A ESCRAVA ISAURA

A Escrava Isaura 7.66 · 7.66

Refined as any white girl

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que com ser o que é, bonita e civilisada como qualquer moça branca, não é capaz de fazer pouco caso de ninguem?..

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quekewhocomkongbeingserserwhatouthequekeshe iséeto be,bonitabu-NEE-taprettyeeandcivilisadasi-vi-li-ZA-darefinedcomoKO-muasqualquerkwal-KERanymoçaMO-sagirlbrancaBRAN-kawhite,nãonowngnotéeiscapazka-PASHcapablededeoffazerfa-ZERscorningpoucoPOH-kulittlecasoKA-zucasededeofninguemneen-GENGanyone?..

The setting

'who, being what she is, pretty and refined as any white girl, is incapable of scorning anyone?..'

A note on this passage

The defense reaches for the same yardstick the whole book struggles with — 'refined as any white girl.' Even Isaura's champion measures her worth against whiteness. Guimarães lets the compliment reveal the cage: in this world the highest praise for a mulatta is that she is indistinguishable from the people who own her.

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