Davam Grandes Passeios aos Domingos

by José Régio

Genres: Portuguese Literature

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Poeta, autor dramático e ficcionista, de seu nome verdadeiro José Maria dos Reis Pereira, nasceu em 1901, em Vila do Conde, onde faleceu em 1969. Formou-se em Filologia Românica pela Faculdade de Letras de Coimbra, com uma tese de licenciatura subordinada ao título As Correntes e as Individualidades na Moderna Poesia Portuguesa, na qual ousa apresentar como nome cimeiro da poesia contemporânea Fernando Pessoa, autor que não possuía ainda nenhuma edição em livro. É em Coimbra que colabora com as publicações Bysancio e Tríptico, convivendo com o grupo de escritores que virão a reunir-se em torno da criação da revista Presença. No primeiro número da revista, fundada com João Gaspar Simões e Branquinho da Fonseca, publicará o texto "Literatura Viva", que pode ser entendido como manifesto programático do grupo, defendendo que "Em arte, é vivo tudo o que é original. É original tudo o que provém da parte mais virgem, mais verdadeira e mais íntima duma personalidade artística", pelo que, "A primeira condição duma obra viva é pois ter uma personalidade e obedecer-lhe". Definindo "literatura viva" como "aquela em que o artista insuflou a sua própria vida, e que por isso mesmo passa a viver de vida própria.", aí reclama, para a obra artística, o carácter de "documento humano" e os critérios de originalidade e sinceridade.
As linhas mestras da sua poética surgem claramente logo no seu primeiro livro de poesia (Poemas de Deus e do Diabo, 1925), no qual o culto da originalidade, entendida como autenticidade expressiva, se processa tematicamente entre os pólos do Bem e do Mal, do espírito e da carne, e, enfim, do divino e do humano. Neste contexto, os neo-realistas criticaram o psicologismo da sua poesia, que consideravam excessivamente voltada "para o umbigo".
Como autor dramático, José Régio coligiu, em 1940, no Primeiro Volume de Teatro, textos dramáticos (Três Máscaras, Jacob e o Anjo) publicados dispersamente desde os anos trinta, a que se seguiriam o drama realista Benilde ou a Virgem-Mãe (1947), uma peça que veio a ser adaptada ao cinema por Manoel de Oliveira, El-Rei Sebastião (1949), A Salvação do Mundo (1954), O Meu Caso ou Mário ou Eu-Próprio - O Outro (1957), peças que, em larga medida, estabelecem uma continuidade entre temas, problemáticas religiosas, humanas e metafísicas já abordadas na obra poética, transferindo o que esta possuía de forma latente em tensão dramática, patético e exibição emotiva para o registo teatral. É de destacar também O Jogo da Cabra-Cega (1934), um romance marcado pelo recurso à técnica do monólogo interior. Postumamente foram editadas as memórias Confissão de um Homem Religioso. Comparecendo ainda em publicações como Portucale, Cadernos de Poesia ou Távola Redonda, José Régio organizou vários florilégios de poetas diversos, redigiu estudos prefaciais para poetas da geração da Presença e preparou a primeira série das Líricas Portuguesas.

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosa Maria is the protagonist of the novel by José Régio, Davam Grandes Passeios aos Domingos, published in 1941, being incorporated, in 1968, in the 3rd edition of Histórias de Mulheres.

In the dedication of the book, the author writes that this is his "first sympathetic portrait of a girl" (Régio, 1941: 8). However, the narrator does not present a portrait with realistic moulds, intending to outline the physical traits of the character; prefers to carry out the "configuration of a personality" (Reis, 2018: 431) through "Actional conformation" devices (Reis, 2018:166) and fictional devices based on rosa Maria's attitudes, beliefs and ideas.

The title of the narrative justified from the taste that the character develops by "certain books of intricate plot" with prints. Of which Rosa Maria "always said: "the figures" (41), in particular the edition that "represented a curve of the road lost between shallow fields, with a poor and cheerful couple in the far from the horizon, snuggled between bushes", where one could read a small sign: "Give Great Walks on Sundays" (42).

