Representações do feminino em Antes do baile verde, de Lygia Fagundes Telles

Abstract

The goal of this Master’s thesis is to propose an analysis about the feminine in the work Antes do baile verde, by Lygia Fagundes Telles. The author from São Paulo, who is recognized by the critics as the "great lady of the Brazilian literature", has a very particular writing style. In the midst of the recurrence of themes and aesthetic artifices reaffirmed in her novels and short stories, we observe an insistent presence of the "women’s worldview" through vibrant female characters. These characters offer possibilities for reflections upon a universe that, until then, emerged only through enigmatic lenses in the light of male authors. Lygia Fagundes Telles gives voice to these representations and escapes from declared ideological engagements, enabling the reader to enter the feminine sphere of a space-time covered by social and cultural aspects. This occurs because in Antes do baile verde, as in other works by Lygia Fagundes Telles, human existence, with all its conflicts and complexity, is the raw material for fictionalization. Based on the contextualization of the feminine representation and part of the literary corpus, we observe how the author constructs them in such narratives considering questions about gender roles and cultural aspects related to themes such as marriage, love, family and behavior. Thus, we intend to evaluate the place occupied by Antes do baile verde in a conjuncture of resistance and/or resignation