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Review: Stendhal - The Charterhouse of Parma (La Chartreuse de Parme) (1839, Tr. Richard Howard)
This was an interesting story, I understand why it would be well-received. There’s drama, there’s politics. Unfortunately as always is the case with older books, I felt that I didn’t absorb the story in full and I know tons of references went over my head. However, I did still feel that the story had substance. I’d recommend this book to those who want a bit of drama.
Spoilers.
Story
The story mainly focused on the story of Fabrizio Del Dongo. His paternal aunt Gina was the character of focus at times, but I’d say that Fabrizio was the main character, which eventually led to a small disappointment but more on that later.
As a youth, Fabrizio, son of a noble family, wanted to join the war in France. He did so with the help of his mother, his aunt Gina, and other women he met along the way. It didn’t really work out and he eventually returned home. After he returned, he was a little grown and there seemed to be some romantic feelings between him and his aunt Gina, though they aren’t really realized. (Side note, I thought it was wild that everybody just accepted that there were romantic feelings between Gina and Fabrizio. Did nobody think it was scandalous?)
The novel then focused on Gina, who became a socialite in the court in Parma. She was a widow, and she fell in love with Count Mosca, who was married. The arrangement was for Gina to marry the Duke Sanseverino, who was often away on work, so that they could keep seeing each other. Gina slowly became adored by the Prince of Parma, who was the sovereign.
Mosca and Gina arranged for Fabrizio to eventually become the Archbishop of Parma, following in the footsteps of an older Del Dongo ancestor. As a youngster and while still in theology school, he’d have romances with various women. He also made his presence known as the son of a noble family.
Fabrizio killed the jealous lover of one of his lovers and had to flee Parma. Gina tried to plead for his life, but Mosca, jealous of Gina’s love for Fabrizio, arranged to trick Gina and have Fabrizio imprisoned. This caused a big rift between Gina and Mosca, who’d been extremely loving towards each other prior to this.
While in jail, Fabrizio fell in love with Clelia Conti, the daughter of the commandant. Gina and Clelia both tried to help him escape though Fabrizio was reluctant because he wanted to continue seeing Clelia in jail. He reluctantly escaped. Then Gina put in motion a plan to have the Prince assassinated, with the help of Ferrante who had one-sided feelings for her. The prince died, leaving his son on the throne.
Fabrizio returned to jail because he wanted to keep seeing Clelia. Gina agreed on a deal with the current prince to keep Fabrizio safe. The prince was in love with Gina and wanted her to marry him, but she declined. As Fabrizio’s safety was of utmost urgency, Gina agreed to the prince’s terms of being with him for one hour for Fabrizio’s safety. Afterwards, she left Parma. Meanwhile, in return for Fabrizio’s safety, Clelia had decided she would give in to her father’s marriage match for her, and she would also no longer set eyes on Fabrizio again.
After being acquitted, Fabrizio followed in the steps laid out for him, to become a figure in the church. Gina had left Parma and finally married Count Mosca. Clelia had married a Marchese. Fabrizio had become thin, missing Clelia. He gave sermons every day in hopes of attracting Clelia (like the Great Gatsby). Eventually Clelia gave in, and she met Fabrizio daily. However, since she had promised never to look at him, they could only meet at night.
Fabrizio and Clelia had a son, Sandrino. They devised a plan to for Sandrino to get sick, and then they would fake his death so that he could be put in the care of Fabrizio. However, after moving in to Fabrizio’s care, Sandrino did die, presumably because the illness had done damage on his body already. Clelia died shortly after Sandrino, Fabrizio shortly after Clelia, and Gina shortly after Fabrizio.
As you can see, a very dramatic story. Fabrizio was a main character, but I didn’t really want to cheer for him. He was always very selfish in his emotions. It was the women around him who always took care of him, especially Gina and later Clelia. But we’ll get to the characters later.
Writing/Translation
The version I read was translated by Richard Howard. I am unfortunately not very good at reading older texts. I did have trouble following the novel at first because it would meander and I would lose track of the story. what I ended up doing was that I would read ahead in the Wikipedia plot summary so that when I went back to the novel, I’d be able to follow the major events as they came up. Unfortunately not the best method, but it was what I could work with. This would probably be a great book to read with a class or a book club.
Characters
Fabrizio Valserra del Dongo
The main character of the book, who always followed what his heart told him. The book started off telling us that he was unfavoured, both by his father and his older brother. However, he was doted on by his mother and his aunt. They supported his plan to go to France to join the war. When he was in France, he was helped by common people, and at least one woman who pitied him.
