Helena (Machado de Assis novel)

Helena is a novel written by the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis. It was first published in 1876.

The novel opens with the family of Éstacio, whose father, Conselheiro Vale, has just died. In his will, the Conselheiro has recognized a natural daughter, previously unknown to both Éstacio and his aunt Dona Úrsula, with whom he shares the family home. The daughter, Helena, arrives to a mixed reception. Estácio welcomes her warmly while his aunt shows marked hestitation over this unknown person. While Éstacio grows increasingly more fond of his half-sister, Helena in a series of events succeeds in also winning the affection of the stern Dona Úrsula.

Life proceeds harmoniously in their household. Meanwhile Estácio, implicitly due to affections for Helena, defers an engagement with the beautiful, but less adroit Eugênia. Well into the novel it is revealed that Helena has been guarding a secret, one which seems to be related to a house nearby which Estácio and Helena frequently pass near while horseback riding. It is later revealed that the biological father of Helena, who is not Conselheiro Vale, lives in the house but in misery.

At this point, Helena is being courted by Estácio's friend, Mendonça even though the attraction that Estácio feels for Helena is very apparent to the reader. This affection is never truly recognized by Estácio until the preacher Melchior warns Estácio that he feels romantic love for his new sister. As this is being revealed, the reader learns that Helena is indeed not the daughter of Conselheiro Vale and consequently not a blood relation to Estácio.

However, Helena's neglect to admit that she is not truly related to the family and thus should never have been recognized proves too much for her conscience and she falls ill. Helena does not recover and by her death bed Estácio is horrified and distraught.

In Machado de Assis’ earlier, romanticist, works the role of the female figure is an important and persistent theme. When Helena arrives there is an air of suspicion regarding her background, especially from Dona Úrsula. Helena is, in many ways, a transitional character between the fading aristocratic values of the landed oligarchy and the emergent urban middle class. The importance of caste is evident among the novel’s representatives of the older generation: Dona Úrsula and Camargo. Prior to the social transitions of the period, feminine selection for marriage was a source of maintenance of the social hierarchy.

Yet, for Éstacio, the issue of Helena’s class beginnings is of little consequence and he is instead endured to Helena for the virtues and skills she possesses. This is the new female dexterity which the growing middle class lauds in women. Opposed to the aristocratic values which tended towards idle beauty and adornment, the new ethic prized industry and domestic utility in the female figure. Helena was this model.

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