Dom Casmurro 9.55 · 9.55

Satan gets a single unfinished word. 'Mas, Senhor...' — and the ellipsis performs the whole gesture of a courtier's plea, broken off before it can form an argument. Machado hands the devil the manners of a supplicant at court, deferential even as he loses.

The scene borrows the outline of Job and of Faust — the adversary bargaining before the throne — but drains it of menace. This Satan wants nothing more sinister than a hearing for his art. The comedy lies in how ordinary the negotiation feels: less a tempter than a theatrical agent pitching a production, and getting the door shut in his face.

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