Princess Isabel of Brazil: Gender and Power in the Nineteenth Century

by Roderick J. Barman

As the elder daughter of an emperor whose wife had presented him with no sons, Isabel stood to inherit the monarchy of Brazil with the passing of Dom Pedro II. On three separate occasions, Isabel was named regent, or head of state, when her father was required to leave the country for extended periods. On each occasion, she served as the dutiful daughter, following her father's instructions to the letter and resisting any attempts at personal aggrandizement. During her third regency, as her father recuperated in Europe, rather than accumulate personal power and oppose the forces of republicanism and abolition, Isabel personally led the struggle to pass the Gold Law of 1888 abolishing slavery throughout Brazil, thus ridding the country of one of the institutions upon which traditional monarchical Brazil was based and speeding the downfall of the monarchy, the monarchy she would inherit, in 1889. Princess Isabel of Brazil examines Isabel's role as an extraordinary woman who had access to material wealth and education and power, in patriarchal nineteenth-century Brazil. Professor Barman looks at how her life was constrained by her subordinate roles as daughter, wife, mother, and even as empress-in-waiting, using the fascinating career of Isabel to examine the interplay of gender and power in the nineteenth century. This new book is an excellent resource for courses biography, women's studies, and Latin American history courses.

Genres: History, Biography, Brazil

291 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Roderick Barman is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of British Columbia.

Reviews

[Juliana Pessôa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu sou apaixonada por História do Brasil, é a prateleira com mais títulos aqui em casa.
Esse livro, apesar de ter sido escrito por um homem – Roderick J. Barman – (e ele mesmo ressalta isso), traz muitas informações que eu desconhecia sobre a história da Princesa Isabel. São abordados aspectos da vida particular, da pública e a forma como ela foi tratada nestes âmbitos por todos que a cercavam. É uma leitura agradável, leve, interessante e, como outras, essencial pra quem se interessa pela História do Brasil.

A Princesa Isabel foi uma das nove mulheres que estiveram no comando político de suas nações durante o século XIX. A documentação trazida pelo autor é inédita e suporta todo seu relato sobre a herdeira legítima do trono de D. Pedro II. De certa forma, podemos pensar o papel das mulheres nos dias atuais, já que, muitas vezes, continuamos sendo mantidas afastadas de assuntos públicos, políticos e econômicos que poderiam ser do nosso interesse. Infelizmente, o século XIX não está tão distante assim.