The Struggle for Women in firminia Literature

Abstract

The role of women in society has always been undermined by patriarchal power, so that men do not lose their supremacy in dictating social rules. Lélia González (2020) emphasizes that Latin American women have been subjected to male power for a long time, but when they realize that they are the protagonists of their history, they raise their voices (hooks, 2019) and echo the liberating scream. From this point on, we will analyze the novel Úrsula (1859), by Maria Firmina dos Reis, to understand the importance of female characters in the process of liberation of women in XIX century Brazil. Because Ursula, Luísa B., mother of Tancredo, mother of Túlio, Preta Susana and Adelaide, are different from the standards of the time, because they are not just representing the social roles of daughter, wife and mother. Therefore, our research follows a literary-sociological line, since they are closely related, especially when it comes to a narrative set in the colonial period, in which female roles were imposed and were no more than a framework for engendering their identities.