Nova Sapho: Tragedia Extranha

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

26371

Title

Nova Sapho: Tragedia Extranha

Language

pt

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Visconde de Bento de Oliveira Cardoso Villa-Moura's *Nova Sapho* presents a tragic, decadent portrait of Maria Peregrina, a brilliant but mentally unstable Portuguese poetess. Set against the backdrop of late 19th-century Lisbon and the Minho, the novel explores themes of artistic genius, societal rejection, and the fatal allure of madness. Through Peregrina's interactions with the cynical sculptor Ruy and the aristocratic Nuno, the narrative delves into the painful intersection of beauty, suffering, and the divine nature of death.

Summary up to 500 words

In *Nova Sapho: Tragedia Extranha*, Visconde de Bento de Oliveira Cardoso Villa-Moura presents a profound meditation on art, illness, and the nature of existence through the tragic figure of Maria Peregrina. The narrative begins with the narrator's encounter with Peregrina, a striking thirty-year-old woman traveling through the Minho region with her English companion, Violet. Peregrina suffers from a mysterious 'mal-de-viver,' a condition that exhausts her and renders her dependent on chemical stimulants. She rejects conventional medicine, viewing her suffering not as a defect but as a unique form of religious devotion to her own heightened sensibility. Her works, *Emparedada* and *Nova Sapho*, serve as autobiographical explorations of this inner turmoil and the societal prejudices she faces. Upon settling in Lisbon, Peregrina's home on Rua do Alecrim transforms into a salon for intellectuals and outcasts, including the sculptor Ruy Augusto, known as 'the Vagabundo.' Ruy represents a raw, unfiltered connection to nature and the common people, contrasting sharply with the polite society Peregrina navigates. He identifies as a bastard of a heroic lineage, expressing a destiny marked by the fusion of noble blood and the suffering of the oppressed. As autumn approaches, Peregrina contemplates her inevitable decline, embracing death not as an end but as a logical progression toward a higher state of existence. The novel culminates in a surreal vision where Peregrina imagines a feast with mythological figures like Apollo, Venus, and Jehovah, celebrating the fusion of the divine and the mortal. She prepares for her death surrounded by the 'first tuberculous,' seeing it as a glorious passage. The story concludes with her acceptance of death as a divine act; her spirit transforms into ether and light, leaving behind a legacy of tragic beauty and uncompromising artistic integrity. Through this narrative, Villa-Moura explores the tension between the 'genio sensual' and the constraints of society, positing that true art arises from the absolute sincerity of the 'mad' who live beyond conventional morality.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction