RESUMO
1). La vida de Ludwig van Beethoven experimentó un cambio existencial al morir su hermano y dejar a su hijo Karl en tutoría compartida con su madre Johanna. 2). Casi sin haber tenido relación con su sobrino, se desencadena una necesidad emocional intensa e inesperada de convertirse en su único tutor, objetivo que consigue derrotando legalmente a su madre. 3). La relación Beethoven-Karl se desarrolla plagada de disputas, vigilancia, exigencias, control, como si el compositor viviera por vez primera lo que siempre se había negado, llegar a ser padre. 4). El intento de suicidio del sobrino le señala a Beethoven que convertirse en padre significa permitir que el hijo llegue a ser diferente a las arrogantes y desmesuradas ambiciones y expectativas personales, pero esta señal extrema fue insuficiente para hacerle entender que el otro siempre es un peligro porque muestra una verdad oculta intolerable y dolorosa del propio sí-mismo.
Ludwig van Beethoven's life underwent an existential change when his brother died and left his son Karl in shared tutorship with his mother Johanna. 2. Almost without having had any relationship with his nephew, an intense and unexpected emotional need to become his sole guardian is triggered, an objective that he achieves by legally defeating his mother. 3. The Beethoven-Karl relationship develops plagued by disputes, surveillance, demands, control, as if the composer were experiencing for the first time what he had always denied himself, becoming a father.4. The nephew's suicide attempt points out to Beethoven that becoming a father means allowing the son to become different from the arrogant and inordinate personal ambitions and expectations, but this extreme signal was insufficient to make him understand that the other is always a danger because it shows a hidden and painful truth of one´s own self.
RESUMO
O artigo investiga o papel desempenhado pelo Fidelio de Beethoven no Memorial de Aires de Machado de Assis. Nesse romance extraordinário, o conselheiro Aires evita condenar uma mulher que, entretanto, o seu enganoso diário terminará pondo sob suspeita. Na ópera, Leonora nada esconde, porque abaixo de sua máscara não há nada senão sua lealdade ao marido aprisionado. Machado de Assis, contudo, inicia sua trama num cemitério, onde o marido agora é morto. A importante questão que daí resta é: o que fazer se a fidelidade se refere a um objeto que, seja ele o amado, seja o referente literário, não existe mais?
This article investigates the role played by Beethoven's Fidelio in Machado de Assis' Memorial de Aires. In this extraordinary novel, Counselor Aires avoids condemning a woman who, nevertheless, is put under suspicion by his treacherous diary. In the opera, Leonora hides nothing, because behind her mask there is nothing but loyalty to her imprisoned husband. Machado de Assis, however, begins his novel in a cemetery, where the beloved husband is buried. The main question that is left is: What to do if fidelity refers to an object, be it the beloved or a literary referent, that does not exist any longer?.