O presente trabalho ressalta as valiosas contribuiÃÃes do romance O CortiÃo, de AluÃsio Azevedo para a compreensÃo do contexto social fluminense de final de sÃculo XIX. O CortiÃo à um painel em que se vislumbram vÃrios tipos representativos da Ãpoca. A obra narra o cotidiano, em Botafogo, dos habitantes de uma estalagem e de um sobrado a ela vizinho, sendo um rico apanhado de flagrantes das realidades afetivas experimentadas pelos personagens. As relaÃÃes familiares e suas conseqÃÃncias tematizam o assunto aqui tratado. SÃo postas em evidÃncia as diversas formas de interaÃÃo entre os personagens do romance, inclusive as que envolvem o adultÃrio e a prostituiÃÃo. AtravÃs de uma anÃlise do comportamento dos personagens, a pesquisa busca comprovar as teses do determinismo social e genÃtico defendidas pelo autor. Utilizando o mÃtodo investigativo hermenÃutico, o estudo partiu do texto literÃrio para a anÃlise do tema proposto, analisando a concretizaÃÃo verbal obtida por AluÃsio Azevedo, nesse particular, e valendo-se ainda do aporte teÃrico de textos ligados à Sociologia e à HistÃria. / This study highlights the valuable contributions of the novel O CortiÃo of AluÃsio Azevedo for understanding the social context of Rio de Janeiro at the end of the nineteenth century. O CortiÃo is a panel that comes out several representative types of the time. The book recounts the everyday, of an inn house in Botafogo. The residents of her neighbor, and a rich collection of blatant emotional realities experienced by the characters. Family relationships and their consequences guide the subject matter hereof. They are drawn to the various forms of interaction between the characters in the novel, including those involving adultery and prostitution. Through an analysis of the behavior of the characters, the research aims at the thesis of social and genetic determinism advocated by the author. Using the investigative method of interpretation, the study came from literary text to the analysis of the subject, the verbal context obtained by AluÃsio Azevedo, and the advantage of the theoretical texts related to sociology and history.