This article offers an analysis of two of Maria Teresa Horta’s narrative titles Ambas as mãos sobre o corpo and Ema, where we observe that women were historically conditioned and trapped within a silent, submissive, reclusive and obedient web, under the male figures of the father and, thereafter, the husband. A metaphor can be seen in both titles, showing a great play of forces woven by men and women which determined a generation of women. This essay emphasises Maria Teresa Horta’s female characters and demonstrates the desire for freedom (of expression, in the use of the body, the voice and physical space) and the submissiveness of women of different generations to madness and reclusive conditions because of their desire for a different life.