When he returned, he was mostly following in the path set by Gina, in which she wanted him to become the Archbishop. To be fair, Fabrizio didn’t necessarily ask for this, I think he was possibly too young to have a clear ambition. But along the way he got involved in a lot of torrid love affairs which put him in trouble, namely the murder that would eventually lead to all his troubles.
One thing that bothered me during these debacles was that he didn’t appreciate the work that Gina and Clelia did to save him. All he wanted was to be with Clelia and meanwhile Gina and Clelia wanted him to be safe and not in prison or dead. Another thing that bothered me was when he’d seen a haggard Gina and suddenly realized how old she was. She was 40, but before that she’d always been seen as the youthful and pleasant Duchess. I think it’s a bit…unfair for him to suddenly be so repulsed by her. But maybe that was just to represent the fickleness of beauty. When she was beautiful, he loved her, but now that she was ugly, her love was not wanted. Anyway, Fabrizio escaped because Gina and Clelia begged him to, BUT HE RETURNED. And Gina had to make another sacrifice to save Fabrizio.
Clelia remained Fabrizio’s true love. I do think that Fabrizio just wanted Clelia. But I think he wasn’t as tactful as Gina or even Mosca were. Once he attracted Clelia, they met every day, even had a child. I wonder if Clelia’s husband ever realized, or if he just accepted her affair. However, I think he continued to want more and more, to the point that he risked his child’s life, and ended with Clelia’s death and his own.
I guess Fabrizio was impulsive, led by his feelings, with the privilege of not having to worry about the implications of actions. But it was that ignorance that turned me off from him. After a certain point, his naivete became blind ignorance of not only the world but of those that loved him. And it was the need for him to be with his son, instead of letting his son grow up in a stable home, that caused the death of his own family. Contrast that with Mosca and Gina, who spent decades as each other’s spouses, but they waited it out and ended up together. I know it’s not exactly the same, especially since there was a child involved, and it would be a huge hit to Sandrino to find out his father was not his father as an adult. But…I think there had to have been a better way.
Fabrizio, rich ignorant boy.
Gina Pietranera/Sanseverina/Mosca
Gina!! Best character. right from the beginning she was crafty and smart and charming, but she was also full of love. She loved her nephew. When he grew up, she found herself attracted to him, but knew that nothing could happen. Nonetheless, she still loved him deeply, like a mother would a son, or an older sister to a younger brother. I appreciated that Gina was not just one thing or the other. She loved, but she was very aware of society and expectations.
Gina had fallen in love with Mosca. However, since he was married, he proposed that she marry the Duke Sanseverino who was an ambassador and would often be away. She did so, and became a part of the court. She charmed everyone, including the Prince of Parma and his family. It was this heavy influence she exerted on the royal family that helped with her and by extension Fabrizio.
Of course when Fabrizio was arrested, Gina worried for his safety. However, once he fell in love with Clelia, nothing mattered, not even his own life. I wanted to say that perhaps it was the difference between the men and women in this novel, but that’s not even true. Mosca was far more understanding of survival. Even when Fabrizio fell in love with Clelia, Gina tried to help Fabrizio, and she and Clelia worked together to get Fabrizio out. It cost Gina her relationship with Mosca, because Mosca was so wary of her love for Fabrizio and wished him out of the equation. That part actually shocked me the most. Gina and Mosca were always so understanding of each other. I know that Mosca had always been suspicious of Fabrizio, but for him to go as far to hurt him when he knew Gina was so fond of him seemed impulsive, and I think Mosca realized afterwards that this was impulsive, as he regretted his actions and tried to mend his relationship with Gina.
I thought Gina plotting the prince’s assassination was very gutsy, but perhaps she felt that it was the best way of getting her way. I don’t know if she knew that the younger Prince of Parma was in love with her, but it was both an advantage and a disadvantage. She could exert control over him, but he knew that she wanted something from him and that he was the one in power. In the end, Gina had to give herself to someone she didn’t want. It was only for an hour, but it hurt Gina enough that she would never return to Parma again.
And while Fabrizio ended up fine, I don’t think that he and Gina ever interacted much again. Fabrizio did ask Mosca for help but not Gina. In the end, Gina did die shortly after Fabrizio did, implying that she still loved him.
