Short Sicilian Novels

by Giovanni Verga

  THE SHORT SICILIAN NOVELS

  GIOVANNI VERGA, the Sicilian novelist and playwright, is surely the grewere landowners and iction, after Manzoni.

  Verga was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1840, and died in the same city, at the age of eighty-two, in January, 1922. As a young man he left Sicily to work at literature and mingle with society in Florence and Milan, and these two cities, especially the latter, claim a large share of his mature years. He came back, however, to his beloved Sicily, to Catania, the seaport under Etna, to be once more Sicilian of the Sicilians and spend his long declining years in his own place.

  The first period of his literary activity was taken up with “Society” and elegant love. In this phase he wrote the novels Eros, Eva, Tigre Reale, Il Marito di Elena, real Italian novels of love, intrigue and “elegance”: a little tiresome, but with their own depth. His fame, however, rests on his Sicilian works, the two novels: I Malavoglia and Mastro-Don Gesualdo, and the various volumes of short sketches, Vita dei Campi (Cavalleria Rusticana), Novelle Rusticane, and Vagabondaggio, and then the earlier work Storia di Una Capinera, a slight volume of letters between two school-girls, somewhat sentimental and once very popular.

  The libretto of Cavalleria Rusticana, the well known opera, was drawn from the first of the sketches in the volume Vita dei Campi.

  As a man, Verga never courted popularity, any more than his work courts popularity. He kept apart from all publicity, proud in his privacy: so unlike D’Annunzio. Apparently he was never married.

  In appearance, he was of medium height, strong and straight, with thick white hair, and proud dark eyes, and a big reddish moustache: a striking man to look at. The story Across the Sea, playing as it does between the elegant life of Naples and Messina, and the wild places of south-east Sicily, is no doubt autobiographic. The great misty city would then be Milan.

  Most of these sketches are said to be drawn from actual life, from the village where Verga lived and from which his family originally came. The landscape will be more or less familiar to any one who has gone in the train down the east coast of Sicily to Syracuse, past Etna and the Plains of Catania and the Biviere, the lake of Lentini, on to the hills again. And anyone who has once known this land can never be quite free from the nostalgia for it, nor can he fail to fall under the spell of Verga’s wonderful creation of it, at some point or other.

  The stories belong to the period of Verga’s youth. The King with the little Queen was King Francis of Naples, son of Bomba. Francis and his little northern Queen fled before Garibaldi in 1860, so the story So Much For the King must be dated a few years earlier. And the autobiographical sketch Across the Sea must belong to Verga’s first manhood, some-where about 1870. Verga was twenty years old when Garibaldi was in Sicily and the little drama of Liberty took place in the Village on Etna.

  During the ‘fifties and ‘sixties, Sicily is said to have been the poorest place in Europe: absolutely penniless. A Sicilian peasant might live through his whole life without ever possessing as much as a dollar, in hard cash. But after 1870 the great drift of Sicilian emigration set in, towards America. Sicilian young men came back from exile rich, according to standards in Sicily. The peasants began to buy their own land, instead of working on the half-profits system. They had a reserve fund for bad years. And the island in the Mediterranean began to prosper as it prospers still, depending on American resources. Only the gentry decline. The peasantry emigrate almost to a man, and come back as gentry themselves, American gentry.

  Novelle Rusticane was first published in Turin, in 1883.

  D. H. LAWRENCE

  CHRONOLOGY

  1840

  2 September. Giovanni Verga was born in Catania, Sicily. His family were landowners and members of the minor nobility.

  1848/9

  Year of Revolutions in Italy.

  1857

  Wrote his first novel, “Amore e Patria” (unpublished).

  1858

  Enroles as a student of law at Catania University.

  1859

  Beginning of the Italian War of Independence.

  1860

  Insurrections in Sicily in April are followed by the arrival of Garibaldi and his volunteers who take Sicily from the Bourbons.

  Verga joins the National Guard founded after the arrival of Garibaldi. He is one of the founders and the editor, of the weekly political magazine, Roma degli Italiani.

