Introduction

A solitary, taciturn old man, mockingly nicknamed 'Dom Casmurro' by his neighbours, decides to write his life, 'to tie together the two ends of life'. His name is Bento; as a boy he grew up with Capitu, the girl next door, and the two secretly pledged themselves to each other. His mother had vowed that he would be a priest, and he was sent to the seminary, escaping at last through Capitu's clever schemes, and the two married. Capitu has 'oblique and dissembling gypsy eyes' that draw one in like the waves of the rising tide. After their son is born, Bento comes to feel that the boy looks more and more like his best friend, Escobar. Escobar drowns, and at the funeral, seeing the way Capitu gazes at the body, Bento's suspicion turns to certainty. In the end he parts from his wife and son and lives out his days alone. But did Capitu betray him? The story is told entirely by a jealous narrator, and the truth is never settled. The novel remains a subject of endless argument among Brazilian readers.