The woman; the evil? – feminine representations in José Saramago’s work

Abstract

In this research we propose to analyze the representation of women in lite­rature from the male perspective, to see to what extent the author’s position is linked (or not) the rules and (pre) concepts of Christian morality – the woman with original sin, because of misfortunes men, prone to sorcery and seduction as a vehicle for insubordination – and what remains of this male gaze imply. In light of theorists such as Gilles Lipovetsky and essayists as Helder Macedo, Maria Alzira Seixo, Beatriz Berrini and Maria de Fátima Marinho, elected works Caim, Memorial do Convento and Ensaio sobre a cegueira, by José Saramago. Assuming that the characters have elements in common with each other, share research in two stages: the first, we dis­cuss the configuration of the feminine in Saramago under the aspects of the look, eroticism, seduction and magic, to verify that way are relevant in shaping their roles in the male universe, in the second step, we analyze four characters – eva and lilith, for Caim, Blimunda, for Memorial do Con­vento and mulher do médico, for Ensaio sobre a cegueira, identifying the elements mentioned above and comparing them.