I thought Gina was an interesting character. like I said, I appreciated that she was both smart and resourceful, but she had personal motives. She was a bit blinded by her love for Fabrizio, but she understood the gravity and seriousness of society. I thought she was mature, understanding that things aren’t always perfect, hence her and Mosca’s relationship for much of the book. She also simply wanted Fabrizio to be alive, though granted she did kind of push him into the clergy. But I do think being in the clergy protected him somewhat, especially if his brother was out to get him.
I’m glad that Gina and Mosca reconciled in the end. I liked that she had an equal and a partner in him. But I think it sucks that she was still tied to Fabrizio in the end.
Count Mosca
Count Mosca was the count that Gina fell in love with. They carried on a long term relationship while married to other people. When they met, Mosca was married to someone else and Gina was widowed. He proposed the solution of Gina marrying the Duke Sanseverino, since Mosca was still married. Gina agreed and it worked out pretty well. If I remember correctly I think Duke Sanseverino was somewhat indebted to Mosca so he went along with his idea. But being duchess did elevate Gina’s status too. Mosca was a high level minister so he was heavily involved with politics. While Duchess Sanseverina was not formally a minister, she was whispering in the ear of the Prince of Parma, so the two together were a dream team.
Mosca’s weakness was his jealousy of Fabrizio since he was younger and more handsome. He planned to get rid of Fabrizio while he was being tried for his crime of murder. That broke Gina, because Mosca had schemed his way with Parma to get it done, knowing that Gina would not like it. If I remember correctly, I think Gina said that she didn’t feel anything for Mosca anymore, except that he was a man that she loved once. I think it broke both of them, since Gina’s trust was broken, and Mosca realized he’d lost Gina in the process of trying to get her to himself. He very quickly tried to reconcile with her, giving her status updates on Fabrizio. And Gina responded to those, because she did want to know how Fabrizio was doing. Mosca and Gina slowly reconciled, and they left Parma together after the events. Fabrizio had asked Mosca for help with him and Clelia, and Mosca, being moved by their story, agreed. He didn’t die shortly after Gina, thus not continuing the chain of death.
While Gina loved Fabrizio, possibly more than anyone else, I do think that there was a genuine love between Gina and Mosca. Like I said, I felt they were more equal than Gina and Fabrizio ever were. Plus, Mosca at least had the decency to understand his mistakes. As soon as Gina found out about his betrayal he knew he’d fucked up, and that he’d lost more than he ever thought was possible, and worked on rectifying it. Even if Mosca wasn’t Gina’s true love, I felt that he was more deserving of it.
Prince of Parma (Elder)
The Prince of Parma was the sovereign of Parma. He worked with Mosca, and enjoyed Gina’s company. However, he was still a ruler and had his own opinions. When it came to Fabrizio’s story line, he was the main mechanism causing Fabrizio’s imprisonment and possible death. Mosca only need scheme and manipulate him to condemn Fabrizio, which angered Gina. I guess Gina decided that the Prince of Parma was too wrapped up with both her and Mosca for her to be able to exert control cleanly and that was why she arranged for his assassination.
Prince of Parma (Younger)
The younger Prince of Parma was the son who ascended the sovereignty after his father died. I believe Gina met him when he was a youth, maybe a young teenager? It appears that he fell in love with Gina over the years. After ascending, he wanted Gina to marry him, but she refused. At one point he also wanted her to stay with him, to be his political counsel, but she declined.
But Gina really needed his help I protecting Fabrizio, so she gave in to his demand of just giving him an hour of her time. But it was too much for Gina and she had to leave Parma forever, not wanting to step foot in to his realm.
Clelia Conti
Clelia was the daughter of the commandant. If I remember correctly, she’d met Fabrizio when they were younger and was impressed by him. But they truly fell in love when he was in prison, since he would see her through the bars of his cell. They developed a way to communicate and there was no going back from there.
There was a bit of jealousy between Clelia and Gina. Just as Gina was a little jealous of Clelia, Clelia was jealous of Gina as well. Nonetheless, they both wanted Fabrizio alive. Clelia kept trying to convince Fabrizio to leave, and sort of succeeded in the end. I say sort of, since he returned. Absolute facepalm moment.
Clelia had promised that if Fabrizio made it out alive, she would never set eyes on him again. She felt guilty for having poisoned her father (though lightly) in order to help Fabrizio escape. So that was her vow, her promise in exchange for Fabrizio’s life. And then she married the Marchesa, a match set by her father. We don’t know much about Marches at all, so I don’t know how unhappy the marriage was, though it was unhappy simply because she wasn’t married to Clelia.
