Michael Finocchiaro's Reviews > The Maias

This is a classic of 19c Portuguese literature and a tour de force telling the story of the Maia family, and particularly the fate of Carlos Maia. It is sort of the classic romantic novel, but with a few twists and some rather colorful characters, one of which, João de Ega, was autobiographical to a degree.

The Maia family is excessively rich with property in Lisbon and in the countryside. Carlos' grandfather, Afonso de Maia, leads the family, but tragedy is not long in coming. His melancholic son, Pedro de Maia, despondent since the death of his mother, Maria Eduarda Runa, falls in love with a woman, Maria Monforte, whose father is suspected of being a slaver and of low morals. Early in their courtship as Pedro and Maria ride back from some shops with the "shrunken figure" of Maria's father also in the carriage, Afonso, sitting at a café with his friend Sequeira observes them passing:
'God, she's lovely!'
Afonso did not reply; he looked askance at that scarlet parasol that was now leaning towards Pedro, almost concealing him, almost obscuring him, like a large bloodstain spreading over the caleche as it passed beneath the sad green of the trees. (p. 38).
There is a lot to unpack in that paragraph in terms of the repeated color red, the reference to blood, and the reference to sad green. All of these forshadow the forthcoming tragedy which will result in Maria's flight with an Italian knight along with Maria and Pedro's daughter, leaving behind Carlos de Maia, Pedro and Maria's son.

Carlos grows up in the shadow of this legacy, spoiled rotten by his doting grandfather, and relatively carefree and unable to focus on any singular activity, flitting around like a hummingbird in socializing as a dandy, dabbing in medicine, and basically spinning his wheels.

The primary action occurs when Carlos de Maia is a young man and a star of the well-healed aristocratic society of Lisbon. His best friend, João de Ega, is a playwright and regularly embroiled in scandals, but always faithful to Carlos. He and Ega make plans for travel: Then Carlos spoke of a plan to go to Italy in the winter with Ega. Visiting Italy was, for Ega, a form of intellectual cleansing; he needed the placid majesty of marble statues to calm that riotous, overexcited, peninsular imagination of his. (p. 227) Carlos himself was becoming complacent with his life as a dandy: He sometimes had dreadful days like this: he thought himself 'a complete dolt', and the pile of torn-up, screwed-up sheets of paper that accumulated on the carpet at his feet left him feeling like the mere ruin of a man. (p. 257). That being said, he is quite self-aware as he tells his grandfather: "It's a matter of temperament," said Carlos. "There are inferior beings to whom the sound of an adjective is more important tthat the exact working of a system - and I'm one of those monsters." (p. 259).

Naturally, the plot will come around to a love intrigue and this is rapidly the case. Carlos has a bit of a clothes fetish and a thing for married women, as we see in this description of how and why he is initially seduced by a countess: But what drew Carlos' eye most was a sofa on which lay, sleeves outspread, like two welcoming arms, the white Genoese velvet jacket she had been wearing when he had seen her for the first time, stepping out of her carriage at the door of her hotel. (p. 265) This is one of the more memorable images of Carlos' romanticism.

However, this affair runs its course rather quickly because Carlos rapidly falls for another woman who appears to be married, and who prophetically has the same name as his mother: Maria Eduarda. He uses his medical training to treat her servant and becomes intimate with her daughter and the domestics of the house. The man of the family is away in South America leaving the field clear for Carlos to make a move.

Things eventually come apart when certain mysteries are revealed causing Carlos grief and thoughts of death: ...then he had foreseen another horror, a supreme punishment, waiting for him in the solitude in which he was burying himself. He had already noticed it coming nearer; the other night, it had sent a premonitory shudder through him, and tonight, lying beside Maria Eduarda, who had fallen, exhausted, into sleep, he had sensed it tightening its grasp on him, like the first chill of a death agony. (p. 663)

After the climax (no spoilers), Ega and Carlos plan to take the talked-about trip around Europe and Carlos talks of his life philosophy: It was a Muslim fatalism. Desire nothing and fear nothing. Succumb neither to hope nor to disappointment. Accept everything, what comes and what escapes one, with the same tranquility with which one accepts the natural changes from stormy days to mild. And in that placid state of mind, allow that piece of organized matter called the "I" gradually to deteriorate and decompose until it re-enters and is lost in the infinite universe. Above all, have no appetites, and, still more important, no discontents. (p. 712) This is actually closer to a Zen Buddhist outlook than "Muslim fatalism" and a very Enlightenment-inspired thought. The book abruptly ends as Ega and Carlos, in a manner not unlike the ending of Sentimental Education, chasing a tramway:
'We might still catch it!'
'We might still catch it!'
Again the lantern slide away and fled. In order to catch the tram, the two friends started racing desperately down Rampa de Santos and along the Aterro beneath the initial glow of the rising moon. (p. 714)

Overall, this was a wonderful book. Despite it being classified as a romantic novel, it has moments of high humor and its characters have a strong, deep humanity to them. Naturally, there is a lack of strong, independent and non-tragic female characters, but nonetheless, it shies away from gross, ignorant stereotypes for the most part. I enjoyed Carlos and especially Ega as really interesting characters that I would have liked to have a drink with at a bar. The storytelling was excellent and this particular translation by Margaret Jill Costa (who won awards for this particular translation in fact) is vibrant and fluid.