This article presents the use of animals as symbols and metaphors in some texts by Machado de Assis. It focuses on two novels, Quincas Borba and Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas, and on the short-story "A Sereníssima República". It aims to analyse how Machado de Assis uses the figure of animals in the construction of his narrative, in the context of world literature regarding animal imagery.
symbols; metaphors; animals