A origem oriental de Jacinto (sobre "A cidade e as serras" de Eça de Queirós)

Abstract

In A cidade e as serras, published in 1901, Eça de Queirós introduces a peculiar protagonist with a no less peculiar lifecourse: Jacinto, a Portuguese millionaire living in Paris and leading a boring existence despite his being surrounded by everything the technology of the time was discovering and could provide. Quite unexpectedly, Jacinto decides to leave all gadgets behind for a simple country life in Portugal. This celebrated character is one of the most studied characters ever penned by Queirós. Quite a lot has been said about his genesis. It is remarkable that nobody has ever associated Jacinto to any of those created by Jules Verne. I am thinking about the Chinese millionaire, Kin-fo, the main character in Les tribulations d’un chinois en Chine. Out of such a comparison, quite a lot of coincidences emerge primarily, that of sharing the same technology Jacinto enjoys in his 202, his Parisian apartment, as well as the most fundamental one: their shared shopenhauerian tedium. Since Verne’s novel precedes (1879) the one by Queirós, it would not be farfetched to consider Les Tribulations… to have influenced Queirós in his novel