The Marchesa enjoyed Fabrizio’s sermons, and one day Clelia gave in and attended, thus reconnecting with Fabrizio. They then arranged to meet every night. It specifically had to be nighttime, because Clelia had promised never to set eyes on Fabrizio again. Those rendezvous resulted in a son Sandrino, whom Clelia loved very much. I wonder if the Marchesa knew the truth of Sandrino’s parenthood.
Clelia gave in to Fabrizio’s desires for Sandrino to be moved into his household. Sandrino became sick, and Clelia had to stop him from taking any medicine so that they could fake his death. And while Sandrino was moved to Fabrizio’s care, and was visited every day by Fabrizio and Clelia every day, he eventually died, with Clelia dying soon after.
I do find Clelia’s story rather tragic. She was deeply in love with Fabrizio. However, I felt that she was weak to him in a way that Gina was not. Perhaps it was because she had the benefit of her love returned, so she couldn’t live in a world without Fabrizio, whereas Gina had learned to have her own life. Clelia had held out as long as she could, not meeting with Fabrizio, so as not to tempt the bad omens. But she did, and I think she perhaps blamed her own impulsivity for Sandrino’s death. It was the grief and guilt that killed her.
Themes
I think the political struggles was a big theme of the novel, the way that many things worked. It was through Gina and Mosca’s machinations that they got things done, but it wasn’t straightforward. They didn’t simply have to fill out forms or call the right people. they had to have the right connections.
Fabrizio was perhaps the one character in the entire book who did as he wanted, almost with an ignorance of the world around him. Even the younger Prince of Parma, as indulgent as he was, understood the power he held over others. And I believe that it was his ignorance that led to the deaths of those that loved him. Perhaps Sandrino wouldn’t have died if Clelia let him have his medicine. Was it better to have Sandrino call another man his father, or was it better for Sandrino to be dead? The ending stated that Fabrizio felt he had to make amends before he could die along with Clelia. So maybe that was his moment of lucidity, though most of his actions involved paying money. That was all he could do.
There were definitely tons of themes I did not catch, I’m so sorry for this shoddy section.
Overall
Interesting book! Like I said, I would have enjoyed this more had I understood the intricacies better. And I admit it was a little tough to read because of how long and winding it was. But I think I walked away having felt an interesting story.
Spoilers.
Story
The story mainly focused on the story of Fabrizio Del Dongo. His paternal aunt Gina was the character of focus at times, but I’d say that Fabrizio was the main character, which eventually led to a small disappointment but more on that later.
As a youth, Fabrizio, son of a noble family, wanted to join the war in France. He did so with the help of his mother, his aunt Gina, and other women he met along the way. It didn’t really work out and he eventually returned home. After he returned, he was a little grown and there seemed to be some romantic feelings between him and his aunt Gina, though they aren’t really realized. (Side note, I thought it was wild that everybody just accepted that there were romantic feelings between Gina and Fabrizio. Did nobody think it was scandalous?)
The novel then focused on Gina, who became a socialite in the court in Parma. She was a widow, and she fell in love with Count Mosca, who was married. The arrangement was for Gina to marry the Duke Sanseverino, who was often away on work, so that they could keep seeing each other. Gina slowly became adored by the Prince of Parma, who was the sovereign.
Mosca and Gina arranged for Fabrizio to eventually become the Archbishop of Parma, following in the footsteps of an older Del Dongo ancestor. As a youngster and while still in theology school, he’d have romances with various women. He also made his presence known as the son of a noble family.
Fabrizio killed the jealous lover of one of his lovers and had to flee Parma. Gina tried to plead for his life, but Mosca, jealous of Gina’s love for Fabrizio, arranged to trick Gina and have Fabrizio imprisoned. This caused a big rift between Gina and Mosca, who’d been extremely loving towards each other prior to this.
While in jail, Fabrizio fell in love with Clelia Conti, the daughter of the commandant. Gina and Clelia both tried to help him escape though Fabrizio was reluctant because he wanted to continue seeing Clelia in jail. He reluctantly escaped. Then Gina put in motion a plan to have the Prince assassinated, with the help of Ferrante who had one-sided feelings for her. The prince died, leaving his son on the throne.
