Portuguese Studies

Eça deQueiroz MARIA FILOMENA MONICA In 1908,at theage ofeighty-two, Eça's mother, CarolinaAugustaEça de Queiroz,descendedthe Chiado, dressedin grey,witha littledarkhat decorated withwhiteaigrettes. Inspiteoftherecent deathofherhusband andhereldestson,sheappearedserene. CarolinaAugusta was onherway to lunchwitha relative. Whenthisladyexpressed concern overthegrief suffered byAurora,theonlyone ofhersevenchildren stillsurviving, she retorted, 'Então não há-deestar(abatida)?Tem tido tantosdesgostos! Morreram-lhe o pai e os doisirmãos!'Itwas as ifnoneofthis- neither thedeathofherhusbandnorherchildren - hadanything todo withher. This woman,so chicand self-contained, is one ofthegreatmysteries of Eça's life.1 It is a mystery that,unfortunately, cannotbe solved.Thereis nothing aboutCarolinaAugustainthearchives; Eça's booksmakelittle reference to her;and theson neverspokeofher.The claimthatEça's personality was affected by his relationship withhis mother thuslacks supporting evidence.2 It is possiblethatEça was traumatized byhisillegitimacy, but theoppositeis justas likely to be true.Considering thehighincidence of births outsidemarriage atthetime, hemayhaveviewedhissituation with indifference. In such circumstances the researcher can only adopt the attitude thatsomequestions mustbeleft unanswered. ItisknownthatEça was registered in1845as thechildofan 'unknown mother'. Muchhas beenmadeofthisfact,buthismother's coolnessmay havebeenmoretraumatic forthechildthanthewordsofa priest. Whatis knownforcertain isthatEça's upbringing tookplacemainly behind closed doors,without thecompanyofanyonehisown age. Eça's character was formed athiselderly grandmother's knee,listening tothepoetry ofMendes Leal,andinthecompany ofa coupleofblackservants whotoldhimstories ofCharlemagne. Inthecloistered lifeofVerdemilho theoldfolks lovedthe little boy,butthegrandson ofJudge Queirozwasnotallowedtoplaywith thebarefoot boyswho loitered aboutthemanorhouse.The reserve that marked Eça until hisdeathmaybeinpartattributed tothislimbo. Foritwas a sortoflimbo.Eça knewfrom thetimehewas a very small boythatasidefrom hisnurse, whohad breast-fed him,andhisgrandparents ,to whomhe had beenentrusted, he had a father and a mother. He knewthattheyhad married whenhe was aboutfouryearsold. He had heardthathehadbrothers andsisters inOporto.He alone,forreasonshe 1M. D'Eça de Alpoim,Os Eças (Viana do Castelo: 1992). z J.Gaspar Simões,Vida e Obra de Eça de Quetros,4 vols (Lisbon:Bertrand, 1980). EÇA DE QUEIROZ 5I didnotunderstand, hadremained inVerdemilho. Likeallchildren whoare facedwitha mystery thatadultsprefer notto explain,he triedto forget aboutit.He spent hisdayslooking atthebooksinhisgrandfather's library. Asa frail childheavoidedthechallenge ofphysical adventures. He didnot knowifhewasunhappy ornot.He knewonlythathelivedina belljar. Attenhewas senttoschoolinOportoas a half-boarder. Atweekends, rather thangoingtohisparents' house,hestayed withan uncleandaunt. Nineteenth-century families wereoften oddlycomposed,butthiswas an unusualsolution, evenfortheperiod.Eça reactedbybeingan excellent student. He continued to readeverything hecouldgethishandson. The serialized fiction oftheNacional- forwhichCamilo,ArnaldoGamaand Evaristo Bastowerewriting - was greedily consumed. Atfifteen hewas writing romantic poems.Shortly thereafter he fellin lovewitha cousin. The girl'sfather, who had received himin hishouse,putan endto the fantasy. Thin, witha largenose and sunkeneyes (Eça resembled his mother) heprobably didnotgreatly attract thegirls. Butthiswas notthe reasonwhyhedidnotmarry hiscousin:moreimportant thanhisphysical appearancewas thelackofa fortune. The uncleclaimedthattheir being first cousinswasjustification forhisrefusal, yetshortly afterwards thegirl was to marry anotherfirst cousin,João PedroSchalwach,a Lieutenant Coloneland fifty-year-old widower.In 1861Eça left forCoimbra.Itwas notafter all withhiscousinAlbuquerque thathewoulddiscover sex,but ina brothel. Andheenjoyed it. At university he continued to lack self-confidence. In thefirst yearhe livednotina república butinthehouseofa family friend, whichhardly helpedhimto bloom.He remained solitary. Duringthedayhe attended classes;atnight heplanned thewriting ofpoemswhich wouldimmortalize humanity. He wasdiligent andpassedhisexams.Andeventually heleft Dr Doria'shouseandwenttoliveina república. He atoncebecameanatheist, learned todespisetheclassics, andbegantoreadtheFrench poets.Eça did notmissa single newbookthatarrived inCoimbra.VictorHugo was his hero;Proudhon andBalzachismentors. Bythistime politics interested him infinitely lessthanliterature. Had hewished tobea militant hedidnotlack foropportunity: whileat Coimbrahewitnessed theforced resignation of therector, theagitation aroundthequestionof'Bomsensoe Bomgosto' and theflight of students to Oporto.Yet,althoughhe knewAnterode Quental,hepreferred thecompany ofbohemians suchasJoãoPenha. WithhisBachelor'sdiplomainhand,he arrived inthecapitalin 1866. His father, JudgeTeixeirade Queiroz,had beentransferred to Lisbon, where helivedina splendid houseintheRossio.Forthefirst time Eça went tolivewithhisparents. He didnotenjoyit.He scarcely knewhisbrothers and sisters;his father wore himdown withadviceabout a career;his mother alarmed himwithherseverity. Quitebychance,intheoffice ofthe 52 MARIA FILOMENA MONICA periodical theGazetadePortugal, whichwaspublishing someofhisshort stories, hemeta very different soul,thegregarious Jaime BatalhaReis.Eça beganvirtually toliveinhishouse.Ina roomwhere ReislivedintheBairro Alto he continuedto read: Flaubert,Poe, and Nerval. He visitedthe Grémio Literário where, alongwith BatalhaReis,hedelighted inconsulting thepoetry ofBaudelaire inoldFrench magazines.3 Itwas atthispointthat herealized thathewantedtobea writer. His father, however, was notinclined to support himmuchlongerand wentto speak with a friend, the well-known landownerJosé Maria Eugeniode Almeida, whoarranged a job forEça as editor ofa newspaper withheadquarters inÉvora.The idea ofmoving...