A review of O Machete and the importance of early short stories by Machado de Assis

Abstract

We will show that it is possible to find in Machado de Assis’ early short stories – those published before Papéis Avulos – some of the main topics considered by critics as fundamental and most characteristic of his mature work. In order to do so, we will make a review that relates O Machete, considered from the first phase, with O Espelho, O Segredo do Bonzo e Teoria do Medalhão.