Explicating the 1839 eight-chapter noveleight-chapter novel as the first Cecilia adaptation, this chapter shows how this fragmentary work moves beyond the short story’s didactic emphasis on universalist concepts of society and humanity. Also noted is the narrative’s amplification of the HavanaHavana setting, its enlargement and diversification of the cast of characters. The concepts of hypergamy and incest are examined in connection with Cecilia’s affair with her upper-class half-brother. The eight-chapter novel’s satirical tone and occasional comedic scenes are correlated with the narrative’s specific descriptions of folkways and material culture. Hints of a certain ethnographic perspective, anticipating BakhtinBakhtin’s theories of carnivalcarnivalBakhtinian concept and cultural identity, foreshadow the 1882 novel’s all-encompassing representation of Cuban reality.