Doomed Love (Amor de Perdição, In Portuguese) is a classic novel based on Shakespeare that captivates the reader and criticizes the customs of the portuguese society of the XIX century.
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I read "Amor de Perdição" in the summer because of school. In the 11th grade, you are kinda "obligated" to read "Amor de Perdição" because it is part of the educational program in Portugal.
Despite of being a necessary read to portuguese students, this book surprised me. Camilo Castelo Branco, the author, mixes criticism, love, violence, tragedy, death and a lot of drama in a two-hundred page book.
"Amor de Perdição" is a novel, where the action runs fast, in a concentrated way and always having dramatic moments in between.
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Get notified of top trending articles like this one every week! (we won't spam you)Why Did Camilo Write "Amor de Perdição"?
Camilo wrote "Doomed Love" because he is the nephew of the protagonist, and despite of never had having direct contact with his uncle, his aunt (the protagonist's sister) used to tell Camilo her brother's story, which made Camilo very curious and connected with his uncle.
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Camilo Castelo Branco - A brief Biography
Camilo Castelo Branco had a tragic life, with a bohemian life, full of love without any rules, causing him to go to Cadeia da Relação, a prison in Porto (Portugal), because of adultery. His tragic love life functions also like a "bridge" to Camilo connect Simão's story with his own story. He is the narrator of the book, giving a strong opinion.
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The Characters
Simão Botelho
Simão Botelho is the protagonist of "Doomed Love". He is Camilo's uncle, who sadly passed away before Camilo was born. Simão Botelho is the Romantic Hero of this book.
He is young (16 to 18 years), highborn, good looking, rebellious, individualist, fighting against the portuguese society traditions and norms. He is in love with Teresa, other important character.
Teresa Albuquerque
Teresa is young (younger than Simão, with 15 to 17 years), beautiful and highborn too. She is apparently fragile, but like Simão, she fights against the norms, her family and the portuguese society. She is in love with Simão, and she is really brave, fighting against her father's will, prefering to be locked in a Convent and death to a forced marriage.
Mariana da Cruz
Mariana is a very important character in this book. He is young (older than Simão and Teresa, with 24 years), she is pretty, but melancholic. She loves silently Simão, prefering his happiness over hers. She is the messanger of Teresa and Simão's relationship, delivering Simão's letters to Teresa and Teresa's to Simão's.
Domingos Botelho
Domingos Botelho is Simão's father, and D.Rita's husband. Camilo portrays Domingos as an ugly man. He is a judge, and he was highborn too. He hates Teresa's family.
D.Rita Castelo Branco
D.Rita is Simão's mother and Domingo's wife. She is rude, arrogant and has a very authoritarian posture. She is highborn, provenient from Lisbon (Portugal's Capital) aristocracy.
Baltasar Coutinho
Baltasar is Teresa's cousin. He is the "villan" of the story. He is a pervert, cinic, coward young man, that wants to marry Teresa at all costs (and against her will too).
João da Cruz
João da Cruz is Mariana's father. He is known for being "the good criminal". He is kind, despite of have commited crimes. He is a peasant, and he brings Simão to his house as a grateful act, because Domingos (Simão's father and a judge) had saved him from death penalty in the past.
Tadeu de Albuquerque
Tadeu is Teresa's father, that hates Domingos, Simão and the Botelhos family. Like Domingos, he is conservative, traditional, and inflexible to break his family name honor. He and Domingos prefer loosing his son and daughter than breaking their social dignity. (Camilo's Social Criticism).
"Amor de Perdição" as a cronic of the social changes in the XIX Century
"Doomed Love" was written in 1861, and represents the Liberalism values: Freedom, Iguality, Justice and Love. It is important to say that in Portugal the French ideals and culture was very present, and who defended the Ideals of the French Revolution in Portugal was seen like a modern rebellious person, which at the time some people had good or bad reactions to it.
Most families were very conservative, and having a daughter or a son that defended that ideals was seen almost like a threat. The book takes place in the beginning of the XIX Century, representing the life and conventions of a absolutist society of the "Ancien Régime", or "Antigo Regime" in Portuguese, reffering to the political polity before the French Revolution, represented by the absolut monarchy.
"Amor de Perdição" - Portuguese Society in the beginning of XIX Century
In the beginning of the XIX Century in Portugal, as I said before, the society was extremely conservative and traditional, so if someone was different, or just wanted to do something that society was against of, the community would just descart those who didn't follow the "social rules". The portuguese patriarchy is widely present in this book, containing the strong and obsessive "honor code" the families followed.
If someone in the family was different, especially if they were women, they were sent to a Convent. The society was extremelly toxic, rigid by futile codes and rules, generating many conflicts between families (like the Albuquerque's and Botelho's).
"Amor de Perdição" - The Life in a Convent
One of the main interests of Camilo Castelo Branco in "Amor de Perdição" is to criticize the life in a Convent. The Convents were supposed to be a "sacred", respectful place to live, but in the 1800's, the Convents were used to punish girls who didn't behave like their families wanted. Camilo talks about the negative influence on cloistered young women, the worldly and bohemian life in convents, contrary to the vows of the clergy and their "promises"
The Love Portrayed in "Amor de Perdição"
The Love portrayed in this books is an idilic, absolute and tragic love, common characteristics of the Romantism, a major artistic, literary, and intellectual movement in the late 18th to mid-19th centuries. The feeling between Simão and Teresa is strong, powerful and rebellious, reinforcing the idea that true love is incompatible with the established social order.
This book narrates the tragic forbidden love between young people from rival families, Simão Botelho and Teresa de Albuquerque, in an intense story of passion, honor, and destiny, culminating in death and exile, inspired by the author's own life and compared to a "Portuguese Romeo and Juliet".
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If you want to, there's many film adaptations of this book in Youtube, just search "Amor de Perdição filme" and you'll find it!
