Between the Fantastic and the Aesthetic: A Todorovian and Kazinczyan Reading of Eça de Queirós’s O Defunto

Eça de Queirós remains one of the most important literary figures of nineteenth-century Portuguese literature. Although he is often associated with realism and social criticism, many of his short stories reveal a strong fascination with mystery, supernatural suggestion, Gothic atmospheres, and psychological ambiguity. From the very beginning of the story, Queirós constructs a Gothic environment through images of darkness, enclosure, and aristocratic severity. The palace of D. Alonso is described as “o escuro e gradeado palácio de D. Alonso de Lara, fidalgo de grande riqueza e maneiras sombrias” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter I), thereby establishing an atmosphere marked by obscurity and psychological tension 

Among these stories, O Defunto occupies a unique place because it combines Catholic symbolism, medieval imagery, psychological tension, and supernatural intervention in a narrative that oscillates between realism and the fantastic. The story presents a world in which death, divine providence, and spectral manifestations intersect with human jealousy and moral corruption. Through this blend of realism and supernatural uncertainty, Queirós creates a text that can be fruitfully examined through the theoretical lenses of Tzvetan Todorov and Ferenc Kazinczy.

Synopsis of Todorov’s Theory of the Fantastic

In The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Tzvetan Todorov (1975) defines the fantastic as the moment of hesitation experienced by both a character and the reader when confronted with apparently supernatural events. According to Todorov (1975), the fantastic exists only while uncertainty remains unresolved. If the strange event eventually receives a rational explanation, the narrative enters the realm of the uncanny. If the supernatural is fully accepted as real, the narrative becomes marvelous. The fantastic therefore inhabits an unstable middle ground between skepticism and belief.

Todorov (1975) further argues that the fantastic depends upon three principal conditions. First, the fictional world must initially resemble ordinary reality and obey recognizable natural laws. Second, the reader and often the characters themselves must experience hesitation regarding the supernatural occurrence. Third, the text must resist purely allegorical or poetic interpretations that would dissolve the ambiguity of the event. The fantastic thus becomes an epistemological problem involving interpretation, perception, and uncertainty.

According to Bolongaro (2014), Todorov’s structural model transformed the study of fantastic literature by shifting critical attention away from supernatural content alone and toward the reader’s interpretive experience. Similarly, Roger Caillois (1966) argues that fantastic literature destabilizes the reader’s understanding of reality by introducing events that threaten rational systems of explanation. These perspectives are particularly relevant for understanding the ambiguous supernaturalism present in O Defunto.

Another important aspect of Todorov’s framework concerns narrative perspective. Todorov (1975) notes that fantastic literature frequently employs limited narration or psychologically vulnerable characters whose perceptions may not be entirely reliable. This narrative strategy intensifies ambiguity because readers cannot fully determine whether supernatural phenomena objectively occur or merely reflect subjective states of mind.

Kazinczy’s Aesthetic Perspective and Literary Refinement

Unlike Todorov, Ferenc Kazinczy did not formulate a systematic theory of fantastic literature. Instead, his literary importance lies in his aesthetic philosophy and his efforts to cultivate linguistic and artistic refinement within literature. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.), Kazinczy played a central role in the modernization of Hungarian literary language and promoted ideals associated with Enlightenment aesthetics and European classicism.

Kazinczy emphasized elegance, emotional nuance, stylistic harmony, and expressive sophistication as essential literary values. His literary philosophy was heavily influenced by writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and William Shakespeare, whose works demonstrated the artistic possibilities of psychologically rich and aesthetically refined prose and drama.

Queirós’s prose demonstrates the type of aesthetic refinement associated with Kazinczy’s literary ideals. D. Leonor is described as “uma menina falada em Castela pela sua alvura, cabelos cor de sol-claro e colo de garça real” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter I). The poetic imagery and rhythmic elegance of this description elevate the narrative beyond simple storytelling and transform physical beauty into an artistic experience shaped through refined language.

From a Kazinczyan perspective, literature should not merely narrate events but should elevate human sensibility through artistic beauty and emotional depth. This approach becomes highly relevant when examining O Defunto, since Queirós constructs his Gothic and supernatural atmosphere through carefully orchestrated prose rather than sensational excess. The emotional power of the story emerges from its stylistic control, symbolic imagery, and rhythmic narrative structure.

The Fantastic Structure of O Defunto

Several scholars have identified Gothic and fantastic elements in Queirós’s fiction. Matos (2020) argues that stories such as O Defunto, A Aia, and O Tesouro incorporate classic Gothic motifs including obscurity, suspense, supernatural suggestion, and fear. According to Matos (2020), Queirós does not employ these elements merely for entertainment but rather as literary mechanisms that deepen symbolic and psychological meaning.

