THE WOMAN AND THE MARMOSET: THE DISRUPTION OF DAILY LIFE WHEN ENCOUNTERING ANIMALS IN CLARICE LISPECTOR

Abstract

In several of Clarice’s short stories, the basic plot structure revolves around the meeting of the protagonist, generally a middle-class woman, with an “other” that provokes a feeling of estrangement. Often, that “other” is an animal. This unexpected meeting makes the character question their life. In this paper, we will present a reading of the short story “Uma tarde plena” (“A plentiful afternoon”), which originates from a text published on the column “Entre mulheres” (Among women), written by the author under the guise of Tereza Quadros for the publication Comício (Rally) in 1952. We intend to evaluate how the presence of a marmoset on the public transport rattles, although momentarily, the protagonist’s domesticated life; we also seek to identify traits relating to the patriarchal society in the narrative and in the woman’s behaviour.