Camilo Castelo Branco
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Camilo Castelo Branco (pron. IPA: [kɐ'milu kɐʃ'tɛlu 'bɾɐ̃ku]) (Visconde de Correia Botelho) was a Portuguese writer born in Lisbon on March 16, 1825, and who died on June 1, 1890.
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[edit] Biography
Camilo Castelo Branco was born out of wedlock and orphaned in infancy. He spent his early years in a village in Traz-os-Montes. He fell in love with the poetry of Luís de Camões and Manuel Maria Barbosa de Bocage, while Fernão Mendes Pinto gave him a lust for adventure, but Branco was a distracted student and grew up to be undisciplined and proud.
He intermittently studied medicine and theology in Oporto and Coimbra and eventually chose to become a writer. After a spell of journalistic work in Oporto and Lisbon he proceeded to the episcopal seminary in Oporto in order to study for the priesthood. During this period Branco wrote a number of religious works and translated the work of François-René de Chateaubriand. Branco actually took minor holy orders, but his restless nature drew him away from the priesthood and he devoted himself to literature for the rest of his life. He was arrested twice, the second time due to his affair with Ana Plácido, who was married at the time. During his incarceration he wrote his most famous work Amor de Perdição and later it inspired his Memórias do Cárcere (literally "Memories of Prison"). Branco was made a viscount (Visconde de Correia Botelho) in 1885 in recognition of his contributions to literature, and when his health deteriorated and he could no longer write, parliament gave him a pension for life. Going blind and suffering from chronic nervous disease, Branco committed suicide in 1890.
[edit] Works
Camilo Castelo Branco is probably the most prolific of all Portuguese writers, his work including novels, plays, verse, and essays. In addition, Branco was the first Portuguese writer able to support himself financially from his writing alone. In all, his publications number about two hundred and sixty, but he is best known for his romances. Even though Branco churned out a lot of work to pay the bills, he never lost his individuality. His familiarity with personalities allowed him to enliven his writing with a succession of memorable characters and Portuguese types, such as the "brasileiro" (a person who had made their fortune in Brazil), the old "Fidalgo" of the north of Portugal, and the Minho priest.
Branco's novels may be divided into three periods. The first period comprises his romances of the imagination, of which Os Mistérios de Lisboa, in the style of Victor Hugo, is a fair example.
The second period includes his novels of manners, a style he developed and remained the chief exponent of until the appearance of O Crime de Padre Amaro by Eça de Queiroz. In these novels he combines realism and idealism, and perfectly captures the domestic and social life of Portugal in the early part of the 19th century.
The third period embraces his writings in the realms of history, biography and literary criticism. Among these may be cited Noites de Lamego, Cousas leves e pesadas, Cavar em ruínas, Memórias do Bispo do Grão Pará and Boémia do Espírito.
Among the most notable of his romances are O Romance de un Homem Rico, his favorite, Retrato de Ricardina, Amor de Perdição, the collection of novellas Novelas do Minho and A Brasileira de Prazins. Many of his novels are autobiographical, like Onde está a felicidade? and Memórias do Cárcere and Vinganca. Castelo Branco is an admirable story-teller, largely because he was a brilliant improvisatore, but he does not attempt character study. He has a richessness of vocabulary probably unmatched in all Portuguese literature, often using obscure words. At the same time, few Portuguese authors have demonstrated so profound a knowledge of the vernacular tongue. Though nature had endowed Branco with a poetic temperament, his verses are considered to be mediocre, while his best plays are cast in bold lines and contain powerfully dramatic situations, and his comedies are a triumph of the grotesque, with a mordant tone reminiscent of the work of Gil Vicente.
[edit] Selected Bibliography
- Anátema (1851)
- Mistérios de Lisboa (1854)
- A Filha do Arcediago (1854)
- Livro Negro de Padre Dinis (1855)
- A Neta do Arcediago (1856)
- Onde Está a Felicidade? (English title: Where Is Happiness? 1856)
- Um Homem de Brios (1856)
- Lágrimas Abençoadas
- Cenas da Foz
- Carlota Ângela
- Vingança
- O Que Fazem Mulheres (English title: What Women Do 1858)
- O Romance de um Homem Rico
- As Três Irmãs
- Amor de Perdição (English title: Love of Perdition 1862)
- Coisas Espantosas
- O Irônico (1862)
- Coração, Cabeça e Estômago (1862)
- Estrelas Funestas
- Anos de Prosa (1863)
- Aventuras de Basílio Fernandes Enxertado (1863)
- O Bem e o Mal (1863)
- Estrelas Propícias (1863)
- Memórias de Guilherme do Amaral (1863)
- Agulha em Palheiro
- Amor de Salvação (1864)
- A Filha do Doutor Negro (1864)
- Vinte Horas de Liteira (1864)
- O Esqueleto (1865)
- A Sereia (1865)
- A Enjeitada (1866)
- O Judeu (1866)
- O Olho de Vidro (1866)
- A Queda de um Anjo (1866)
- O Santo da Montanha (1866)
- A Bruxa do Monte Córdova (1867)
- Os Mistérios de Fafe (1868)
- A Caveira da Mártir (1876)
- Novelas do Minho (1875-1877)
- Eusébio Macário (1879)
- A Corja (1880)
- A Brasileira de Prazins (English title: The Brazilian Girl from Prazens 1882)
