English: This is the translation, by Hélio de Seixas Guimarães, of a text published in 1952 by Helen Caldwell, a pioneer in Machadian studies abroad. Here, the essayist compares Machado de Assis to Shakespeare, a topic she would develop more extensively in The Brazilian Othello of Machado de Assis (1960), and also reads the author as a key to the understanding of Brazil. The issue of the belonging and reach of the writer's work is visible from the first lines and to the end of the article the North American scholar examines a curious topic: the presence of the teacher in Machado's novels and short stories.