I like the way Manzoni describes how the weather partakes in the human suffering being experienced by everyone. Motherless babies being fed my goats all add to this end of the world feeling. Humanity is in stasis. There is almost a Good Friday sense to it.
Renzo's encounter with fra Cristoforo is at the heart of the chapter. I love some of his observations: "God is stricter than any man, but also more indulgent", or: "And clearly you do not have the audacity to think yourself worthy of God's consolation". A theme of the chapter is forgiveness; self-forgiveness and being able to forgive others.
"Perhaps both this man's salvation and yours depend on your capacity for forgiveness, for compassion...for love!"
The whole chapter is a kind of spiritual ecology of salvation. The interdependence and interconnection of everything; the physical-natural world and mankind.
It was Don Rodrigo who triggered the entire chain of events (the plague aside) that led to Renzo‘s misery and Lucia‘s anguish and suffering. I imagine that it would require Renzo to be a deeply devout believer for him to pray for Rodrigo on his deathbed. I am moved, but perhaps not surprised, that our Friar Cristoforo has asked him to do so.
Friar Cristoforo's disciplin is amazing. He waits until Renzo has absorbed the Friar's tongue lashing of a sermon on the right of vengeance only belonging to God, wringing from Renzo every bit of anger toward Don Rodrigo, till he even ultimately expresses love for his oppressor who has caused him so much misery. Only then does Friar Cristoforo reveal Don Rodrigo in the final, fatal miseries of the plague. An object lesson to support the sermon--vengeance is God's and only truly God's recourse. Yet, reason tells the modern reader that, like Lucia's release by the Nameless one soon after he rvow to the Virgin, Don Rodrigo's karma is mere coincidence. Yet it was Don Rodrigo's reckless, heedless way of living that exposed him to the plague. His cruelty to Renzo and Lucia and his end are not unrelated. We make our own karma.
Intense scene in lazaretto regarding suffering and forgiveness and the true meaning of love. Very appropriate for this Good Friday: “Would you remember that God did not tell us to forgive our enemies, but to love them? Would you remember that He loved him so much that he died for him?” Story has come almost full circle.
Interesting that at this point in the novel, none of the main characters have really changed: Cristoforo is still devout; Abbondio is still a coward; Renzo is still a loveable hothead. We’ll see about Lucia.
Only the nameless one has undergone a lasting conversion. I think it is one of the hopes of humankind that experience & tragedy will cause people to become better. Yet, Manzoni seems to repeatedly emphasize that, absent a true spiritual conversion, these things often just cause our real natures to shine through more.
I was so thrilled by Padre Cristoforo's passion! I found this whole scene amazingly exciting.
His strong words, his use of repetition, his commanding verbs, his direct address all revealing his certainty and conviction--his passion:
"Shame on you!" thundered Padre Cristoforo, his voice regaining all its former power and sound. "Shame on you!"(p. 394)
I love that he asks Renzo if he has forgiven Don Rodrigo and when he says 'yes,' and 'I forgive him for all time!' he calmer asks him to "think for a minute" and tell how many times he has forgiven him. When the padre begins to talk about his own experience with wanting revenge and Renzo tries to interrupt, Padre says, "Silence!"
It is only after Padre's further teaching that Renzo is "overcome with emotion, by confusion." He really gets it now! He understands he hadn't forgiven him but now is able to, "with his whole heart."
It's also quite extraordinary that, though Renzo and Padre talk about Renzo's hatred for Don Rodrigo and his desire for revenge across the final five pages of text in this chapter, Rodrigo is referred to as "the rat" and "the scoundrel" and most commonly just "he," throughout, and yet Renzo and the Padre and readers all know who "he" is. It's almost like he isn't worthy to have his name spoken or appear on the page. Don Rodrigo's name only appears once in these pages when Renzo seems him, sick and lying on a bed of straw-- "It was Don Rodrigo" (p. 596). His name is only referred to by the narrator.
An extraordinary chapter--again! The goats nursing babies is an amazing detail, I assume based on historical record. And Fra Cristoforo arrives like the sun breaking through dark clouds inthe midst of all this devastation.
And wonderful moments, e.g. "Since the man who had forced his transfer, the Count Uncle, was dead, NOT TO MENTION THE GREATER NEED FOR NURSES THAN POLITICIANS, his request was granted without objection."
Shortly after deciding to deceive Cristoforo by not bringing up Lucia's vow, the possibility of not finding her "rekindled Renzo's anger and extinguised the light in his eyes" -- these moments seem connected by C's "prepare yourself to make a sacrifice" that falls between them. Even the fierce teaching on forgiveness almost fails to reach him.
And in the wake of Renzo's genuine prayers for Don Rodrigo, when the bell tolls, it feels like we're about to wait for Schrodinger's procesion.
