Úrsula and the Wolf

a Dialogue Between Maria Firmina dos Reis and Hélène Cixous

Abstract

This article aims to present a dialogue between the story Úrsula, by Maria Firmina dos Reis, and the book L’amour du loup et autres remords, by Hélène Cixous, based on the idea developed by Cixous of a wolf’s love, a way of loving that is not devouring and selfish, but altruistic and pure, when the wolf, out of love, renounces its instinct of devouring and becomes captive of the lamb – a love that demands a sacrifice on the part of the wolf, of its natural violence, in order to reach the plane of love emanated by the presence of the lamb. Following this Cixousian perspective of the wolf’s love, we will analyze how the love relationships involving Úrsula, Tancredo and Fernando P. are constructed, characters who sometimes touch on the sacred plane and sometimes on the devastation plane, and who are sometimes victims and sometimes executioners of love, of the wolf’s love.