  1861

  The Bourbons are forced out of Naples, and Garibaldi surrenders Naples and Sicily to Victor Emanuel, the Piedmontese king. In plebiscites the people of Southern Italy vote to be part of the newly formed Italian Kingdom under Victor Emanuel.

  Verga abandons his legal studies and publishes his first novel, “I Carbonari della Montagna,” at his own expense.

  1863

  His patriotic novel, “Sulle lagune”, is published in a magazine.

  His father dies.

  1864

  Florence becomes the new capital of Italy, replacing Turin.

  1865

  Verga’s first visit to Florence. He becomes a frequent visitor and takes up permanent residence in 1869.

  1866

  The Austrians retreat from Venice which becomes part of Italy.

  His novel, “Una Peccatrice” is published.

  1869

  Settles in Florence, where he meets Luigi Capuana, the realist writer and theorist. Begins an affair with the 18 year old, Giselda Foljanesi.

  1870

  Rome is taken, and becomes the Italian capital in 1871.

  1871

  Zola’s “La Fortune de Rougon”, the first book in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, is published. Zola’s theories and Naturalism become increasingly important and controversial in Italy.

  Verga publishes “Storia di una capinera”, which is an immediate success.

  1872

  Goes to live in Milan, where he spends most of the next 20 years. Frequents the literary salons of the city, making a name for himself in the capital of Italian publishing. Giselda Foljanesi marries the Catanese poet Mario Rapisardi.

  1873

  “Eva” is published, and is criticized for its immorality.

  1874/6

  “Tigre Reale”, “Eros”, and the novella “Nedda” are published.

  1877

  “L’Assommoir” of Zola is published and has an overwhelming influence in Italy. Verga publishes his collected short stories, “Primavera e altri racconti.”

  1878

  His mother dies, to whom he was greatly attached.

  1880

  “Vita dei Campi” is published. Visits Giselda Foljanesi.

  1881

  “I Malavoglia” is published. Verga is disappointed by its lack of success. Begins an affair with countess Dina Castellazi, who is married and in her twenties. It lasts most of his life.

  1883

  Goes to Paris, and visits Zola at Meridan. Also goes to London. Publishes “Novelle Rusticane” and the novel “Il Marito di Elena”, and “Per le Vie”. Visits Catania where he sees Giselda Foljanesi. In December Rapisardi discovers a compromising letter from Verga to his wife, and so Giselda is forced to leave and settle in Florence.

  1884

  The play of “Cavalleria Rusticana” is put on with great success in Turin, with Eleonora Dusa playing Santuzza.

  The end of Verga’s affair with Giselda Foljanesi.

  1886 – 7

  Passes most of his time at Rome. The publication of a French translation of “I Malavoglia” is without success.

  1888

  Returns to live in Sicily.

  1889

  “Mastro-don Gesualdo” is published and is an immediate success. D’Annunzio publishes his novel, “Il Piacere”
.

  1890

  Mascagni’s one act opera of “Cavalleria Rusticana” is put on and enjoys an overwhelming success. Verga sues Mascagni and Sonzogno for his share of the royalties.

  1891

  Publishes a volume of stories, “I Ricordi del capitano d’Arce”. Wins his case in the Court of Appeal, getting 143,000 lire, (which was a large sum then and put an end to the financial problems which had beset him).

  1895

  Goes with Capuana to visit Zola in Rome.

  1896

  The defeat at Adua puts an end to Italy’s colonial expansion. Verga criticizes the demonstrations against the war. Begins writing the third novel in his “I Vinti” cycle, “La Duchessa di Leyra”, but never completes it.

  1898

  There are riots in Milan, after the price of bread is increased, which are violently put down by the army. Verga applauds their actions as a defence of society and its institutions.

  1900 – 3

  Various of his plays are put on, but Verga’s energies turn away from his writing to managing his business interests and living quietly in Sicily.

  1915

  Declares himself in favour of Italian involvement in WW1, and anti-pacificism.

  1920

  His eightieth birthday is celebrated in Rome and Catania. In November he becomes a senator.

