Summary
As the novel begins, it is the first Sunday of Carnival in Bahia, and Waldomiro Guimarães, known by everyone as Vadinho, husband of Dona Flor, has just died while dancing the samba, dressed as a woman, with a large cassava tuber tied under his skirt. With this beginning, Amado introduces the reader to a rollicking, bawdy world inhabited, it seems at times, by the entire population of Brazil.
The novel is divided into five parts, each part chronicling a segment of Dona Flor’s life, the first dealing with Vadinho’s death, wake, and burial, and the stirring of Dona Flor’s fears of life without her husband. The wake is a great success, with people streaming in and out to pay their respects; everyone, it seems—from politicians to members of the exalted professions and the inhabitants of gambling parlors and houses of ill repute—has a story to tell of Vadinho and his deeds. Yet if Vadinho’s wake is a success, it pales in comparison to his burial procession. In the opinion of one observer, it seems as if half the population of Bahia is there, more than any of the Carnival parades draws—proof, if any is needed, that Vadinho, gambler, rascal, and unfaithful husband that he was, knew how to make friends.
For Dona Flor this is small solace. With Vadinho’s burial, the reality of his absence becomes more pronounced, and Dona Flor struggles through a period of deep mourning. Through flashbacks (and certain pertinent digressions by the author), her life as a young girl, her whirlwind courtship, and her subsequent marriage to Vadinho is recounted. The memories of her life with Vadinho haunt her at every turn. To be sure, not all of her memories are happy ones. Vadinho, being Vadinho, had carried her through life, its highs and lows, sorrows and disappointments—all of its aspects. Now, with Vadinho gone, it seems as if she lies buried with him, and only the shell of Dona Flor remains, going through the motions of living. Not until she has pushed these memories aside, plunged them deep into the bottom of her consciousness, is she able to resume her life. In a symbolic gesture at Vadinho’s grave, she lays a bouquet of flowers and at the same time buries desire, love, things of the bed and the heart, in order to take up life again, the life of a decent, respectable widow.
Dona Flor settles into a routine that is slowly broken up by the insistent talk of matchmaking, marriage, men, and sex that her friends and neighbors continuously conduct in her presence. Though outwardly a respectable, upright woman, inwardly and at night, alone with her dreams, she is consumed by desire, by matters of the flesh. Even the most innocent of novels provokes in her all the desires she thought she had buried with Vadinho. Into her life at this time—when Dona Flor knows that to remain in this state may lead to insanity, while to do anything else would mean a loss of respectability or, worse, total ruination—comes Dr. Teodoro Madureira, the local pharmacist.
To Dona Flor, and indeed, all the women in the neighborhood, this comes as a shock, since in all the talk of matchmaking not one of them has mentioned Dr. Teodoro as a possibility. Yet once the possibility is entertained, everyone agrees that he is perfect for Dona Flor, a man of standing, respectable, and a fellow known within his profession—a profession, not merely a job, a profession with university credentials.
Dona Flor finds him acceptable, and a courtship, very different from her first one, ensues: a formal,...
(This entire section contains 894 words.)
Unlock this Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
proper, and respectable courtship, in which they walk, talk of their future, and make preparations for their wedding. At the wedding, everyone agrees that this time Dona Flor has achieved her deserved status, that finally she will have the happiness she deserves.
Dr. Teodoro and Dona Flor settle down to a life of respectability after their honeymoon, a honeymoon which Dona Flor finds a little disconcerting. She expects blazing lights and a night of complete abandonment, something of what she has known before; instead, it is a night of restraint, modesty, and discreetness. To everyone who knows them, Dr. Teodoro and Dona Flor are a happy couple, he busy with his pharmacy, she with her cooking school. On occasion, Dona Flor attends conventions of pharmacists, where Dr. Teodoro reads learned speeches railing against the giant pharmaceutical companies, and where Dona Flor struggles to stay awake. At other times, she is host to the amateur orchestra, in which Dr. Teodoro is a featured bassoonist. So Dona Flor’s life goes, with the unexpected never happening, with no tears or sorrows, until, on the night of the first anniversary of her marriage to Dr. Teodoro, she walks into her bedroom and sees Vadinho lying in her bed, nude.
From this point, the struggle that Dona Flor has been conducting within herself since Vadinho’s death becomes a full-scale battle between order and disorder, between love as represented by Dr. Teodoro and love as represented by Vadinho, a struggle which, before it is over, turns the entire society of Bahia upside down, involving everyone from the poorest ragamuffins to the richest social and political circles, and even the entire pantheon of Bahian gods.