Fabrizio returned to jail because he wanted to keep seeing Clelia. Gina agreed on a deal with the current prince to keep Fabrizio safe. The prince was in love with Gina and wanted her to marry him, but she declined. As Fabrizio’s safety was of utmost urgency, Gina agreed to the prince’s terms of being with him for one hour for Fabrizio’s safety. Afterwards, she left Parma. Meanwhile, in return for Fabrizio’s safety, Clelia had decided she would give in to her father’s marriage match for her, and she would also no longer set eyes on Fabrizio again.
After being acquitted, Fabrizio followed in the steps laid out for him, to become a figure in the church. Gina had left Parma and finally married Count Mosca. Clelia had married a Marchese. Fabrizio had become thin, missing Clelia. He gave sermons every day in hopes of attracting Clelia (like the Great Gatsby). Eventually Clelia gave in, and she met Fabrizio daily. However, since she had promised never to look at him, they could only meet at night.
Fabrizio and Clelia had a son, Sandrino. They devised a plan to for Sandrino to get sick, and then they would fake his death so that he could be put in the care of Fabrizio. However, after moving in to Fabrizio’s care, Sandrino did die, presumably because the illness had done damage on his body already. Clelia died shortly after Sandrino, Fabrizio shortly after Clelia, and Gina shortly after Fabrizio.
As you can see, a very dramatic story. Fabrizio was a main character, but I didn’t really want to cheer for him. He was always very selfish in his emotions. It was the women around him who always took care of him, especially Gina and later Clelia. But we’ll get to the characters later.
Writing/Translation
The version I read was translated by Richard Howard. I am unfortunately not very good at reading older texts. I did have trouble following the novel at first because it would meander and I would lose track of the story. what I ended up doing was that I would read ahead in the Wikipedia plot summary so that when I went back to the novel, I’d be able to follow the major events as they came up. Unfortunately not the best method, but it was what I could work with. This would probably be a great book to read with a class or a book club.
Characters
Fabrizio Valserra del Dongo
The main character of the book, who always followed what his heart told him. The book started off telling us that he was unfavoured, both by his father and his older brother. However, he was doted on by his mother and his aunt. They supported his plan to go to France to join the war. When he was in France, he was helped by common people, and at least one woman who pitied him.
When he returned, he was mostly following in the path set by Gina, in which she wanted him to become the Archbishop. To be fair, Fabrizio didn’t necessarily ask for this, I think he was possibly too young to have a clear ambition. But along the way he got involved in a lot of torrid love affairs which put him in trouble, namely the murder that would eventually lead to all his troubles.
One thing that bothered me during these debacles was that he didn’t appreciate the work that Gina and Clelia did to save him. All he wanted was to be with Clelia and meanwhile Gina and Clelia wanted him to be safe and not in prison or dead. Another thing that bothered me was when he’d seen a haggard Gina and suddenly realized how old she was. She was 40, but before that she’d always been seen as the youthful and pleasant Duchess. I think it’s a bit…unfair for him to suddenly be so repulsed by her. But maybe that was just to represent the fickleness of beauty. When she was beautiful, he loved her, but now that she was ugly, her love was not wanted. Anyway, Fabrizio escaped because Gina and Clelia begged him to, BUT HE RETURNED. And Gina had to make another sacrifice to save Fabrizio.
Clelia remained Fabrizio’s true love. I do think that Fabrizio just wanted Clelia. But I think he wasn’t as tactful as Gina or even Mosca were. Once he attracted Clelia, they met every day, even had a child. I wonder if Clelia’s husband ever realized, or if he just accepted her affair. However, I think he continued to want more and more, to the point that he risked his child’s life, and ended with Clelia’s death and his own.
I guess Fabrizio was impulsive, led by his feelings, with the privilege of not having to worry about the implications of actions. But it was that ignorance that turned me off from him. After a certain point, his naivete became blind ignorance of not only the world but of those that loved him. And it was the need for him to be with his son, instead of letting his son grow up in a stable home, that caused the death of his own family. Contrast that with Mosca and Gina, who spent decades as each other’s spouses, but they waited it out and ended up together. I know it’s not exactly the same, especially since there was a child involved, and it would be a huge hit to Sandrino to find out his father was not his father as an adult. But…I think there had to have been a better way.
Fabrizio, rich ignorant boy.
Gina Pietranera/Sanseverina/Mosca
Gina!! Best character. right from the beginning she was crafty and smart and charming, but she was also full of love. She loved her nephew. When he grew up, she found herself attracted to him, but knew that nothing could happen. Nonetheless, she still loved him deeply, like a mother would a son, or an older sister to a younger brother. I appreciated that Gina was not just one thing or the other. She loved, but she was very aware of society and expectations.
