In the passage on page 41-42 of Clarice Lispector’s Hour of the Star, the

protagonist Macabea transforms into a self-respecting and independent woman.

Previously she was subject to the author of her story, Rodrigo, who manipulated her, and
towards the end of the passage, she falls in love and enters and abusive relationship with
Olimpico, a young man who also controls and abuses her. However, between these two
men there is a brief moment where Macabea exists completely for herself.
We find Macabea transformed at the beginning of the passage from a
meek pitiful girl into a confident young woman. As a result of taking a day off from work
and indulging in the pleasure of being alone, Macabea comes to accept and respect
herself. Previously Macabea’s self-consciousness was fueled by Rodrigo’s remarks about
how she was “inept. Inept for living. She had no idea how to cope with life and she was
only vaguely aware of her own inner emptiness” (24), and therefore she deprives herself
of any luxuries or acts of self-love. In contrast, after taking some time off“[e]ven looking
at herself in the mirror was no longer quite so alarming: she was contented”, which
demonstrates the positive shift if self-image present in the passage. Macabea starts re-
evaluating not only her reflection, but her worth as a human being, and realizes that she
deserves of a day off as a favor to herself. Through this act of self-love “she had finally
been given something. Given to her by herself but nevertheless given.” This proves that
she can be self-sufficient and does not need to rely on others to receive favors, while the
word “nevertheless” further legitimizes her self-given gift. Macabea’s character becomes
more defined as she announces “Ah, merry month of May abandon me no more! (Bang)
she exclaimed inwardly…she who had never exclaimed anything”, here showing an
outburst of emotion. The repetition of “exclaimed” emphasizes that she is making a
demand which is unconventional for Macabea, while the exclamation mark highlights her
dramatic tone and rush of emotion. Furthermore, the insertion of the onomatopoeic
“Bang”, here capitalized, demonstrates the sudden, loud, and forceful nature of her
speaking her mind.
Because Macabea is thinking and acting of her own accord, she defies the
constraints under which Rodrigo has placed her, and where the author previously spoke
for her, she now exclaims demands. Rodrigo used to emphasize his power over this sad,
ugly, pathetic girl, but after she comes to accept herself there is a radical shift in not only
her behavior but in their relationship. Rodrigo states that he is “a little suspicious of the
sudden ease with which the girl is asking favors” and wonders “why hadn’t she always
behaved like this?” which establishes his loss of control over Macabea . This loss of
control is only heightened when Rodrigo interjects by saying that he has lost his papers
and must rewrite the story: a detail showing how Macabea is escaping the grasp of
Rodrigo who has “lost the thread of [his] plot”, and with it control over his female
protagonist.
Macabea becomes self-assured as she finds her independence from Rodrigo and
instead craves another type of relationship with men. Her exclamation “Ah, merry month
of May abandon me more!”, is a request for love and relationships as May is a common
month for weddings in the spring, as it is a time of rebirth and new beginning. Since
Macabea has recently transformed, she seeks to finish the process of metamorphosis by
falling in love. Because she views May as “the month of brides transformed into
butterflies”, by demanding that May abandon her no more, Macabea declares her right to
participate in relationships. The alliteration of “merry month of May” and rhyme of
“brides” with “butterflies” create an image of romantic fantasy present in Macabea. In
addition, she envisions “bridal veils floating in clouds of white”, which is a clear
reference to weddings, and further reveals her desire to be in love and in a legitimate
relationship. Once Macabea finds self-confidence, she demands to be loved as well as
love herself, and because she now controls her destiny, “her exclamations could have
been a premonition of what was about to occur in the late afternoon of that same day.”
While this may seem a promise of romance and a happy future, the word “premonition”
connotes a dark tone and a note of caution towards the future relationship.
Macabea, “in a downpour of rain…met (bang) the first boy-friend of any kind she
had ever known”, and with this introduction ends the brief period of her autonomy and
confidence, as she resigns herself once again to men. The imagery of rain may be
romantic as it symbolizes new beginnings, however, the use of “downpour” here implies
very heavy amounts of rain and a wet and miserable environment. In contrast to the
romantic imagery earlier which described “white, open light” this sudden use of dark
gloomy weather creates a negative foreboding setting. The hyphen used to separate “boy-
friend” distinguishes the fact that Olimpico is not really a legitimate boyfriend or partner
in a relationship, and serves to understate the connection between them. The use of
“(bang)” seems violent and abrupt in the midst of a romantic encounter, and perhaps
echoes the sudden pang of emotion she encounters while meeting Olimpico. There is
mention on Macabea’s “heart beating furiously as if she has swallowed a little bird that
continued to flutter inside her”, which imitates the common feelings of love or
infatuation, however the harsh diction such as “furiously” implies anger and danger.
“Beating” here serves as a pun, for a heart indeed beats, but when paired with the word
“furiously” it suggests physical abuse or aggression, as if her heart were hurting her.
Surely enough this diction foreshadows the relationship’s destructive nature and its
negative effect on Macabea. Similarly, the choice of a small bird instead of a butterfly
inside her suggests discomfort as a bird contains a beak and claws which could cause
damage to Macabea’s fragile heart.
The imagery used has underlying implications of danger, yet Macabea seems
oblivious to these premonitions because she is so determined be in love. In the midst of
the downpour, and while experiencing uncomfortable emotions, Macabea “stared at him,
drying her wet face with her hands”, and in doing so decides to ignore external factors or
warnings such as the heavy rain which might persuade her to fall in love with Olimpico.
In fact, she continues to stare at him hypnotized, and “Macabea only had to see the youth
in order to transform him immediately into her guava preserve with cheese,” which is a
significant metaphor referencing her favorite snack which was previously described as
“the only real passion in her life”. Therefore by drawing a direct parallel between this
treat and Olimpico, she recognized the passion she feels for him. But he is imperfect, and
Macabea has to “transform” Olimpico into an image of desire for herself which
demonstrates her determination to fall in love, regardless of with whom.
In this passage, the character Macabea metamorphoses from a meek and pathetic
victim of Rodrigo to a confident self-sufficient woman. Ironically, her first wish once she
learns to love herself is to be loved, and this decision ends her period of autonomy and
leads into a destructive relationship with Olimpico.
PERSONAL RESPONSE…….? Ahhh
This is a good rough draft – you have a basic structure and you seem to follow your thesis
throughout (thesis being Macabea’s transformation). Also I like how you have done quite
a significant chunk of literary analysis for most of the references you made.

Did you have a basic structure before you started writing, or did you just think and write
and went with the flow? It would be a good idea to have a structure if you don’t have
already to make sure that you’re essay is very coherent. Having a structure also helps
with the transitions between one paragraph to the other which is vital in a WL. Your
ideas have to connect and flow seamlessly- boosts your presentation criteria.

About personal response, you don’t have to wait till the conclusion. IN your essay, there
were many concepts in which you could relate your own personal experience to; is falling
in love an act of one’s own accord or is it something beyond one’s control? I would also
say something like; Macabea’s falling for olimpico though is a demonstration of her
sudden emancipation (she falls in love at her own will – its not a decision someone else
has made for her), it is the very decision that brings about her downfall and crumbles her
confidence that she was slowly gaining. Perhaps, falling in love is something somebody
like Macabea should avoid – to love others one should first love oneself, an ability that
Macabea lacked.

This is just a suggestion, something that perhaps I would write, but I hope it serves as a
simple example as to what else you can do with your essay. I really like that you’ve
chosen this part in particular (not that I remember it clearly or anything haha) but there’s
definitely a lot you can do with it.

Good luckkkkkkkk!! Yes you can!