Ascension and fall of the Second Empire in France (1852- 1870) in A tragédia da rua das flores by Eça de Queiroz

Abstract

In the years of his political-intellectual-literary background development, José Maria Eça de Queiroz (1845-1900) took position in manifestoes, letters, and newspaper articles, against Napoleon III, viewed as a gagger of opposition members and a megalomaniac as far as his foreign policy was concerned, who led France to a defeat against Prussia, in Sedan (1870). In the novel A tragédia da Rua das Flores (The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers), written between 1877 and 1878, Eça portrays his Portuguese protagonist, Genoveva de Molineux, as an international cocotte, who suffered affective and financial losses due to the Franco – Prussian war.In spite of the fall of the French monarchy, the prostitute remains faithful to the Emperor, and presents herself in Lisbon with a branch of violet, flower which symbolized the Bonaparte’s supporters. Offended, she reports to her lover, Vitor, current jokes told about Napoleon III. In a crowded musical soirée in Genoveva’s residence, at Rua de São Bento, heated debates take place between supporters and enemies of the Second Empire, about the writer Victor Hugo and the journalist Gambetta, both historical characters.