The representation of the citizens in Os lusíadas and "Teorema" based on the narratives about Inês de Castro

Abstract

Based on the historical discourse in the Chronicles of Rui de Pina and Fernão Lopes about the lives of Dom Affonso IV and Dom Pedro I of Portugal, this article intends to analyze the episodes related to Inês de Castro, in the fictional works Os Lusíadas (1572), by Luís Vaz de Camões, and “Teorema” (1963), by Herberto Helder. It intends to understand, specifically, the way in which the citizens appear in each work and verify how the perspective adopted by the narrator affects this representation, in addition, it tries to apprehend a critical content along with the fictional-historical discourse. While intending to understand the relationship between fiction and historical truth, as well as the actions of the characters in their contexts, we study the historical narratives by the chroniclers and compare them to the fictional narratives. We also study, among other points, the the theory of historical fiction based on Marilene Weinhardt (1994, 2010), the combination between history and art in Camon's work by Mauro Cavaliere (2002), and the writing of the chroniclers and objectives of this type of narrative according to Antônio José Saraiva (1999). The research, finally, reveals that the difference in perspective chosen by the author substantially changes the way of representing the citizens, especially considering the objective with which each narrative was written.