Gilberto Freyre and England: a love story

Abstract

Gilberto Freyre was a confessed anglophile. This article aims, on the one side, at pointing out the traits of British culture which most captivated him, and, on the other side, at calling attention to the importance of the British essayist Walter Paterr in the intellectual trajectory of the author of The master and the slaves. It will be argued that it was in this Victorian writer that Freyre found inspiration for the essay form of his work and for the theme of the house as a central element for the understanding of Brazilian culture. The final part of the article explores the impact of Freyre’s work on Asa Briggs, one of the rare British intellectuals who recognizes the value of his ideas for the study of other societies.