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"An ingenious performance." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, torture - or even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe's position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative.
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About the year 1764, some English travellers in Italy, during one of their excursions in the environs of Naples, happened to stop before the portico of the Santa Maria del Pianto, a church belonging to a very ancient convent of the order of the Black Penitents. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
About the year 1764, some English travellers in Italy, during one of their excursions in the environs of Naples, happened to stop before the portico of the Santa Maria del Pianto, a church belonging to a very ancient convent of the order of the Black Penitents. Read the first page
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the last novel to appear by Ann Radcliffe in her lifetime. Nowadays this is recognised as her best, and rightly so. Due to the success of her two previous novels Mrs Radcliffe was offered £800 for this, which is about £16,000 or so nowadays. At the time this was a phenomenol amount for a book. There are also a few differences in this novel to previous books, she keeps her highly descriptive scenery, but drops the poetry. Also this book is more realistic in story to others, and it is faster paced.
Vincentio di Vivaldi falls in love with Ellena di Rosalba in church, but his parents consider such a marriage between them to be below their status, and so Vivaldi's mother plots with her Confessor to prevent the two seeing each other again. Whilst Vivaldi pays calls on Ellena he is always being warned by a mysterious monk, but Vivladi takes no notice. As Father Schedoni the Confessor starts his machinations, little does he know what the end result will be. Initially he has Ellena abducted to a convent to force her to become a nun; such things were not uncommon and if you find this interesting you might enjoy Diderot's novel The Nun (Oxford World's Classics). But when Vivaldi initiates a daring escape for Ellena, then Schedoni uses the Holy Inquisition to do his dirty work and remove Vivaldi from the scene.
Planning to have Ellena murdered, things don't go according to plan, and Schedoni finds that his past life and secrets are slowly unravelling, despite his efforts. Like most of what Radcliffe wrote, this novel inspired others in the field of gothic novels, and she remains 'The Queen of Gothic Romances' to this day.
Vincentio di Vivaldi falls in love with Ellena di Rosalba in church, but his parents consider such a marriage between them to be below their status, and so Vivaldi's mother plots with her Confessor to prevent the two seeing each other again. Whilst Vivaldi pays calls on Ellena he is always being warned by a mysterious monk, but Vivladi takes no notice. As Father Schedoni the Confessor starts his machinations, little does he know what the end result will be. Initially he has Ellena abducted to a convent to force her to become a nun; such things were not uncommon and if you find this interesting you might enjoy Diderot's novel The Nun (Oxford World's Classics). But when Vivaldi initiates a daring escape for Ellena, then Schedoni uses the Holy Inquisition to do his dirty work and remove Vivaldi from the scene.
Planning to have Ellena murdered, things don't go according to plan, and Schedoni finds that his past life and secrets are slowly unravelling, despite his efforts. Like most of what Radcliffe wrote, this novel inspired others in the field of gothic novels, and she remains 'The Queen of Gothic Romances' to this day.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Despite being criticised for being sensationalist and formulaic, Radcliffe's novel is in fact very much grounded in reality. The Italian deals with some heated issues - gender relations, religion (Catholicism in particular) and class conflict - to name but a few. Although this is a fairly lengthy text, I really enjoyed it. The introduction by Robert Miles is excellent, and really helps the reader to contextualise the novel. I'd recommend this to anyone who's interested in literature from the Romantic Period - or simply wishes to broaden their general knowledge.
Format:Paperback
Written, in 1797, Anne Radcliffe's The Italian is clearly her best work. The novel is an excellent example of romantic Gothic writing, and fulfills many of the characteristics typical to the genre, such as its preoccupation with the foreign, exotic scenery of southern Italy and the distrust of the Roman Catholic Church. These prevalent themes are also relevant to Radcliffe's contemporaneous period and the French Revolution, with its concerns of religion, the aristocracy and nationality. The Oxford World's Classics edition of this novel is particularly excellent due to E.J. Clery's introduction. Although her exploration and research is extremely detailed, she particularly excels in her emphasis on the rising concept of nationality, and the inherent distrust of Roman Catholicism in England. This version is an excellent read for those interested in contextualizing Radcliffe in these elements of the eighteenth-century.
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