A representação feminina na obra " Falência," de Júlia Lopes de Almeida: o preço da aparência, a crise moral e o destino da figura feminina

Abstract

The novel A falência (The Bankruptcy), by Júlia Lopes de Almeida (1862-1934), transcends the limits of a narrative about the financial ruin of a merchant to establish itself as a portrait of the social tensions that permeated Brazil at the end of the 19th century. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the representation of women in A falência, by Júlia Lopes de Almeida, focusing on the construction of female characters and highlighting how the author criticizes the social roles imposed on women in the context of the late 19th century. The specific objectives are: (i) to understand the historical and social context in which the work was written, especially in relation to the condition of women in 19th-century Brazil; (ii) to examine the characterization of the main female characters in the work (Camila, Sabina, Madalena, Estela, among others), highlighting their attitudes, conflicts, and degrees of submission or resistance; (iii) to identify elements of social criticism present in the work, especially those related to gender inequality and the impositions of bourgeois morality. As a guiding question for the process of theoretical deepening and analysis of the work, the following question was raised: how is the female character represented in the work A falência, by Júlia Lopes de Almeida, considering the end of the 19th century in Brazil as a temporal framework? Regarding the methodology and methodological approach, the study presents a qualitative and applied approach, given that the procedures are bibliographic. From a theoretical point of view, this research is anchored in the studies of Hanciau (2022), Alves (2019) and Duarte (2003) on feminist suffrage; in the considerations of França (2025) and Karawejczyk (2013) on women in 19th-century literature and the Republican Women's Party respectively; in Zahidé Muzart (2014) regarding the emblematic novel by Júlia Lopes de Almeida; and in the considerations of Cruz (2019) concerning gender relations. and the investigations of Denise Lobato (2016) based on the moralizing theme and the liberating word in the prose of the Rio de Janeiro writer. In short, this study aims to contribute to strengthening academic debates on gender and literature by proposing a reading that articulates literary analysis and social criticism