Henriqueta Emília da Conceição : dualidades históricas e literárias de uma meretriz (1845-1874)

• Main Authors: Cidália Dinis, Francisco Miguel Araújo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade do Porto 2015-06-01
• Series: CEM: Cultura, Espaço & Memória
• Subjects: Prostitution; Life Story; Horror Literature; 19th Century
• Online Access: http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/13665.pdf

«Devilish», «whore», «vicious», «hermaphrodite», «bizarre» these are some adjectives that bring to mind Henriqueta Emília da Conceição e Sousa (1845-1874). From an appealing and frightening prostitute to a heroin in crime and love in Oporto throughout the 19th century, many doubts and mistrusts still remain about her life. Immortalized after death, mainly due to an extravagant way of living and a morbid transgression, she is a singular example of a woman facing prejudice in a marginalizing society. Retrieving unprecedented details about this seductive personality, we go along from her biographical essay to her forthcoming as a literary character, analyzing the historical and cultural dualities that highlight the complexity of a woman’s life in those times.