Representações das reformas pombalinas em The Prime Minister an historical romance, de William Kingston

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes how the Pombaline reforms, especially those concerning public education, are represented in the historical Romance 'The Prime Minister: an historical Romance (1845), written by William Henry Giles Kingston, henceforth William Kingston. The work portrays the figure of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal, going back to the Portuguese 18th century, bringing evidence of the pombaline reforms undertaken in Portugal and its domains, in addition to the relations between Portugal and England, known as Anglo-Portuguese diplomatic relations. Our goal is to verify how the Romance contributes to the process of (de)construction of the mythology of the Marquis of Pombal, either ratifying or contesting the historiographical and biographical narratives about him. To do so, we will use the book as our main source, and study articles, dissertations, and theses on the subject, in addition to using some theoretical assumptions related to the historical romance, myths, and representations.