As vozes silenciadas de Hester Prynne e Branca Dias

a (des)construção de uma Identidade Feminina

Abstract

This study presents the processes of construction and deconstruction of female identity within two characters of the literary works, an English-language novel A Letra Escarlate by Nathaniel Hawthorne and a Portuguese language theater O Santo Inquérito by Dias Gomes. Hester Prynne and Branca Dias are female characters belonging to divergent historical moments, but at the same time, similar in terms of the (de) construction of their identities. These characters are, on several occasions, silenced and subjected to a historical context full of exclusion, marginalization and submission. To address these points in the two works, we will take as a basis for the theoretical discussions BUTLER (2003), FURLANI (1992), HOLLANDA (1994), PERROT (2005), SANTIAGO (2000), WOODWARD (2000), among others, in order to give voice to characters who are victims of silence and inferiority who left them on the margins of society. Hester Prynne and Branca Dias are some of the countless female characters that represent the image of the silenced woman in a patriarchal society. The reflection on these themes may give rise to other discussions on the issues proposed here as a way of rethinking female identity and the role of women in society.

KEYWORDS: Female Identity; Deconstruction; Silence.