Gina had fallen in love with Mosca. However, since he was married, he proposed that she marry the Duke Sanseverino who was an ambassador and would often be away. She did so, and became a part of the court. She charmed everyone, including the Prince of Parma and his family. It was this heavy influence she exerted on the royal family that helped with her and by extension Fabrizio.
Of course when Fabrizio was arrested, Gina worried for his safety. However, once he fell in love with Clelia, nothing mattered, not even his own life. I wanted to say that perhaps it was the difference between the men and women in this novel, but that’s not even true. Mosca was far more understanding of survival. Even when Fabrizio fell in love with Clelia, Gina tried to help Fabrizio, and she and Clelia worked together to get Fabrizio out. It cost Gina her relationship with Mosca, because Mosca was so wary of her love for Fabrizio and wished him out of the equation. That part actually shocked me the most. Gina and Mosca were always so understanding of each other. I know that Mosca had always been suspicious of Fabrizio, but for him to go as far to hurt him when he knew Gina was so fond of him seemed impulsive, and I think Mosca realized afterwards that this was impulsive, as he regretted his actions and tried to mend his relationship with Gina.
I thought Gina plotting the prince’s assassination was very gutsy, but perhaps she felt that it was the best way of getting her way. I don’t know if she knew that the younger Prince of Parma was in love with her, but it was both an advantage and a disadvantage. She could exert control over him, but he knew that she wanted something from him and that he was the one in power. In the end, Gina had to give herself to someone she didn’t want. It was only for an hour, but it hurt Gina enough that she would never return to Parma again.
And while Fabrizio ended up fine, I don’t think that he and Gina ever interacted much again. Fabrizio did ask Mosca for help but not Gina. In the end, Gina did die shortly after Fabrizio did, implying that she still loved him.
I thought Gina was an interesting character. like I said, I appreciated that she was both smart and resourceful, but she had personal motives. She was a bit blinded by her love for Fabrizio, but she understood the gravity and seriousness of society. I thought she was mature, understanding that things aren’t always perfect, hence her and Mosca’s relationship for much of the book. She also simply wanted Fabrizio to be alive, though granted she did kind of push him into the clergy. But I do think being in the clergy protected him somewhat, especially if his brother was out to get him.
I’m glad that Gina and Mosca reconciled in the end. I liked that she had an equal and a partner in him. But I think it sucks that she was still tied to Fabrizio in the end.
Count Mosca
Count Mosca was the count that Gina fell in love with. They carried on a long term relationship while married to other people. When they met, Mosca was married to someone else and Gina was widowed. He proposed the solution of Gina marrying the Duke Sanseverino, since Mosca was still married. Gina agreed and it worked out pretty well. If I remember correctly I think Duke Sanseverino was somewhat indebted to Mosca so he went along with his idea. But being duchess did elevate Gina’s status too. Mosca was a high level minister so he was heavily involved with politics. While Duchess Sanseverina was not formally a minister, she was whispering in the ear of the Prince of Parma, so the two together were a dream team.
Mosca’s weakness was his jealousy of Fabrizio since he was younger and more handsome. He planned to get rid of Fabrizio while he was being tried for his crime of murder. That broke Gina, because Mosca had schemed his way with Parma to get it done, knowing that Gina would not like it. If I remember correctly, I think Gina said that she didn’t feel anything for Mosca anymore, except that he was a man that she loved once. I think it broke both of them, since Gina’s trust was broken, and Mosca realized he’d lost Gina in the process of trying to get her to himself. He very quickly tried to reconcile with her, giving her status updates on Fabrizio. And Gina responded to those, because she did want to know how Fabrizio was doing. Mosca and Gina slowly reconciled, and they left Parma together after the events. Fabrizio had asked Mosca for help with him and Clelia, and Mosca, being moved by their story, agreed. He didn’t die shortly after Gina, thus not continuing the chain of death.
While Gina loved Fabrizio, possibly more than anyone else, I do think that there was a genuine love between Gina and Mosca. Like I said, I felt they were more equal than Gina and Fabrizio ever were. Plus, Mosca at least had the decency to understand his mistakes. As soon as Gina found out about his betrayal he knew he’d fucked up, and that he’d lost more than he ever thought was possible, and worked on rectifying it. Even if Mosca wasn’t Gina’s true love, I felt that he was more deserving of it.
