Our purpose is to examine the relations between certain literary procedures used in Esau and Jacob and Counselor Ayres’ Memorial (also translated as The Wager: Aires’ Journal), and socio-political and historical elements present in the transition from the Empire to the Republic, both represented in these two novels by Machado de Assis. We aim to show how – by means of structural and linguistic choices concerning the bonds between narrator, focalization and characters – the writer brings into discussion important subjects of the Brazilian society at that moment. Contrary to what is pointed out by some critics, there is a critique of the social and power relations in these narratives. The way in which the writer conducts his reflection on these relations gives rise to new researches.Propõe-se o exame das relações entre determinados recursos literários de Esaú e Jacó e Memorial de Aires e elementos sociopolíticos e históricos da transição do Império para a República representados nesses romances machadianos. Pretendemos mostrar como, por meio de escolhas estruturais e linguísticas, no que se refere aos vínculos entre narrador, focalização e personagens, o escritor traz à baila questões substantivas da sociedade brasileira daquele momento. Ao contrário do que alguns analistas apontam, há, nessas narrativas, crítica às relações sociais e de poder. A forma como o escritor realiza, nos romances, a refl exão sobre tais relações enseja novas pesquisas.