Sin and moral offense: The lady of the camellias in The tragedy of the street of flowers

Abstract

This paper comparatively analyzes the novels The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers (1980), by Eça de Queirós, and The Lady of the Camellias (1848), by Alexandre Dumas Fils. The works portray the moral questioning of love relationships between bourgeois men and high society courtesans that endanger their basis of moral and socioeconomic constitution: i.e. the family. The analysis is concluded with the different consequences faced by these characters, which vary according to bourgeois social values and hierarchy, and highlights the behavior patterns in the societies of Paris and Lisbon.