The Passion According to G. H. by Clarice Lispector
"The Passion According to G. H." is a novel by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, first published in 1964. The story centers around G. H., a wealthy woman who confronts her own existential crisis while alone in her luxurious apartment in Rio de Janeiro. The narrative begins with her decision to clean the maid's quarters, which leads to a series of unsettling encounters, particularly with a cockroach that she finds inside a wardrobe. This moment serves as a catalyst for G. H.'s philosophical reflections on her life, identity, and the nature of truth.
Through her intense internal monologue, G. H. grapples with feelings of disgust, fear, and self-discovery, questioning the meaning of her existence and her relationship to those beneath her social status, including her former maid. The novel explores themes of class, self-awareness, and the visceral aspects of life, challenging readers to consider the complexities of human experience. Lispector’s work is noted for its profound psychological insight and innovative narrative style, making it a significant piece in Brazilian literature.
On this Page
The Passion According to G. H. by Clarice Lispector
First published:A paixão segundo G. H., 1964 (English translation, 1988)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Philosophical realism
Time of plot: 1960’s
Locale: Rio de Janeiro
Principal characters
G. H. , a materialistic woman of wealthJanair , her former maid
The Story:
A wealthy woman, G. H., finds herself alone without a maid, and without a lover. She is thinking about what had occurred the previous day, when she decided to clean out the small maid’s quarters at the back of her Rio de Janeiro apartment. However, the room of her former maid, Janair, already was clean and was almost devoid of material possessions.
G. H. remembers the following: The only signs of previous occupancy in the quarters are simplistic black etchings on the white walls that represent a woman, a man, and a dog. G. H. believes these drawings represent the maid’s disgust with her and her overindulgent lifestyle. G. H is resentful of this evaluation.
G. H. then opens a wardrobe and finds a cockroach scurrying out. Repulsed, she quickly slams the door of the wardrobe, cutting the insect in half in the process. She watches the viscera of the cockroach trickle out of its still-living body. Unable to look away, she starts a philosophical monologue that questions everything about her existence up to this moment. She says, in addressing her fear in life, that her
fear was not the fear of someone who was going toward madness and thus toward a truth—my fear was the fear of having a truth that I would come to despise, a defamatory truth that would make me get down and exist at the level of the cockroach.
Finished with her monologue, she puts the oozing innards of the cockroach into her mouth and consumes it.
Bibliography
Cixous, Helene. Reading with Clarice Lispector. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Deals predominantly with literary theory, and applies that theory to analyze works by Lispector. Includes an index.
Fitz, Earl E. Sexuality and Being in the Poststructuralist Universe of Clarice Lispector. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001. Detailed discussions concerning the style, sense of structure, characters, and themes in Lispector’s writings, including The Passion According to G. H.
Moser, Benjamin. Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. An extensive and well-researched work on this important Brazilian writer, one of Brazil’s leading novelists. Includes an index and a bibliography.
Peixoto, Marta. Passionate Fictions: Gender, Narrative and Violence in Clarice Lispector. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Especially useful for readers who wish to expand their knowledge of gender issues in the works of Lispector. Also deals extensively with Lispector’s unique usage of narration within text. Includes an index and a bibliography.