Certain literary criticism cites Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas as a model of Menippean satire in the works of Machado de Assis. The present study aims to demonstrate that such satirical procedure was not circumstantial, as it is also present in the author's last two novels, Esaú e Jacó and Memorial de Aires. Conselheiro Aires – prototypical narrator, as conceived in the classic essay by Benjamin – permits us to elucidate, by means of his extensive knowledge, that citing ancient narratives presents subversion as its purpose, when lowering its contemporary practices, in Brazil, who espoused liberal ideas, even though slavery still existed. Thus exchanging the signs: "high" of tradition subdues the “low” of contemporary in a demonstration filled with spirited second intentions.
Machado de Assis; Esaú e Jacó; Memorial de Aires; Mennippean satire