Fashion and Irony in «Dom Casmurro»

This study brings us closer to understanding the relationship between fashion and literature. In Machado de Assis’ Dom Casmurro, fashion serves as a literary strategy that supports the ironic approach of the book. This book gives insight into Brazilian society in transition at the end of the nineteenth century.

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This study brings us closer to understanding the relationship between fashion and literature. The book focuses on how the irony present in Machado de Assis’ Dom Casmurro is also evident in the fashion portrayed in the novel. It reveals that fashion can be seen from Machado’s perspective as a literary strategy while also participating in the construction of the characters in the plot of the narrative.


In the first appearance of the protagonist of Dom Casmurro, Capitu has simple ‘cloth shoes’ sewn by herself. In this little description by Machado, a whole world is hidden, in the same way that in each garment, costumes and props of the characters hide literary games – the games of light, shadow and irony that can be seen in the novel.


Through the descriptions of the garments, it is possible to perceive the first steps towards global capitalist expansion at the end of the nineteenth century, when consumer society was still forming. This book gives insight into Brazilian society in transition at the end of the nineteenth century, as observed by Machado de Assis.