and does not leave her because of the dowry, the parasite Botelho who catches her with Henrique, the tenement residents who comment on what they see over the wall. She speaks little on stage; when she does, it is to deny, to end a conversation or to test her daughter's suitor.
Trajectory
Married for thirteen years, she lives in the townhouse with her husband, with whom, since the catch, she has begun sleeping and eating separately, and with her daughter, of whose paternity the husband doubts; the dowry she brought is what sustains his trading house (chapter I).
a sua casa comercial garantia-se com o dote que ela trouxera, uns oitenta contos em prédios e ações da dívida pública, his trading house was secured by the dowry she had brought, some eighty contos in buildings and public debt securities
She looks after Henrique's allowance, the son of a farmer who is the husband's client, and she entrusts the husband with the purchases, which he charges to the father's account with a usurer's commission. Caught by Botelho with the young man in a corner of the backyard, she denies it at once, and it is she who ends the conversation (chapter II).
Nós não estávamos fazendo nada! disse Estela, recuperando o sangue-frio., We weren't doing anything! said Estela, recovering her composure.
On the night of the pagode, Leocádia says she saw her kissing the student, and Alexandre says he has seen her shadow on the wall with another man, a bearded, bald man (chapter VII); at Miranda's shout from the window, she appears for a moment with the rest of the household (chapter VII).
E via-se de relance Dona Estela, com a sua palidez de flor meia fanada, e Zulmira, lívida, um ar de fastio a fazê-la feia, e o Henriquinho, cada vez mais bonito, e o velho Botelho, indiferente, a olhar para toda esta porcaria do mundo com o profundo desprezo dos que já não esperam nada dos outros, nem de si próprios., And one glimpsed Dona Estela, with her pallor of a half-withered flower, and Zulmira, livid, with an air of boredom that made her ugly, and little Henrique, ever more handsome, and the old Botelho, indifferent, looking at all this filth of the world with the deep contempt of those who no longer expect anything from others, nor from themselves.
At the baron's title party she runs about among servants and suppliers with her daughter and Henrique (chapter X). When Zulmira's marriage to João Romão is settled, she is the one to set the date, but Botelho warns that she turns up her nose at the rumor about the black woman (chapter XXI).
Lá em casa rosnou!... O Miranda defende-o, afirma que não... Ah! Aquilo é uma grande alma! Mas Dona Estela, você sabe o que são as mulheres!... Torce o nariz e... Em uma palavra: receio que esta história nos traga qualquer embaraço!..., At home she growled!... Miranda defends him, says it isn't so... Ah! He's a great soul! But Dona Estela, you know what women are!... She turns up her nose and... In a word: I fear this story will bring us some embarrassment!...
At the confectionery on Rua do Ouvidor, she receives the suitor without the courtesy the others extend to him, and makes him blush with questions about the opera company (chapter XXIII).
só Dona Estela conservou inalterável a sua fria máscara de mulher que não dá verdadeira importância senão a si mesma., only Dona Estela kept unaltered her cold mask of a woman who attaches true importance only to herself.
Dona Estela dirigiu, de má, a João Romão várias perguntas sobre a companhia lírica, o que confundiu por tal modo ao pobre do homem, que o pôs vermelho e o desnorteou de todo., Dona Estela maliciously put several questions to João Romão about the opera company, which so confused the poor man that it made him blush and utterly bewildered him.
Themes Embodied
The standard themes that run through her are Marriage, Social Class, and Honor and Reputation. The symbol that accompanies her is Miranda's townhouse, where she lives and from whose window she watches the tenement without mixing with it.
Estela is the wife whom the dowry makes immovable: her husband cannot break with her without losing the house's capital, and the text shows her secure in that position, in the backyard with Henrique and at the confectionery with João Romão. In the scene of the catch, what we see is how quickly she regains her composure.
Estela almost never has a voice of her own about what she feels. What we know of her comes from her husband, the parasite, the neighbors, and the book only lets her speak when her speech serves a defense or a test. The two readings the text sustains for the cold mask at the confectionery are the pride of someone who thinks herself above the suitor and the care of someone who knows the daughter's marriage stirs up the whole household.
Relationships
- Miranda: the husband who knows of her adultery and depends on the dowry, and whom she lives apart from.
- Zulmira: the daughter she loves less than instinct asks, since she supposes her to be the husband's daughter.
- Henrique: the fifteen-year-old whose allowance she looks after and with whom Botelho catches her.
- Botelho: the parasite who catches her and promises discretion.
- João Romão: Zulmira's suitor, whom she receives coldly and tests with questions.