PROBLEMS OF REALISM

THE DESCRIPTIONS OF GUSTAVE FLAUBERT AND EÇA DE QUEIROZ

Abstract

The aim of this article is to conduct a comparative analysis of the opening chapters of Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert) and Os Maias (Eça de Queiroz). Drawing on the works of Phillipe Hamon (1977), Boris Tomachevski (2013) and Mario Vargas Llosa (1979) (among others), the article will survey the main characteristics of realism, seeking to demonstrate how the fundamental principles of this aesthetic (the pretension to achieve “objetive reality” and the adequacy between “sign” and “thing”) have created a contradiction that all novelists of this movement must resolve in their own writing. Given that this problem involves how descriptions are integrated into the plot, this study will argue that the moments of narrative “deceleration” are not useless – on the contrary, they may be the most significant aspects of such works. The results indicate that, despite dealing with the same problem, Gustave Flaubert and Eça de Queiroz found different ways to resolve it: while the former relies on thematic cohesion and unity, the latter chooses to fragment the unity of his work (yet still maintains a coherent whole).