A critical synopsis
Sources - themes - structure
As a novella (or long short story) inspired in and developed from two short medieval exempla contained in a Portuguese collection of the 15th century, the work brings together not only the medieval / renaissance genres of Chivalresque Romance and Picaresque, but also many other topoi from the same periods in order to set up a millenarian foil to what is essentially a 20th century work. In parallel with these literary conventions, Jorge de Sena adds the historical dimension of the Church and the Inquisition's struggle to repress the work of superstition, magic, alchemists, heretics and mystics, which is merely a subtle transposition of the 20th century situation prevailing in Portugal under the repressive Salazar regime. The inherently Dualistic base of the work is therefore the key to the intentional contrast between this 20th century work and its medieval / renaissance setting.
To obtain this effect, Sena evolves a series of antithetical themes (God v Devil, Good v Evil, Justice v Tyranny, Freedom v Repression, Soul over Body, Reason over Passion, etc.) in order to support the principal, unifying theme of man's quest for freedom through Union in Love. This same theme is in turn a manifold one as Sena employs all of a wide range of parallel metaphors to enhance it:
All these parallels are thus tightly woven to create a work of multiple levels of interpretation. It can easily be read as:
The structure of the work is thus complex when analised, but nevertheless compelling to the reader. Sena adds to this complexity by exploring the application of formal, stylistic and syntactic experimentation: e.g. he juggles with the concepts of literary Space and Time through constant lexical and syntactic repetitions, parallels and variations, even including a 'magical' extension of the "flashback" technique. Thus it is that he emphasises the inherent Ambiguity residing in that tension between Fantasy and Reality.
Furthermore, by the use of techniques such as parallel columns in the text, he can point to the essential paradox between man's Conscious and Unconscious perception of the Truth, something that Sena sees as only finally to be resolved in the realms of the Collective Unconscious and the universal truths revealed by his attempt to 'demythify' Myth. He sees 20th century hero myths as equally powerful tools in the hands of repressive political regimes as those wielded a thousand years ago, and by fusing ideas and literary topoi of seemingly distant and diametric poles in time, he conjures up the possibility of at long last breaking free from the mould to create a subtly conservative form of social 'revolution' in Portugal. The difference is that he does not portray change at the level of 'the people', but at the level of the 'Individual'. In many ways he anticipates the actual revolution of the 70's in this work of the 60's and there are lessons in it regarding the divisions within society that unfortunately were not to be heeded.
MCH/96
Essay Questions:
FISICO PRODIGIOSO
Discuss the use of a Medieval setting for what eventually is a
work about 20th century Portuguese society.
Explore the themes of Love and Freedom as presented in the novella.
Illustrate the use of allegory, metaphor and symbol in the work.
Discuss the use of experimental narrative techniques and consider
whether they are effective.