The essay is shared, practically, in two parts. The first one shows the Machado de Assis learning as a writer, the singular relationship which he develops to the lector and the controls of the Imperial State in the nineteenth century. The last one analyses the short story "Capítulo dos chapéus", where Machado de Assis shows as, after a century, the French Revolutions values are still stranges in the Brazilian social life.
Realistic brasilian narrative; Literature and history; The short story of Machado de Assis