Abstract
This paper addresses "O caso da vara" (The Cane), a short story published by Machado de Assis in 1891, in the newspaper, Gazeta de Notícias, and later compiled in the volume, Páginas recolhidas (1899). The focus of this essay is to ponder some of the dramatic traits in the short story and highlight the presence of elements of the tragic and the farce. Based on this, the text invests in the historicization of these traits, in view of the "case" reported, violence against a slave, and the context for its publication, the early years of the Brazilian Republic. From this analysis, the hypothesis arises the hypothesis that Machado’s short story would encourage reflection about Brazil’s shift from Monarchy to Republic in its intimate relationship with the end (at least in political and legal terms) of the slavery.
Machado de Assis; republic; slavery