A CONSTRUÇÃO DO FEMININO EUROPEU NOS SÉCULOS XVIII E XIX: CONTRIBUIÇÕES DA MARQUESA DE ALORNA

Abstract

This article presents a content analysis based on the writings of Bardin (2009) about the feminine educational principles present in a set of six letters from the Portuguese poet known as Marquise of Alorna, written in the 18th century and addressed to a daughter who was about to marry. The analysis sought to consider the principles suggested by the marquise, present in the referred letters, as a 'formative proposal' in contrast to the educational project in force at the time, which led women to be household administrators, caring mothers and wives. In the guidelines offered to the daughter, we identified a possible 'new profile' of women emerging in society at the time. Our hypothesis is that the marquise would have been one of the pioneers in the construction of this new profile, which we called 'the blossoming' of female consciousness, later leading to female emancipation from an important ally, education. We take the marquise, at the same time, as an example of this construction and one of those responsible for this process in other women, either directly or indirectly. As a result of this analysis, we find that, in fact, there was a change in the way of thinking of some women of that period, of those who had access to the marquise's teachings or other forms of instruction. And, this modification allowed these women to recognize themselves as a collective of society and, with rights, to the agenda of humanity. The source of our analysis was the correspondences of the marquise reproduced in the work of Hernani Cidade (1930), having as theoretical support, the foundations of the Annales.