The Betrothed
The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni. The novel was first published in three volumes between 1825 and 1827; it was significantly revised and rewritten until the definitive version was published between 1840 and 1842. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.
Set in the Duchy of Milan in 1628 during the years of Spanish rule under the Spanish Habsburg, the novel is noted for its extraordinary description of the 1629–1631 Italian plague, particularly the one that struck Milan around 1630. Although it is a historical romance due its portrayal of the unwavering strength of love, it also deals with a variety of themes, such as the illusory nature of political power and the inherent injustice of any legal system and the range of character among the Christian clergy from the cowardice of the parish priest Don Abbondio to the heroic sanctity of others.
Writing and publication
Manzoni found the basis for his novel in late April 1821 when he read a 1627 Italian edict that specified penalties for any priest who refused to perform a marriage when requested to do so. More material for his story came from Giuseppe Ripamonti's Milanese Chronicles. The first version, Fermo e Lucia, was written between April 1821 and September 1823.The first version was never published in his lifetime. He then heavily revised it, finishing in August 1825; it was published on 15 June 1827 after 22 months of corrections and proof-checking. Manzoni's chosen title, Gli sposi promessi, was changed for the sake of euphony shortly before its final commitment to printing. In the early 19th century, there was still controversy as to what form the standard literary language of Italy should take. Manzoni was firmly in favour of the dialect of Florence and, as he himself put it, after "washing his clothes in the Arno ", he revised the novel's language for its republication in 1842, cleansing it of many Lombard regionalisms. The original name of one of the protagonists, Fermo, was changed for the same reason to Lorenzo.
Il Fermo e Lucia was finally published for the first time posthumously in 1916 as Gli sposi promessi, published for the first time in their entirety in the autograph by Giuseppe Lesca, Naples, Francesco Perrella, Società Anonima Editrice in 1916. It was published as Fermo e Lucia in Tutte le opere di Alessandro Manzoni, II, I Promessi sposi, II.3, Fermo e Lucia. Prima composizione del 1821-1823; Appendice storica su la colonna infame. Primo abbozzo del 1823, a cura di Alberto Chiari e Fausto Ghisalberti, Milano, Mondadori in 1954. It was edited by Mario Martelli in Florence, Sansoni Editore,.
Synopsis
Chapters 1–8: Flight from the village
The setting is beautiful but marred with poverty. It begins with Renzo and Lucia, a couple living in a village in Lombardy, near Lecco, on Lake Como, who are planning to wed on 8 November 1628. The parish priest, don Abbondio, is walking home on the eve of the wedding when he is accosted by two "bravi" who warn him not to perform the marriage, because the local baron, Don Rodrigo has forbidden it.When he presents himself for the wedding ceremony, Renzo is amazed to hear that the marriage is to be postponed. An argument ensues and Renzo succeeds in extracting from the priest the name of Don Rodrigo. It turns out that Don Rodrigo has his eye on Lucia and that he had a bet about her with his cousin Count Attilio.
Lucia's mother, Agnese, advises Renzo to ask the advice of "Dr. Azzeccagarbugli", a lawyer in the town of Lecco. Dr. Azzeccagarbugli is at first sympathetic: thinking Renzo is actually the perpetrator, he shows Renzo a recent edict criminalising the making of threats to procure or prevent marriages, but when he hears the name of Don Rodrigo, he panics and drives Renzo away. Lucia sends a message to "Fra Cristoforo", a respected Capuchin friar at the monastery of Pescarenico, asking him to come as soon as he can.
Fra Christopher's back story is told. He used to be the son of a rich merchant and his birth name was Lodovico. He had a steward named Christopher, who was very faithful and had a family. While traveling along a road, Lodovico and his enemy had a standoff over who would lose face and pass on the outside. A fight broke out and an enemy bravo killed Christopher. Lodovico then killed Christopher's murderer. Lodovico then decided to become a friar after wrapping up his worldly affairs with Christopher's family and the family of the man he had killed. Lodovico became a friar, taking the name Fra Christopher.
Image:I promessi sposi - ch6.jpg|thumb|left|Fra Cristoforo and Don Rodrigo
When Fra Cristoforo comes to Lucia's cottage and hears the story, he immediately goes to Don Rodrigo's mansion, where he finds the baron at a meal with his cousin Count Attilio, along with four guests, including the mayor and Dr. Azzeccagarbugli. The power dynamics of the people at the dining table is evident. When Don Rodrigo is taken aside by the friar, he explodes with anger at his presumption and sends him away, but not before an old servant has a chance to offer his help to Cristoforo.