In O Defunto, the narrative revolves around jealousy, betrayal, death, and divine intervention. The medievalized setting, nocturnal atmosphere, and religious symbolism create a world in which supernatural possibilities appear plausible despite the realistic texture of the narration. The appearance of the dead figure, o forcado (the hanged man), introduces precisely the kind of epistemological uncertainty described by Todorov (1975).

The reader continually hesitates between competing interpretations. Is o forcado (the dead man) genuinely returning from beyond the grave? Is the event a miraculous manifestation of divine justice? Or is the apparition merely a psychological projection generated by fear and guilt? Because the narrative refuses to provide definitive clarification, the story remains within the fantastic mode as defined by Todorov (1975).

Furthermore, Lopes and Siqueira (2018) observe that O Defunto blends fantastic hesitation with what may be described as Christian marvelous. In this context, supernatural intervention is linked not only to fear but also to spiritual transcendence and religious morality. This theological dimension complicates Todorov’s categories because Christian readers may interpret miraculous events differently from secular readers.

The fantastic reaches its highest intensity when D. Alonso discovers that the expected corpse, the man that he has staved to death, has mysteriously disappeared. The narrator states that he “não encontrara... o corpo de D. Rui de Cardenas” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter IV). At this precise moment, both the character and the reader experience the hesitation described by Todorov (1975), since rational explanation begins to collapse before apparently supernatural, divine intervention.

Psychological Anxiety and Narrative Ambiguity

A Todorovian analysis of O Defunto reveals that Queirós carefully constructs narrative ambiguity through psychological tension and atmospheric uncertainty. Characters frequently inhabit emotional states dominated by anxiety, suspicion, fear, and guilt. These emotional conditions destabilize perception and intensify the uncertainty surrounding supernatural events.

D. Alonso’s jealousy gradually assumes pathological dimensions throughout the narrative. The narrator explains that he “constantemente agora o trazia vigiado” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter II), revealing the obsessive surveillance through which fear and suspicion begin to dominate his perception of reality., his wife D. Leonor is being unfaithful to him with D. Rui. D. Alonso’s psychological instability contributes directly to the atmosphere of uncertainty that Todorov (1975) identifies as essential to the fantastic mode.

According to David Roas (2011), fantastic literature derives much of its power from its capacity to undermine the reader’s confidence in reality itself. The supernatural becomes disturbing precisely because it disrupts ordinary epistemological frameworks. In O Defunto, death ceases to function as a definitive boundary separating the living from the dead. The apparent permeability between these realms generates existential and psychological instability. It is in this type of realm that o forcado is able to help D. Rui since D. Leonor’s prayer to Santa Virgem do Pilar and since the Virgin has commanded him to do so.

Queirós intensifies this effect through descriptive language filled with darkness, silence, sacred spaces, shadows, and nocturnal imagery. Such Gothic elements create an environment in which ordinary rationality becomes increasingly fragile. As Todorov (1975) explains, the fantastic depends upon this instability because uncertainty itself constitutes the essence of the genre.

Stylistic Beauty and Kazinczyan Refinement

While Todorov’s framework explains the structural ambiguity of O Defunto, Kazinczy’s aesthetic ideals help illuminate the artistic sophistication of Queirós’s prose. The story’s effectiveness depends not only upon supernatural uncertainty but also upon the elegance with which the atmosphere is constructed.

The reader is then able to understand that Queirós employs rhythmic prose, symbolic density, and emotional restraint to create tension gradually rather than relying upon explicit horror. From a Kazinczyan perspective, this stylistic refinement transforms the story into a work of aesthetic harmony rather than mere Gothic sensationalism. It is not just a supernatural narrative where a dead forcado turns back to life to help a lady in distress, to aid D. Rui who has been deceived, and to redeem himself for whatever reason he was hanged up.

Kazinczy (n.d.) believed that literary language should cultivate emotional sensitivity and artistic appreciation. In O Defunto, Queirós achieves this through subtle narrative pacing and carefully balanced imagery. The supernatural elements are presented with poetic ambiguity, allowing the story to oscillate between terror and transcendence.

Herrero Cecilia (2010) argues that fantastic literature often functions through a “poetics of indeterminacy” in which uncertainty itself becomes aesthetically productive. This observation aligns closely with both Todorov’s structuralism and Kazinczy’s aesthetic ideals. In Queirós’s story, ambiguity becomes not only a thematic device but also an artistic principle.