Summary
Drunk and in drag, young Waldomiro Guimarães (popularly known as Vadinho) collapses in a public square in Salvador, Brazil, on the Sunday of Carnival. He dies from a life of drinking, gambling, and debauchery. Notified by neighbors, his wife, Florípedes Paiva (Dona Flor), hastens to the scene. Although Vadinho was a conniving scoundrel, during their seven years of marriage, the attractive rake satisfied Flor’s needs. His wake is held at home, which serves also as Flor’s cooking school, the Academy of Taste and Art, the main source of household income.
Vadinho had frequently absconded with savings from the school’s income to finance his nocturnal forays. His companions in chronic carousing now gather at his wake, fondly remembering a carefree vagabond and an easy companion. Only a few members of his family appear, however, and briefly. Later, an elegy circulates in the bars Vadinho had frequented, magnanimously remembering that he was known as Vadinho to “whores” as well as to “friends.”
Flor’s mother, Dona Rozalda, arrives from her home in the interior of the country. Contriving, manipulative, and acid-tongued, she has been a chronic annoyance for her children. All have tried to escape her, and she now burdens her mourning, youngest daughter. Her dead son-in-law had been her relentless nemesis. One day, while meeting at a local festivity, accompanied by a scoundrel colleague named Mirandão, Vadinho had fooled Rozalda into believing he had prominent social status and ample financial prospects. Rozalda had always connived but failed to achieve social advancement and security through her children.
Vadinho had eyed Rozalda’s daughter, Flor, and had tried to seduce the copper-skinned beauty. Finally discovering his pretentions and real intentions, Rozalda then attempted to isolate her daughter from him. The new couple was able to escape, eloping to Salvador, where they were married by a kindly parish priest, Dom Clemente. Infuriated that she has been fooled and abandoned, Rozalda became the embodiment of the vengeful mother-in-law. Vadinhno’s defects enraged her, and his successes mocked her.
In the months following Vadinho’s death, Flor begins to recover. Her female friends arrange candidates for her remarriage. Among the prospects is Eduardo, who preys on solitary and widowed women, taking advantage of their sentiments and savings. About to victimize Flor, he is exposed by Vadinho’s former colleague, Mirandão. Flor retreats from any encounters with men. Increasingly, however, she agonizes from frustrated, unrequited needs.
Flor soon becomes acquainted with the neighborhood pharmacist, Dr. Teodoro, who has impeccable character and integrity. He is unmarried, having for most of his life taken care of his disabled mother, who had recently died. Most of Flor’s neighbors encourage the suit. Enamored of Flor, the doctor chastely courts her while duly chaperoned. Charmed by his sobriety and fidelity, she marries him, and they settle in her home, enjoying a contented domesticity. All the neighbors, and Rozalda, approve.
Flor’s new husband relieves her personal anxieties and sentimental cravings. However, so methodical is Teodoro that he organizes even their intimate relations, which are scheduled for Wednesdays and Saturdays and, sometimes, for weekend nights and the occasional “double dip” on workday nights. He is an amateur musician, and Flor faithfully accompanies him to the tedious concerts in which he plays. He is displeased that she becomes bored. Friends who gather to commemorate their first anniversary note the devotion and contentment of the couple, Flor’s second marriage so strikingly contrasting to the first.
Vadinho appears again in Flor’s life in the form of a ghostly recollection that sprawls naked on the conjugal bed. Vadinho seems an occupant of the bed, while her husband is preparing to sleep in it. Tormented by memories of the interludes of passion with Vadinho, she is torn by anxieties of fidelity to her new husband. The worlds of reality and fantasy begin to mingle. On one hand, Flor and her second husband join their resources to buy their rented house in Salvador. On the other hand, the mounting temptations from the memories of her first husband thrust Flor into the world of Afro-Brazilian divination, by which she seeks to charm away temptation. Vadinho seems loosed even in the gambling dens and brothels, making and unmaking fates and fortunes, including those of Mirandão.
Retreating to the interventions of the mythical world, Flor experiences a night of fevered delirium and vivid dreaming, surrendering in frenzied, sensual climax to the passionately remembered Vadinho. In the morning, she awakes to see Teodoro lovingly vigilant over her. She has been satisfied in spirit by her first husband, yet has remained faithful to her second husband who is beside her. She has two husbands: all she wants, and all she needs.
