Education (left) and Isabel (center) with an unidentified friend, c. 1860 Isabel began her education on 1 May 1854, when she was taught how to read and write by a male instructor, who was openly republican. As the Portuguese (and later Brazilian) court tradition demanded, the heir of the throne was supposed to have an
aio (supervisor,
tutor or
governess) in charge of his education once he achieved the age of seven. After a long search, Pedro II chose the Brazilian-born
Luísa Margarida Portugal de Barros, the Countess of Barral, daughter of a Brazilian noble and wife of a French noble. Barral assumed her position on 9 September 1856, when Isabel was ten years old. The 40-year-old Countess was a charming and vivacious woman who soon captured the heart of Isabel and became a kind of
role model to the young princess. In Pedro II's own words, his daughters' education "should not differ from that given to men, combined with that suited the other sex, but in a manner that does not distract from the first." He "provided his daughters with a broad, democratic and rigorous education, through both its curriculum and the teachers who taught it." For over nine and a half hours per day and six days per week, Isabel and her sister were in class. Subjects were broad and included
Portuguese and
French literature,
astronomy,
chemistry, the
history of Portugal,
England and
France,
drawing,
piano,
dancing,
political economy,
geography,
geology, and the
history of philosophy. As an adult, beyond her native
Portuguese, Isabel became fluent in
French,
English and
German. Among her teachers were Barral, others who had taught her father as a child, and even Pedro II, who gave lessons in
Latin,
geometry, and astronomy. The education provided to Isabel was lacking, however. All she assimilated were abstract ideas which did not teach her "how to integrate" them "with practical application". Her tutors and parents did not prepare her to rule Brazil, nor to understand its political and social issues. A way of preparing her for a role as future Empress "would have been to give her from an early age personal experience of the tasks she would face and to relate it to what she learned in the classroom." That did not happen. Pedro II "showed her no state papers. He did not discuss politics with her. He did not take her with him on his constant visits to government offices. He did not include her in the
despacho, the weekly meetings with the cabinet members, nor did he allow her to attend the public audiences that took place twice a week." She might have been officially heiress to the throne, "but by his treatment of her Pedro II deprived the honor of any meaning."
Domestic life Pedro II's behavior as a father was completely different as an emperor. A "man remarkable for his self-control, was at his most affectionate and most outgoing with children, above all his daughters." His daughters, "whom I love deeply", as Pedro II wrote in his diary in 1861, "both loved and admired him." He "was a strict father who demanded obedience", but who, at the same time, was very kind and concerned with his children. However, Pedro II "found difficult if not impossible" to grant intimacy to not only Isabel, but "to any member of his family." During her upbringing Isabel "absorbed from her instructors conformity to traditional gender roles. She accepted women as dependent and obedient, and indeed her mother's and her governess's behavior did not justify anything else." She "did not lack powers of observation and a certain shrewdness, but she was very accepting of existence as it was and certainly not given to pondering the justification of existence for the established order." All this meant that Isabel would not attempt "a position in life autonomous of her father", even less rival him. That happened because the Princess Imperial was "at an essential disadvantage with her father. She had a strong personality but she could not turn it to account. As a child she did not share Pedro II's seriousness, his single mindedness, or his interest in the larger world. The coming of adolescence did not improve matters." In fact, she lacked introspection and had a "tendency to take a cheerful view of life". Also, Isabel "did not naturally possess much patience or notable powers of endurance. She moved from one interest to another as each in turn caught her fancy. She was not afraid to speak her mind, and she held strong views. However, when she encountered something she did not like, she found it difficult to focus and organize her resistance so as to make her view prevail. She tended to flare up and then to submit or to lose interest." Isabel's mother, Teresa Cristina, "lived for her family and found fulfillment in making her spouse and her daughters happy." She "created for her family a home life that was secure, safe and predictable." Isabel and her sister "loved their gentle mother and worshipped their demanding but emotionally distant father." From both parents, Isabel inherited a lack of racism. Pedro II surrounded himself with men "regardless of their race." Historian James McMurtry Longo said that as "her father's student, daughter, and heir Princess Isabel followed his example. Race never played a role in her social life, political relationships, alliances or disagreements." And concludes: "It may have been the most important lesson learned from him." The Imperial family lived in São Cristóvão palace but during the summer (from December to April) went to Pedro II's palace in
Petrópolis (nowadays the
Imperial Museum of Brazil). Isabel lived an almost completely secluded life from the outside world, far away from the eyes of the Brazilians. She and her sisters had a few friends. Three of them would remain lifelong friends of Isabel: Maria Ribeiro de Avelar (whose mother was a childhood friend of Pedro II's sisters), Maria Amanda de Paranaguá (daughter of João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, the 2nd Marquis of Paranaguá, a member of the Liberal Party and later Prime Minister) and Adelaide Taunay (daughter of Pedro II's former teacher
Félix Émile Taunay and sister of
Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay, Viscount of Taunay). The sole male child who was part of Isabel's all female group was Dominique, the only son of the Countess of Barral, who was regarded by the Princess Imperial and her sister as "the younger brother they never had".
Marriage and
Dona Isabel of Braganza at the
Imperial Chapel Isabel was short, had blue eyes, blond hair, was a little overweight and lacked eyebrows. Her father sought a match among the royal house of France, and initially
Pierre, Duke of Penthièvre, the son of the
Prince of Joinville, was considered. His mother was Isabel's aunt
Princess Francisca of Brazil. Pierre, however, was not interested and declined. Instead, Joinville suggested his nephews, Gaston, Count of Eu, and
Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as suitable choices for the imperial princesses. The two young men travelled to Brazil in August 1864 so that the prospective brides and grooms could meet before a final agreement to the marriage. Isabel and Leopoldina were not informed until Gaston and August were mid-Atlantic. Arriving in early September, Gaston described the princesses as "ugly", but thought Isabel less so than her sister. For her part, Isabel in her own words "began to feel a great and tender love" for Gaston. Gaston and Isabel, and August and Leopoldina, were engaged on 18 September. On 15 October, Gaston and Isabel were married at the
Imperial Chapel in Rio by the archbishop of Bahia. Although Gaston encouraged his wife to read broadly, and the Emperor took her on tours of government offices, her outlook remained one of narrow domesticity. She led a life typical of aristocratic women of her generation. For the first six months of 1865, she and her husband toured Europe. As Brazil had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain, and her French relations had been deposed in France, they travelled as private citizens and met
Queen Victoria as relatives not as official state guests. On their return to Brazil, Gaston was called to the battle front of the
Paraguayan War by the Emperor, leaving Isabel lonely at Rio. After the conclusion of the war in 1870, Gaston and Isabel again toured Europe. In early 1871, they were in Vienna, where her sister Leopoldina fell fatally ill and died, leaving Isabel the sole surviving child of her parents. == Regent ==