Convenience of morality: fidelity, adultery and families (Belém, 1916-1940)

Abstract

This article investigates the desired moralities and those that could be “fulfilled” within marriage and family in the city of Belém in the early decades of the 20th century. Thus, understanding how people thought about the themes of marriage, family formation and separation of two people are the basis of these reflections. Thus, attention was paid to the logic that while marriage was essential and important for some, because it meant protection and refuge, for others, its rupture or even the non-celebration of the act seemed like viable paths. In view of this, I sought to cross-reference a set of documents that were considered viable for the proposed basis, namely: four divorce proceedings, from which I analyzed letters attached to them, three newspapers (A Palavra, A Semana and O Estado do Pará), a jurist (Clovis Bevilaqua) and the Civil Code of 1916.