The novel begins, in the early '30s of the twentieth century, with the arrival of the character to the train station of Portalegre, coming from Viana do Castelo, shortly after the death of his mother. Welcomed at the home of her aunt Alice, Rosa Maria teaches her cousin La-La to play the piano. Realizing, from the outset, that each person scrupulously plays the role that the "conveniences or circumstances had distributed to him" (15), and there are therefore no changes in the family and social hierarchy. That makes Rosa Maria the poor and orphaned cousin, the woman with no prospects for the future.

During the period of mourning for her mother, Rosa Maria reveals herself to be a contradictory and deeply melancholic and sad character, sobbing and crying closed in her room, conscious of her poverty and loneliness, while feeling the passion for her cousin Fernando emerge. Revealing much "puerility, much naivety, much levity," Rosa Maria feels contempt and gratitude for the family that welcomed her, not failing to "vaguely feel superior," and then "for ill-conscious inner censorship," accusing herself of being "ungrateful and presumed." All these contradictory attitudes reveal a complex character that, through the devices of Actual confirmation, allows one to foresee its "psychological, ideological or moral profile" (Reis, 2018: 168).

Upon realizing her passion for Fernando, Rosa Maria adopts a narcissistic and careless behavior, recovering the taste "of getting beautiful" (46). The spiritual passion that he develops for his cousin through his thoughts and longings translates into a personality shaped by a context of markedly inferior economic and cultural origin, where social stratification dictates the rules.

During the Entrudo, in the holiday home of his uncles, the Serra's house (chapter IV), the action reaches the revealing moment of Rosa Maria's personality. Accepting the proposal of great aunt Victoria (wearing one of her gala dresses at the evening ball), Rosa Maria, through an inner monologue, asserts herself as the protagonist of sensitive, contradictory, and romantic nerves: "You are not old yet! Well, my aunt; I'm older than him, but he likes me. You like me, I know! Soon to tell me, although I am poor and have four or five more years...!" (58). Again, the character appears smiling, already in a ball gown, "aiming full-length in the mirror" (61). With the success of her presence, Rosa Maria seems to abandon herself to the vortex of worldliness through the reader's access, through internal focus, to her thoughts (cf. 68). However, the female characters who observe her highlight her poverty and orphanhood, as well as her arrogance: for them, Rosa Maria "is a girl without possessions, collected by charity" (73).

The character's naivety and his romantic passion for his cousin lead to an expected and inevitable outcome. In the gardens of the house, during a break, Fernando, drunk, addresses the word to Rosa Maria, confessing his admirer, thus realizing the protagonist's wishes. However, her "breath, very close, bothered her, longing and warm, smelling of wine," and his attempt to squeeze her against his chest not only caused him panic: at the same time, Fernando could see "very close to his crazy eyes" (91).

From one moment, the narrator refers to a character who "aged and loses weight looked like another" (97), and love for Fernando "tatters like a smoke" (102). All physical attributes, except for the description of the breast, neck, and skin color, are elaborated by the illustrations of Lima de Freitas, who presents us with a young woman with long black hair and large eyes, also black and expressive. Thus, the spaces left blank by José Régio filled, giving the character another reach.

Reading novels of romantic taste occupies special prominence in the figuration of Rosa Maria, as well as in the unfolding and result of the action. Calling other times, he evokes the afternoons when she "read novels to herself and her mother. (...) Good books such as those of Camilo, Júlio Dinis, (their mother had kept the Eças), Victor Hugo and Balzac translated. Still others with Russian, German names..." (40). Therefore, the propensity for the dream, for meditation and ingenuity and even an absolute purity, come from the readings of the entire literary constellation of eight hundred, except Eça de Queirós, highlighted here as unfit for female education. At the novel's end, in conversation with her aunt, Rosa Maria concludes that she is changed because "she was too naïve... besides having read many novels" (109). Therefore, she can remain single and resign from her condition as a poor woman born to see others happy.

Source: http://dp.uc.pt/conteudos/entradas-do...

[Rui Piteira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leitura muito agradável.

[Mafy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tive que ler para a faculdade e não é mau

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

O final deitou tudo a perder! Uma história básica - pouco desenvolvida.