This aestheticization of the fantastic distinguishes Queirós from purely Gothic sensationalism. The story’s emotional power emerges from the fusion of beauty and fear. Such fusion resembles what later theorists of the fantastic would describe as the coexistence of attraction and anxiety within supernatural literature. Juan Herrero Cecilia (2010) notes that fantastic literature frequently operates through a “poetics of indeterminacy,” in which uncertainty itself becomes aesthetically productive. From a Kazinczyan perspective, the literary value of O Defunto lies precisely in this aesthetic control. The language shapes emotional perception with elegance and discipline, allowing the supernatural to appear both believable and transcendent.

Religion, Morality, and Symbolic Justice

Another important dimension of O Defunto concerns morality and divine justice. Unlike many modern fantastic narratives that emphasize existential absurdity, Queirós’s story retains a strong ethical framework. The supernatural intervention appears connected to moral restoration and spiritual order.

The conclusion of the story transforms supernatural fear into spiritual transcendence. D. Rui raises his eyes “com uma esperança muito pura e toda feita de graça celeste, como se um anjo o chamasse” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter V). This celestial imagery complicates Todorov’s categories because the supernatural event can simultaneously be interpreted as miraculous intervention, psychological redemption, or divine providence.

This moral dimension complicates Todorov’s theory because the fantastic in O Defunto does not merely generate epistemological uncertainty; it also points toward metaphysical meaning. The apparition of the dead figure functions simultaneously as Gothic horror and sacred sign. The supernatural therefore becomes ethically charged.

Scholars examining Queirós’s fantastic fiction have often observed that his narratives combine irony, realism, and spiritual symbolism. Vera Lúcia Silva (2007) argues that Queirós frequently employs fantastic discourse to explore deeper tensions within modern society, religion, and psychological consciousness. In O Defunto, supernatural ambiguity ultimately reveals anxieties concerning sin, guilt, divine judgment, and redemption.

This moral and symbolic complexity also resonates with Kazinczy’s literary ideals. For Kazinczy (n.d.), literature possessed ethical and cultural functions beyond entertainment. Artistic beauty contributed to the refinement of human sensibility and moral awareness. O Defunto fulfills this ideal by transforming a tale of death and jealousy into a meditation on transcendence and spiritual accountability.

Conclusion

A combined Todorovian and Kazinczyan reading of O Defunto demonstrates the richness and complexity of Eça de Queirós’s short fiction. Through Todorov’s theory of the fantastic, the story emerges as a narrative structured around hesitation, ambiguity, and epistemological instability. The reader remains suspended between rational explanation and supernatural belief, thereby experiencing the essential uncertainty that defines the fantastic genre. Queirós achieves this effect through limited perception, Gothic atmosphere, psychological tension, and unresolved supernatural phenomena.

At the same time, Kazinczy’s aesthetic principles illuminate the stylistic sophistication of the narrative. The power of O Defunto lies not solely in its supernatural content but in the artistic refinement of its language and atmosphere. Queirós transforms Gothic motifs into aesthetically controlled literary expressions marked by elegance, symbolic resonance, and emotional nuance.

Additional scholars such as Roger Caillois (1966), Louis Vax (1965), Irène Bessière (1974), and David Roas (2011) further reinforce the understanding of fantastic literature as a mode that destabilizes reality while revealing deeper cultural and psychological anxieties. In Queirós’s story, the fantastic becomes not merely a literary device but a means of exploring morality, faith, fear, and transcendence.

Ultimately, O Defunto remains suspended between supernatural mystery and spiritual transcendence. The final reference to rulers “por quem Deus operou grandes feitos sobre a terra e sobre o mar” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter V) reinforces the narrative’s unresolved oscillation between divine miracle and fantastic uncertainty. Through this ambiguity, Queirós creates a story that  demonstrates that Queirós cannot be confined exclusively to realism. His fiction frequently traverses the borders between realism, Gothic narrative, religious symbolism, and the fantastic. Through the convergence of Todorov’s structural ambiguity and Kazinczy’s aesthetic refinement, the story reveals itself as a carefully crafted meditation on death, uncertainty, and the mysterious permeability between the visible and invisible worlds.

San José, Costa Rica

Friday, May 29, 2026

📚 References

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Lopes, A. C. C. V., & Siqueira, A. M. A. (2018). A representação do “milagre” em “Natal na barca” e “O defunto”: Diferentes manifestações literárias do insólito. Raído, 12(29), 98–112. https://doi.org/10.30612/raido.v12i29.7767

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Silva, V. L. (2007). O fantástico em O Mandarim, de Eça de Queirós. Uniletras, 29(1), 89–102. https://revistas.uepg.br/index.php/uniletras/article/view/198

Todorov, T. (1975). The fantastic: A structural approach to a literary genre (R. Howard, Trans.). Cornell University Press. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5304664M/The_fantastic

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