A life in the midst of ruins: Rosalina Honório Cota and the depiction of melancholy in Autran Dourado’s novel Ópera dos mortos

Abstract

The theme of melancholy has been a recurrent topic in literary productions and has also been the focus of a fairly large number of studies. Even though researchers in the field have shown their concern regarding the negative impact of melancholic feelings in fictional characters, considerations from the role of offspring and family ties to set off such feeling have been minimally explored. The present paper examines the portrayal of melancholy in Autran Dourado’s novel Ópera dos mortos (1967), considering the effect of transgeracional transmission and the burden of the past on the main character Rosalina Honório Cota. To do so, the study draws on the insights provided by Freud (1977), Penso, Costa and Ribeiro (2008), Candau (2011) and Ginzburg (2012). The findings indicate that due to Rosalina’s incapacity of dealing with the burden of the past and her family memories result in her escape from reality and psychological entrapment.