Wisdom and Woe

The infamous Borgia family rose to power during the Italian Renaissance, acquiring a reputation for corruption, scandal, and political rivalry.

Lucrezia (1480-1519)--the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and the sister of Cesare Borgia--was a central figure of the family. She was instrumental in extending her family's power through advantageous political marriages, while being dogged by accusations of incest, infidelity, and murder. One especially prevalent rumor was that she wore a ring with which she surreptitiously poisoned the food and drinks of unsuspecting victims.

In 1833, Victor Hugo wrote a play based on her character, and Donizetti adapted it into an opera. Full of high-tension situations and dark atmosphere, Lucrezia Borgia musically forges ruthless politics, illicit love, and supernatural portents.

The Betrothed (Alessandro Manzoni, 1827) is considered Italy's "national novel"; a founding masterpiece of its culture; "a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy" (Italo Calvino); and "a gift to humanity" (Verdi). For its descriptions, history, characters, wit, and expansiveness, it draws comparisons to Tolstoy, Scott, Dickens, Thackery, and Melville. It is not only "the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language," but also "the most inspirational novel of the Risorgimento."

It is set in early 17th-century Lombardy amid Spanish occupation and the extremes of famine, war, and plague. But its basic theme transcends "a given, concrete, historical crisis" to speak not only to "the Italian people as a whole," but to universal themes of love, faith, and justice.

The central protagonists are two peasant-born lovers who find themselves opposed by a corrupt local tyrant. Just as the titular lovers are emblematic of Italy's resistance to foreign domination, the setting--teeming with numerous characters and points-of-view, filtered through an omniscient narrator--evokes its fragmented polity and sense of Providential unity.

The Betrothed helped establish a common literary language across Italy's diverse regional dialects. Tackling a philological debate known as the questione della lingua, Manzoni spent nearly two decades reworking the novel's idiom, producing a hybrid Florentine dialect, both formal and vernacular, that endeavored to do for the nation linguistically what the Risorgimento would do for it politically.

Schedule:

• Week 1 (September 21): Introduction-Chapter 8
• Week 2 (October 5): Chapters 9-23
• Week 3 (October 19): Chapters 24-38

The Betrothed (1844 translation):

E. M. Forster first encountered Billy Budd in 1926, near the start of the "Melville Revival." Some twenty years later, he embarked on a collaboration with Benjamin Britten and Eric Crozier, adapting Melville's novella for the opera stage. The result is one of the most successful operas of the 20th century, psychologically and philosophically compelling, set to a masterful score.

Presented as a flashback of Captain Vere, the drama takes place aboard a British warship in 1797. Forster saw the story primarily as an exploration of evil and repressed desire, writing that "Evil is labeled and personified" in the character of Claggart, as it clashes with Goodness "alloyed by H.M.'s suppressed homosex" in the character of Billy Budd.

His "approach, rooted very much in Freudian psychology... becomes the theme of Britten's opera" and "set the tone for a good deal of later criticism" (Stephen Matterson).

This meetup will consist of a live viewing, accompanied by discussion and analysis.

About the production:

• In English with English closed caption
• Runtime: 2h 38m
• Written by: Benjamin Britten
• Libretto by: E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier
• Music by: London Symphony Orchestra
• Recorded: BBC-TV 1966, black & white

Billy Budd:

The Betrothed (Alessandro Manzoni, 1827) is considered Italy's "national novel"; a founding masterpiece of its culture; "a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy" (Italo Calvino); and "a gift to humanity" (Verdi). For its descriptions, history, characters, wit, and expansiveness, it draws comparisons to Tolstoy, Scott, Dickens, Thackery, and Melville. It is not only "the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language," but also "the most inspirational novel of the Risorgimento."

It is set in early 17th-century Lombardy amid Spanish occupation and the extremes of famine, war, and plague. But its basic theme transcends "a given, concrete, historical crisis" to speak not only to "the Italian people as a whole," but to universal themes of love, faith, and justice.

The central protagonists are two peasant-born lovers who find themselves opposed by a corrupt local tyrant. Just as the titular lovers are emblematic of Italy's resistance to foreign domination, the setting--teeming with numerous characters and points-of-view, filtered through an omniscient narrator--evokes its fragmented polity and sense of Providential unity.

The Betrothed helped establish a common literary language across Italy's diverse regional dialects. Tackling a philological debate known as the questione della lingua, Manzoni spent nearly two decades reworking the novel's idiom, producing a hybrid Florentine dialect, both formal and vernacular, that endeavored to do for the nation linguistically what the Risorgimento would do for it politically.

Schedule:

• Week 1 (September 21): Introduction-Chapter 8
• Week 2 (October 5): Chapters 9-23
• Week 3 (October 19): Chapters 24-38

The Betrothed (1844 translation):