A Escrava Isaura 9.108 · 9.108

The prayer's first move is to a witness. 'Vós sabeis se eu sou innocente' — You know whether I am innocent. Denied justice on earth, Isaura appeals over Leôncio's head to the one who sees what men refuse to: her innocence, which the whole household treats as guilt. She addresses the Virgin as 'senhora da Piedade' — Lady of Pity — the title chosen with care, since pity is precisely what the earthly senhor withheld. Throughout the chapter Isaura has argued her case; here she rests it, laying the evidence before a higher court. The theology is orthodox and the politics quietly radical: before the Mother of God, the slave's innocence outweighs the master's right.

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