  1922

  27 January Verga dies in Catania.

  Mussolini comes to power.

  CONTENTS

  Title

  Introduction

  His Reverence

  So Much For The King

  Don Licciu Papa

  The Mystery Play

  Malaria

  The Orphans

  Property

  The Story of Saint Joseph’s Ass

  Black Bread

  The Gentry

  Liberty

  Across The Sea

  By the Same Author

  Copyright

  INTRODUCTION

  Giovanni Verga, despite being Italy’s greatest novelist and having been translated by D. H. Lawrence, is almost totally unknown in England. This is a situation which at some time must change, with Verga getting the critical acclaim he deserves, and a readership as large as Thomas Hardy or Zola. When is another matter, as there is little interest in Italian Literature in this country, with very few writers known all all. The days when Italian Literature was accorded the stature of Latin and Greek, as the third classical language are long since gone. Elizabeth I, the most accomplished of English monarchs spoke and wrote Italian fluently, poets such as Milton wrote poems in Italian.

  It was Italian that emerged as Europe’s first great national culture, when Latin was replaced by the vernacular in Europe. The Florentine writers, Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio prepared the way for the flowering of the Renaissance, and Ariosto, Macchiavelli, Castiglione and Tasso. The excellence of the Renaissance gave way to the second rate, as the Italian City States declined, as the peninsular became a battle ground for the French and Spanish. It was the victory of Spain, and their championing of the Counter Reformation, which made ideas dangerous and literature empty.

  Italian Literature has yet to recover from the effects of this body blow to its culture. The few writers of excellence it has produced since the Renaissance gaining scant attention outside the confines of the Italian peninsula. Leopardi, Manzoni, Pirandello are known, if not read, while Verga, whose novel “I Malavoglia”, was translated into English in the 1890s, remains a stranger to the bookshelves of the British Isles.

  The world Verga writes of, has perhaps more interest for us today than ever, as industrialization and modern technology has swept aside the poverty and neglect of centuries in Sicily. It is a world where the peasant and the fisherman had to fight an epic battle with the elements and the soil for survival – a struggle weighted against them by the feudal structure of their society.

  * * *

  ITALY IN 1840

  Sicily was one of the poorest of the Italian states in 1840. It was ruled from Naples by the Bourbons, and had little in common with the advances of the Industrial Revolution as its feudal agrarian life continued much the same way it had for centuries. There was little wealth to be shared, so the upper classes exploited the lower without compassion. The Bourbons like the other ruling families in Italy were far from secure. The moderate reforms of the Enlightenment and the advent of Napoleon had created aspirations which the Restoration did little to satisfy. Constitutional government, economic and social reforms were striven for, but found little favour with the Italian monarchs. Insecure after their deposition by Napoleon they took refuge in absolutism and repression. Uprisings and rebellions culminated in a year of Revolution in the Italian States, which brought back Giuseppe Garibaldi from South America to lead the heroic defence of the newly created Roman Republic. The Revolutions of 1848/9 failed, but inspired the mood for change. The independent Kingdom of Piedmont in Northern Italy became the focus for the Italian Independence movement, which aimed for a united Italy under the Piedmont king Victor Emanuel. By 1859, with French help the Piedmontese felt strong enough to wage war against the Austrians in Northern Italy. The early successes were brought to a halt, when the Emperor of France, Napoleon III, reached a treaty with Austria ending the war. Public opinion was outraged in Italy, and the government failed to return the conquered territories. There were ideas for extending the war to further parts of Italy, the most unlikely of these was to take the Bourbon Kingdom, of the Two Sicilies. Garibaldi’s volunteer force of 1,000 set off in May of 1860, poorly equipped, to Sicily. By his own example and inspiration, popular support and amazingly poor resistance by the vastly superior Bourbon troops, Garibaldi conquered the island in just a few months. Later he crossed the Straits of Messina and completed the rout of the Bourbons, before the command of the war was taken from him by Victor Emanuel. With the annexation of Venice in 1866, and Rome in 1870, Italy was united under the rule of Piedmont. The capital of Italy changed from Turin to Florence in 1864, and to Rome in 1871, but despite its approach South the new state was very distant and inexplicable to the Sicilians; many of whom would have been happy to have had the Bourbons back.

