Clarice Lispector: 'The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman' - Summary and Analysis
Biography and Background
Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) was a major figure in Brazilian modernist literature.
She was born in December to Russian-Jewish parents who were victims of pogroms.
Her parents changed her name from Chava to Clarice upon arriving in Brazil.
The family settled in Recife, Pernambuco, before moving to Rio de Janeiro.
Lispector studied law and became a journalist at the newspaper A Noite.
She won the Graça Aranha Prize for her first novel, Close to the Savage Heart (1943).
Lispector received the Jabuti Prize for her short story collection, Family Ties (1960).
She published novels, short stories, chronicles, and children's tales.
Lispector is known for her intense, tightly structured short stories that portray the world through a character's innermost thoughts and feelings.
Her writing emphasizes sensuous perception to attain intuitive knowledge beyond words.
She is often compared to Virginia Woolf.
Lispector's contribution to literary modernism lies in her ability to connect bodily sensations, the limits of language, and the mysteries of existence.
Her fluid, lyrical style has been called "feminine writing" for exploring the relationship between immediate bodily experience and language.
She makes extended interior monologues to evoke the precariousness of subjective coherence.
"The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman" (1960)
This story is about an alcoholic woman and her internal experience.
The title disposes of the protagonist in a few words; she is an alcoholic who sees and half understands.
Initial Scene
The protagonist is combing her hair in front of a dressing table with three mirrors.
She feels that the trolley cars are about to cross through the room as her reflected image trembles.
She sings a song: "Who saw the little sparrow… it passed by the window… and flew beyond Minho!" but suddenly stops, irritated.
Internal Thoughts and Sensations
She lies down and fans herself with a newspaper, inhaling the odor of the bedsheet.
She remembers a moment in a restaurant when her husband's protector pressed his foot against hers under the table.
She recalls a fly landing on her bare bosom in Tiradentes Square.
She wonders what is wrong with her and if she has eaten too much.
She realizes it is unhappiness.
She thinks about cleaning her house with soap and water.
She remembers how her husband's friend looked at her when she was pretty and plump.
The Moon and Vulgarity
She sees the moon and leans over slightly, feeling resigned.
She has an outburst of affection, calling the moon a "slut."
Restaurant Scene
She reflects on the artificiality of polite manners and feels a need to be sick in order to plant sweetness into something awful.
She considers how what she says in her present state might serve as an apology for the future, to the well-to-do businessman who has invited her out to dinner.
She thinks of herself not as a lobster but as a scorpion, noting that she was born in November.
She is conscious of her feelings and artistic sensibility.
She feels protected by her position in life and considers pouring more wine into her glass as long as she does not lose her self-respect.
Observations and Judgments
She despises the barren people in the restaurant.
She detests a woman in a hat and jewelry, calling her a fraud and a fishwife.
She feels humiliated at having come to the bar dressed modestly.
Return to Reality
The difficulty of arriving home disappears as she finds herself in her room.
She is seated on the edge of the bed, with a slipper falling off.
She closes her blurred eyes, and everything takes on the appearance of flesh.
She feels herself becoming larger and unsteady.
She imagines someone could plunge into each of her eyes and swim around without knowing it was an eye.
Resignation and Scepticism
She is sitting up in bed, resigned and sceptical, aware that things are happening to her that will only hurt later.
When restored to her normal size, her anesthetized body will wake up, throbbing, and she will begin to pay for those big meals and drinks.
She opens her eyes and sees everything smaller and more familiar.
She is sitting quite upright in bed, her stomach so full, absorbed, and resigned.
She looks around her, patient and obedient.
She expresses boredom and wonders how to describe the thing inside her.
She reflects on how much she enjoyed herself and how nice it all was at the restaurant.
Final Thoughts
The world would exclaim about her being seated elegantly at the table.
She makes no reply, drawing herself erect with a bad-tempered click.
Further Details and Reflections
The woman is already dressed.
She examines her husband's suit.
Her anger was tenuous and ancient.
She looks at her husband and suffers on behalf of all women.
When she got drunk, it was as if she had acquired the docile nature of a mule.
Her eyes appeared brilliant and moist.
She felt swollen and rotund like a large cake.
The words that a woman uttered when drunk were an abomination.
The vanity of feeling drunk made her feel at ease.
Terms and References
Minho: A river in northwest Portugal.
Riachuelo Street: A street in Rio de Janeiro that intersects with Mem de Sá Street; also the name of a large department store.
Mem de Sá: A 16th-century Portuguese governor-general of Brazil and the founder of Rio de Janeiro.
Tiradentes Square: A square in Rio de Janeiro named after a Brazilian