Prince of Parma (Elder)
The Prince of Parma was the sovereign of Parma. He worked with Mosca, and enjoyed Gina’s company. However, he was still a ruler and had his own opinions. When it came to Fabrizio’s story line, he was the main mechanism causing Fabrizio’s imprisonment and possible death. Mosca only need scheme and manipulate him to condemn Fabrizio, which angered Gina. I guess Gina decided that the Prince of Parma was too wrapped up with both her and Mosca for her to be able to exert control cleanly and that was why she arranged for his assassination.
Prince of Parma (Younger)
The younger Prince of Parma was the son who ascended the sovereignty after his father died. I believe Gina met him when he was a youth, maybe a young teenager? It appears that he fell in love with Gina over the years. After ascending, he wanted Gina to marry him, but she refused. At one point he also wanted her to stay with him, to be his political counsel, but she declined.
But Gina really needed his help I protecting Fabrizio, so she gave in to his demand of just giving him an hour of her time. But it was too much for Gina and she had to leave Parma forever, not wanting to step foot in to his realm.
Clelia Conti
Clelia was the daughter of the commandant. If I remember correctly, she’d met Fabrizio when they were younger and was impressed by him. But they truly fell in love when he was in prison, since he would see her through the bars of his cell. They developed a way to communicate and there was no going back from there.
There was a bit of jealousy between Clelia and Gina. Just as Gina was a little jealous of Clelia, Clelia was jealous of Gina as well. Nonetheless, they both wanted Fabrizio alive. Clelia kept trying to convince Fabrizio to leave, and sort of succeeded in the end. I say sort of, since he returned. Absolute facepalm moment.
Clelia had promised that if Fabrizio made it out alive, she would never set eyes on him again. She felt guilty for having poisoned her father (though lightly) in order to help Fabrizio escape. So that was her vow, her promise in exchange for Fabrizio’s life. And then she married the Marchesa, a match set by her father. We don’t know much about Marches at all, so I don’t know how unhappy the marriage was, though it was unhappy simply because she wasn’t married to Clelia.
The Marchesa enjoyed Fabrizio’s sermons, and one day Clelia gave in and attended, thus reconnecting with Fabrizio. They then arranged to meet every night. It specifically had to be nighttime, because Clelia had promised never to set eyes on Fabrizio again. Those rendezvous resulted in a son Sandrino, whom Clelia loved very much. I wonder if the Marchesa knew the truth of Sandrino’s parenthood.
Clelia gave in to Fabrizio’s desires for Sandrino to be moved into his household. Sandrino became sick, and Clelia had to stop him from taking any medicine so that they could fake his death. And while Sandrino was moved to Fabrizio’s care, and was visited every day by Fabrizio and Clelia every day, he eventually died, with Clelia dying soon after.
I do find Clelia’s story rather tragic. She was deeply in love with Fabrizio. However, I felt that she was weak to him in a way that Gina was not. Perhaps it was because she had the benefit of her love returned, so she couldn’t live in a world without Fabrizio, whereas Gina had learned to have her own life. Clelia had held out as long as she could, not meeting with Fabrizio, so as not to tempt the bad omens. But she did, and I think she perhaps blamed her own impulsivity for Sandrino’s death. It was the grief and guilt that killed her.
Themes
I think the political struggles was a big theme of the novel, the way that many things worked. It was through Gina and Mosca’s machinations that they got things done, but it wasn’t straightforward. They didn’t simply have to fill out forms or call the right people. they had to have the right connections.
Fabrizio was perhaps the one character in the entire book who did as he wanted, almost with an ignorance of the world around him. Even the younger Prince of Parma, as indulgent as he was, understood the power he held over others. And I believe that it was his ignorance that led to the deaths of those that loved him. Perhaps Sandrino wouldn’t have died if Clelia let him have his medicine. Was it better to have Sandrino call another man his father, or was it better for Sandrino to be dead? The ending stated that Fabrizio felt he had to make amends before he could die along with Clelia. So maybe that was his moment of lucidity, though most of his actions involved paying money. That was all he could do.
There were definitely tons of themes I did not catch, I’m so sorry for this shoddy section.
Overall
Interesting book! Like I said, I would have enjoyed this more had I understood the intricacies better. And I admit it was a little tough to read because of how long and winding it was. But I think I walked away having felt an interesting story.