3. The Sins of the Fathers

Chapter Three begins with two defining concerns in Rego’s depiction of femaleness: a penchant for profanity and resilient longevity. There is a discussion of the similarities and differences in Eça de Queirós’ and Rego’s respective nineteenth- and twentieth-century aesthetic positions; an in-depth examination of The Sin of Father Amaro series, with detailed references to Eça’s novel of the same name; and an important aspect of Rego’s work: a trap sprung on male viewers lured by and then castigated in the compositions she deploys as part of a one-woman battle of the sexes. Lisboa then explores a series of preoccupations in Rego’s work: a move from the individual towards the collective, which acquires national and institutional specificity; the continuity of historical and political motifs; and the somewhat more oblique reworking of national and religious motifs. Lisboa concludes this chapter with a discussion of post-imperial Portugal’s enduring contradictions.