Abstract
One of the issues raised by the critical reception of Machado’s novel Quincas Borba, is the analysis of Dona Fernanda, one of its secondary characters. This paper intends to advance that discussion by focusing on the character’s double role of providing compassion and the limits thereof in relation to the protagonist, Rubião. In this respect, the point of the paper is to associate the secondary character with Machado de Assis’s narrative technique in the specific context of the novel discussed.
Quincas Borba; dona Fernanda; narrative technique