  Higher taxes, compulsory conscription and rule from Rome, with little change in their standard of living led to revolts in Sicily. Unification had meant the charismatic Garibaldi, referred to by some as the Second Christ, the reality was of rule from the uncomprehending Northern dynasty of Savoy.

  * * *

  There was not much of a prose tradition for Verga to follow. Foscolo had written the first Italian novel, the ‘pathetic’ “Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis”, an epistolary letter in the manner of Goethe’s “Werther”. A generation later Manzoni published “I Promessi Sposi”, a novel which had, for the time, realism, psychological penetration and a wide list of characters, and for its heroes, two peasants. The novel was immediately successful, and was rewritten by Manzoni in a new literary language based on modern Florentine, which became the model for later writers to follow. Most Italian critics consider this to be the finest novel of the century, but many readers find the overt moralizing and rose coloured view of his peasant heroes get in the way of the narrative gifts of Manzoni.

  Verga spent his youth in the literary circles of Florence and Milan, and his early works are melodramatic popular novels about the decadence of the cities. The Bohemian poets were his main influence. His best work came when he renounced Romanticism for realism, and turned his attention from the empty pleasures of the city to the struggle for existence which was going on for the peasants and fishermen of his native Sicily. The short story “Nedda” was his first attempt at Verismo. By the end of the decade he had produced a volume of short stories in this manner, “Vita dei Campi”. It was with the publication of “I Malavoglia” in 1881, Verga had turned realism into high art. In language distorted to echo the dialect of the fishermen, and metaphors limited to those of the sea, Verga tells the story of the Malavoglia family, with very little narra
tive and with the action coming through the characters’ own words. What started out as a document of social realism ends as an epic tale of human endeavour, and the triumph of the spirit.

  It was to be the first of a cycle, “I Vinti”, (the Defeated) in which Verga would progress through society, examining how ambition and a desire for something more would cause the downfall of the ‘vinti’. In “I Malavoglia” it is Ntoni who is the “vinto”, as he aspires after the greater world of the city and its pleasures, bringing about the downfall of his family, as the harsh struggle for existence of the Sicilian fishermen left no room for any aspirations. In “Mastro-don Gesualdo” it is the self-made man Gesualdo’s attempt to rise socially that brings him unhappiness. Apart from a few pages in the “Duchessa di Leyra” this was as far as Verga got in his cycle. Verga’s reputation rests on the 2 novels of this cycle and his Short Stories. When it was first published “I Malavoglia” was a critical and a publishing failure, while “Mastro-don Gesualdo” was an immediate success, which helped Verga overcome his financial problems. Verga was at his most productive during the 1880s, after which there was a decline in his output both in quantity and in quality. He turned some of his short stories into plays (and even into film scripts) one of which, “Cavalleria Rusticana” was a box office success. The operatta based on Verga’s play has achieved a worldwide fame, and is much better known than the name or the work of its original creator.

  “The Short Sicilian Novels”, published in 1883, under the title of “Novelle Rusticane” are amongst the finest of Verga’s stories, embodying the themes which are given fuller expression in his novels. There is no criticism of people’s actions, however base, merely a statement that this is how life is. In the story of St. Joseph Ass, the ass gets progressively more ill-used as he changes owners and becomes more feeble by over exertion, but Verga makes no statement condemning his neglect, although his and the readers’s sympathies are with the ass, instead he shows the need which drives the owners to get every ounce of sweat they can out of the ass. In Verga there are no villains or heroes, just actors doing what they must. There is respect for the hard suffering peasant, as he is put upon by society, but no programme for social change in Verga. The peasants who rise above their station do not find happiness, only more property, and lose what humanity they had. The decline of the gentry and landed classes is recounted dispassionatly as a historical process which is going on. The rich exploit as this is what being rich means.