Abstract
The present work aims to present points of intersection and contrasts between the theatrical critic Machado de Assis and the short story writer. As he believed that the newspaper and the theater were at the service of moral instruction, it is possible to bring the critic closer and further away from the short story writer at a time when he practically carried out both activities: from 1862 to 1864 as a censor, and from 1864 onwards in the Jornal das Famílias. For this, the study begins with a comparison of the program letter of the Jornal das Famílias with the rules established by the Brazilian Dramatic Conservatory and, later, with the sixteen opinions of Machado in the position of censor, in order to observe how the concept and values of morality were constructed.
Keywords:
Machado de Assis; theatrical criticism; Jornal das Famílias