Our proposal here is to analyse the novel Herança de lágrimas (Legacy of tears) by Ana Plácido, by observing how the two main female characters — a mother (Branca) and a daughter (Diana) — confront issues such as ill-fated marriages and the positions they adopt regarding the theme of adultery and betrayal. Both women's lives contain dilemmas, namely between duty and desire, and between fulfilling their social function and the search for emotional fulfilment, and exemplify what Plácido presents

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... n her writings, as one of the key female problems of the 19th century.