Quando o crítico se retira da plateia: a desilus？o de Machado de Assis com o teatro

the creation of a high-level national theatre was part of a political project which the generation of machado de assis embraced with enthusiasm, that is to say, the modernization of society with a view to inserting brazil in the "civilized world". in this essay, i try to demonstrate how much machado de assis engaged in this project through his theater reviews as well as discuss the reasons for his withdraw al from the theater at a certain moment of his life.