Meanwhile, Agnese has come up with a plan. In those days, it was possible for two people to marry by declaring themselves married before a priest and in the presence of two amenable witnesses. Renzo runs to his friend Tonio and offers him 25 lire if he agrees to help. When Fra Cristoforo returns with the bad news, Lucia and Renzo argue about how to proceed. Lucia is a god-fearing woman and doesn't want to get married by law. Renzo doesn't care and wants to get married no matter what and acts harshly to Lucia. Eventually, they decide to put their plan into action.
The next morning, Lucia and Agnese are visited by beggars, Don Rodrigo's men in disguise. They examine the house in order to plan an assault. Late at night, Agnese distracts Don Abbondio's servant Perpetua while Tonio and his brother Gervaso enter Don Abbondio's study, ostensibly to pay a debt. They are followed indoors secretly by Lucia and Renzo. When they try to carry out their plan, the priest throws the tablecloth in Lucia's face and drops the lamp. They struggle in the darkness. The plan fails and the five flee.
In the meantime, Don Rodrigo's men invade Lucia's house, but nobody is there. A boy named Menico, friend of Lucia and Renzo, arrives with a message of warning from Fra Cristoforo and they seize him. When they hear the alarm being raised by the sacristan, who is calling for help on the part of Don Abbondio who raised the alarm of invaders in his home, they assume they have been betrayed and flee in confusion. Menico sees Agnese, Lucia and Renzo in the street and warns them not to return home. They go to the monastery, where Fra Cristoforo gives Renzo a letter of introduction to a certain friar at Milan, and another letter to the two women, to organize a refuge at a convent in the nearby city of Monza.
Chapters 9–10: The Nun of Monza
They lament leaving Lecco. Renzo, Lucia, and Agnese part ways. Lucia is entrusted to the nun Gertrude, a strange and unpredictable noblewoman whose story is told in these chapters. A child of the most important family of the area, her father decided to send her to the cloisters for no other reason than to simplify his affairs: he wished to keep his properties united for his first-born, heir to the family's title and riches. Growing up to be a nun she thought she was more superior than others. As she grew up, she sensed that she was being forced by her parents into a life which would comport but little with her personality. She was kept in a convent for most of her life and dreamed to escape.To become a nun, Gertrude must go back to the outside world and reflect if she wants to leave it forever. She is excited until she finds that her own family locks her up inside and ignores her. She finds solace in an affair with a servant boy. When her father finds out, he is furious and threatens and manipulates her into agreeing to become a nun permanently. The fear of scandal, as well as manoeuvre, menaces, and manipulation from her father, induced Gertrude to lie to her interviewers in order to enter the convent of Monza, where she was received as la Signora. This forms Gertrude's personality and mental state badly as her hate of being a nun seeps into her actions.. Later, she fell under the spell of a young man of no scruples, Egidio, associated with the worst baron of that time, the Innominato. Egidio and Gertrude became lovers. When another nun discovered their relationship they killed her and buried her near the garden wall.
Chapters 11–17: Renzo in Milan
Renzo arrives in famine-stricken Milan and goes to the monastery, but the friar he is seeking is absent and so he wanders further into the city. A bakery in the Corsia de' Servi, El prestin di scansc, is destroyed by a mob, who then go to the house of the Commissioner of Supply in order to lynch him. He is saved in the nick of time by Ferrer, the Grand Chancellor, who arrives in a coach and announces he is taking the Commissioner to prison. Renzo becomes prominent as he helps Ferrer make his way through the crowd.After witnessing these scenes, Renzo joins in a lively discussion and reveals views which attract the notice of a police agent in search of a scapegoat. The agent tries to lead Renzo directly to "the best inn" but Renzo is tired and stops at one nearby where, after being plied with drink, he reveals his full name and address. The next morning, he is awakened by a notary and two bailiffs, who handcuff him and start to take him away. In the street Renzo announces loudly that he is being punished for his heroism the day before and, with the aid of sympathetic onlookers and political unrest brewing, he escapes. Leaving the city by the same gate through which he entered, he sets off for Bergamo, knowing that his cousin Bortolo lives in a village nearby. Once there, he will be beyond the reach of the authorities of Milan, as Bergamo is territory of the Most Serene Republic of Venice.
At an inn in Gorgonzola, he overhears a conversation which makes it clear to him how much trouble he is in and so he walks all night until he reaches the River Adda. After a short sleep in a hut, he crosses the river at dawn in the boat of a fisherman and makes his way to his cousin's house, where he is welcomed as a silk-weaver under the pseudonym of Antonio Rivolta after he confesses everything to Bortolo. The same day, orders for Renzo's arrest reach the town of Lecco, to the delight of Don Rodrigo.