A mulher em O Cortiço : submissão, resistência e marginalização no naturalismo de Aluísio Azevedo

Abstract

This paper analyzes the representation of women in the novel O Cortiço, by Aluísio de Azevedo, highlighting the female characters, especially Pombinha, Rita Baiana, Bertoleza, and Estela. This research aims to emphasize the construction of a context of submission, resistance, and marginalization. It is fundamental to understand how Naturalism reveals the social, economic, and cultural conditions that determine and limit the lives of these women, revealing the influence of determinism, patriarchy, and racial and class inequalities. It is observed that, although imposed by oppressive structures, the characters exhibit gestures of resistance and a search for autonomy, even if often marked by physical, symbolic, and material violence. Thus, the study proposes a reflection on the position of women in 19th-century society and on how Naturalist literature contributes to denouncing the forms of oppression that permeate the female experience. This research is exploratory in nature, using qualitative bibliographic technical procedures, highlighting concepts from the perspective of Candido (2006), Alfredo Bosi (2010), Michelle Perrot (2019), among others