I like the way Manzoni describes how the weather partakes in the human suffering being experienced by everyone. Motherless babies being fed my goats all add to this end of the world feeling. Humanity is in stasis. There is almost a Good Friday sense to it.
Renzo's encounter with fra Cristoforo is at the heart of the chapter. I love some of his observations: "God is stricter than any man, but also more indulgent", or: "And clearly you do not have the audacity to think yourself worthy of God's consolation". A theme of the chapter is forgiveness; self-forgiveness and being able to forgive others.
"Perhaps both this man's salvation and yours depend on your capacity for forgiveness, for compassion...for love!"
The whole chapter is a kind of spiritual ecology of salvation. The interdependence and interconnection of everything; the physical-natural world and mankind.
It was Don Rodrigo who triggered the entire chain of events (the plague aside) that led to Renzo‘s misery and Lucia‘s anguish and suffering. I imagine that it would require Renzo to be a deeply devout believer for him to pray for Rodrigo on his deathbed. I am moved, but perhaps not surprised, that our Friar Cristoforo has asked him to do so.
Friar Cristoforo's disciplin is amazing. He waits until Renzo has absorbed the Friar's tongue lashing of a sermon on the right of vengeance only belonging to God, wringing from Renzo every bit of anger toward Don Rodrigo, till he even ultimately expresses love for his oppressor who has caused him so much misery. Only then does Friar Cristoforo reveal Don Rodrigo in the final, fatal miseries of the plague. An object lesson to support the sermon--vengeance is God's and only truly God's recourse. Yet, reason tells the modern reader that, like Lucia's release by the Nameless one soon after he rvow to the Virgin, Don Rodrigo's karma is mere coincidence. Yet it was Don Rodrigo's reckless, heedless way of living that exposed him to the plague. His cruelty to Renzo and Lucia and his end are not unrelated. We make our own karma.
Intense scene in lazaretto regarding suffering and forgiveness and the true meaning of love. Very appropriate for this Good Friday: “Would you remember that God did not tell us to forgive our enemies, but to love them? Would you remember that He loved him so much that he died for him?” Story has come almost full circle.
Interesting that at this point in the novel, none of the main characters have really changed: Cristoforo is still devout; Abbondio is still a coward; Renzo is still a loveable hothead. We’ll see about Lucia.
Only the nameless one has undergone a lasting conversion. I think it is one of the hopes of humankind that experience & tragedy will cause people to become better. Yet, Manzoni seems to repeatedly emphasize that, absent a true spiritual conversion, these things often just cause our real natures to shine through more.
I was so thrilled by Padre Cristoforo's passion! I found this whole scene amazingly exciting.
His strong words, his use of repetition, his commanding verbs, his direct address all revealing his certainty and conviction--his passion:
"Shame on you!" thundered Padre Cristoforo, his voice regaining all its former power and sound. "Shame on you!"(p. 394)
I love that he asks Renzo if he has forgiven Don Rodrigo and when he says 'yes,' and 'I forgive him for all time!' he calmer asks him to "think for a minute" and tell how many times he has forgiven him. When the padre begins to talk about his own experience with wanting revenge and Renzo tries to interrupt, Padre says, "Silence!"
It is only after Padre's further teaching that Renzo is "overcome with emotion, by confusion." He really gets it now! He understands he hadn't forgiven him but now is able to, "with his whole heart."
It's also quite extraordinary that, though Renzo and Padre talk about Renzo's hatred for Don Rodrigo and his desire for revenge across the final five pages of text in this chapter, Rodrigo is referred to as "the rat" and "the scoundrel" and most commonly just "he," throughout, and yet Renzo and the Padre and readers all know who "he" is. It's almost like he isn't worthy to have his name spoken or appear on the page. Don Rodrigo's name only appears once in these pages when Renzo seems him, sick and lying on a bed of straw-- "It was Don Rodrigo" (p. 596). His name is only referred to by the narrator.
An extraordinary chapter--again! The goats nursing babies is an amazing detail, I assume based on historical record. And Fra Cristoforo arrives like the sun breaking through dark clouds inthe midst of all this devastation.
And wonderful moments, e.g. "Since the man who had forced his transfer, the Count Uncle, was dead, NOT TO MENTION THE GREATER NEED FOR NURSES THAN POLITICIANS, his request was granted without objection."
Shortly after deciding to deceive Cristoforo by not bringing up Lucia's vow, the possibility of not finding her "rekindled Renzo's anger and extinguised the light in his eyes" -- these moments seem connected by C's "prepare yourself to make a sacrifice" that falls between them. Even the fierce teaching on forgiveness almost fails to reach him.
And in the wake of Renzo's genuine prayers for Don Rodrigo, when the bell tolls, it feels like we're about to wait for Schrodinger's procesion.