A Escrava Isaura 8.172 · 8.172

The summary is clinical: he 'esgotou todos os meios brandos e suasivos,' exhausted every gentle and persuasive means, before any thought of force. The word 'convencer,' to convince, is grotesque here — as if consent could be reasoned out of a woman he owns. The gentleness is not kindness but tactic, the soft approach a seducer tries first, and its failure is what turns him to the threats of the next paragraph.

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