ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the gendered rhetoric (i.e., the imagery, allusions, and other poetic strategies) used by Camoes to accomplish his heroic quest for nationhood. The subject of gender in discourse has recently caught the attention of feminist critics (e.g., Elaine Showalter), who see this relatively new area of study as a functional means for assessing the production and reception of cultural discourse. Pythagoras taught that the universe was ultimately divisible into two opposing principles, the Limited and the Unlimited, and this was reflected in the opposition of light to darkness, odd to even, one to many, right to left, male to female, good and bad, and so forth. Limited, light, odd, male, good were all in the same category while unlimited, dark, even, female, bad were in another. In fact, female insatiability and male emasculation permeates colonial discourse.
