10/11/18
Professor Weinstein
Cultures and Contexts: Brazil
Paper Option 1: Dom Casmurro
In many societies when the slave trade had been outlawed, the wealthy people found
loopholes in order to complete the same duties of a slave. One of these ways was through
patronage, in which a wealthy person gives a non wealthy person loyalty in exchange for favors
and other duties. In Brazil specifically, patronage was very common, as many of the plantations
and large landowners needed to find a substitute for their large amounts of slaves. Of course,
some still chose to illegally participate in the slave trade, but some wanted to find a way to
enslave within the bounds of the law. However, some of these relationships are real and extend
deeper than just patron-client. Wealthy people can help out their friends and provide them with a
place to live and treat them well, contrasting to slaves. This structure was shown in the novel,
Dom Casmurro, written by Machado de Asis. In many instances, de Asis refers to the concept of
patronage to describe the relationship between characters. There are two key relationships that
are patron-client, those being Jose Dias and Dona Gloria and Capitú and Bentinho.
José Dias comes into the Santiago family when the husband of Dona Gloria falls ill. The
husband becomes fond of Bento, and offers him a wage. Jose Dias declines, prompting the
husband to respond, “Who’s keeping you from going anywhere? Go where you like, but live
with us.” (de Asis 11) This begins the patron-client relationship between Jose Dias and the
Santiago family, as he is caring for the husband in exchange for a place to live. However, Jose
Dias has deceived the family, as he was not a doctor and merely wanted to preach his word. He
requested to be sent away, but the family retained his services because of the genuine bond
formed between Dona Gloria’s husband and José Dias. He becomes a central part of Dona
Gloria’s son Bento’s development when he is without a father figure and to an extent, is the
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service that José Dias is providing as the patron. However, he is incredibly loyal to Dona Gloria,
so much so that he informs her about Bento’s crush on Capitú and therefore causing her to
question Bento’s future as a priest. His utmost loyalty was a key part of 19th century patronage
in Brazil, as in many cases the patron is at risk for being enslaved again and needs to be intensely
loyal in order to maintain their freedom.
Most patron client relationships involve a “service”, as it would be hard to quantify
success without real tangible results. The patron must hold up their end of the deal in order to
maintain their relationship with the client. Machado de Asis critiques that idea through the
relationship of Bento and Capitú, as Bento is given the “service” of love from Capitú. We, as the
reader, are thought to believe it is true love on behalf of Capitú towards Bento for much of the
book, as they make a pact to get married before Bento leaves for seminary school: “Capitú did
not hesitate to swear, and I even saw her cheeks redden with pleasure. She swore twice and a
third time.” (de Asis 99). However, as the novel progresses, Bento becomes more and more
convinced that Capitú has not been faithful and his son is not his but Escobar’s, Bento’s best
friend from seminary school. Capitú brings up the resemblance of Ezekiel to Escobar and Bento
comes to an epiphany, “I found that Capitú was right. They were Escobar’s eyes,...” (de Asis
237) Furthermore, Bento cannot articulate for himself in plain terms the gravity of this
development, “Forgive these metaphors; they savor of the sea and of the tide which brought
death to my friend, my wife’s lover, Escobar.” (de Asis 240) Capitú had been deceiving Bento
and providing love to him in order for her to climb the social ladder of 19th century Brazil, a
common tactic for the poor. Bento, in return for receiving love, provides her everything she
could need to live a happy life. Eventually, he cannot bear to be around her due to the sadness
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she has caused him, and leaves her in Europe with Ezekiel. With the veil of love being removed,
the patron-client relationship was broken.
Dona Gloria and Bento are used to show the importance of patronage in 19th century
Brazil. José Dias was incredibly important in keeping Dona Gloria happy and made sure that
Bento was on the path set by her. Capitú brought intense happiness to Bento’s life and he used
her as motivation to carry out God’s will in seminary school. De asis also plays with the aspect
of service inside a patron client relationship, as both Jose Dias and Capitú did not perform
outlined services; Jose Dias was mostly there to keep Dona Gloria company and Capitú gave
Bento the support he needed in order to support her. Services are not limited to tasks; they can be
the mere essence of happiness. When the service can no longer be given, the relationship
concludes, like when Bento finds out Capitú was unfaithful.
19th century Brazil was very much a time of development for society. In the aftermath of
prolonged slavery, patron-client relationships were crucial to the day to day operations of the
country with the large amount of agricultural production and now a smaller workforce. However,
in Dom Casmurro, Machado de Asis reinforces that idea to a different extent by using emotional
support as the service. The Santiago family does not need assistance with crops, rather assistance
with non tangible needs. Without their patron, the clients would not be able to live a positive
existence.
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