Midnight Mass by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
"Midnight Mass" by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis is a nuanced short story set on Christmas Eve, focusing on the reflections of the narrator, Mr. Nogueira, a young man from Mangaratiba who has come to Rio de Janeiro for his college preparations. Living with the notary Mr. Menezes and his family, Nogueira navigates a seemingly traditional household marked by hidden complexities, particularly in the relationship between Menezes and his wife, Madame Conceição. The narrative unfolds during Nogueira's solitary wait for midnight Mass, as he encounters Madame Conceição, who appears to him in a disheveled state and engages him in a subtle yet revealing conversation.
Throughout their dialogue, Nogueira grapples with his perceptions of her passive demeanor and gradual realizations of her beauty and depth. The story explores themes of desire, neglect, and the social constraints of the time, as the characters reveal their inner lives amid the backdrop of societal expectations. As the narrative concludes, significant changes in the Menezes household prompt Nogueira to reflect on the fleeting nature of relationships and the impact of unaddressed emotions. "Midnight Mass" offers a rich exploration of human connection, longing, and the hidden struggles within a seemingly ordinary setting.
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Midnight Mass by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
First published: "Misa de Galo," 1894 (English translation, 1963)
Type of plot: Sketch
Time of work: The early 1860's
Locale: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Principal Characters:
Mr. Nogueira , a young man studying for his college entrance examinationsConceição , the wife of Chiquinho Menezes, the notary in whose house Nogueira is staying
The Story
The narrator, Mr. Nogueira, is of indeterminate age as he tells his tale, but he was a young man of seventeen when the events occurred. A country boy from Mangaratiba, he has come to Rio de Janeiro to stay with Mr. Menezes, a notary whose first wife was Nogueira's cousin, in order to prepare for his college entrance examinations. The Menezes household is composed of the notary, his wife, Madame Conceição, her mother, Madame Ignacia, and two female slaves. Nogueira spends some months living quietly with the family, which he refers to as old-fashioned. The only exception to the nightly routine of a ten o'clock bedtime is the weekly visit that Menezes makes to the theater. Nogueira would like to join him, as he has never been to the theater, but he discovers that going to the theater is a euphemism that allows Menezes to spend one night a week with a married woman who is separated from her husband. Conceição accepts her husband's mistreatment of her passively, as she seems to respond to everything.
The events of the story occur on Christmas Eve, which coincides with the notary's weekly theater outing. Nogueira has remained in the city to see the special midnight Mass. He sits reading in the silent house. The clock strikes eleven, he hears footsteps, and Conceição appears, dressed in her negligee. Without greeting him she asks, "Haven't you gone?" Nogueira replies that it is still too early, and asks if he has awakened her. Conceição claims to have awakened naturally, but Nogueira notes that she does not appear to have slept. He discards the notion that she might be lying: She is, after all, a saintly, long-suffering, uncomplaining woman whose husband neglects her. A conversation ensues, which the mature narrator claims he never quite understood, and the rest of the story moves between their dialogue and the narrator's reflections and close observations of Madame Conceição. He refers to her as thin and notes her rocking gait, suggesting her difficulty with carrying her weight, then observes her exposed forearm—not as thin as he had thought—with blue veins visible through translucent skin. He gradually realizes that the passive, thirty-year-old wife of Menezes is a very beautiful woman. The conversation ranges from novels to the paintings of women her husband has hung on the wall; from her patron saint, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, to her childhood trips to the island of Paquetá in the Guanabara Bay near Rio de Janeiro. When the conversation dies out, they sit in silence until Nogueira's expected companion knocks on the window to call him to go to Mass.
The next day, when Nogueira reports to Conceição on the Mass, she expresses no interest, despite the seeming intimacy of the previous evening. He goes home to Mangaratiba a few days later. When he returns to Rio in March, the notary has died of apoplexy, and Conceição has moved to another district and married her husband's apprentice clerk.