Abstract
This article aims to examine how tragedy is manifested in modern narrative through the comparative analysis of the short stories “Natal na barca”, by Lygia Fagundes Telles and “Noite de Natal” by Maria Judite de Carvalho. These short stories, which expose the interpersonal experiences of their female protagonists, are related in the way they show characters who, as the plot begins, are filled with apathy for others, but as the narrative unfolds, are transformed when they themselves are thrust into otherness through tragedy. The theoretical framework for the reflections on configurations of tragedy in modernity is based on the ideas of Terry Eagleton (2013) and Raymond Williams (2002).
Keywords:
tragedy; modernity; short story