I like Manzoni's wry comment about Ferrer's proclamation and new regulations, saying that if every decree issued in those days were to be carried out, "the Duchy of Milan would have to send as many men out to sea as the British fleet does today". It's a nice comparison between one imperial power in the past and a greater one in the present.
Perhaps the most poignant moment is when Manzoni, quoting Ripamonti, describes the dead body of a woman with chewed grass sticking out of her mouth. I was reminded of a poem, also based on historical fact and set during the Irish famine.
I love this poem--and Boland in general. I heard this in the show Boland: Journey of a Poet, which the Druid Theatre did in 2021. They made it available online, which is how I got to watch it. "The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her." And that mother's to her baby, which hopefully the people who found them were able to save.
Descriptions of the “pitiable throng” pouring into Milan brought to mind the hundreds of migrants arriving daily to the U.S: “People kept pouring into the city, first from neighboring villages, then from the wider countryside, then from other cities in the state, and finally even from cities outside the state.” Also of migrants all over the world right now fleeing war and other forms of violence, famine, climate catastrophe, etc. and who receive less than a warm welcome wherever they end up. A never ending historical cycle.
Appreciate how Manzoni opens the lens of novel to show larger historical context in which characters are simply regular people whose lives/stories we happen to be following on a closer scale. Great storytelling. Reminds me of War & Peace, which I happen to be rereading alongside The Betrothed.
And a rough account it is....heartbreaking. Also interesting how we are all associating it with more recent history or modern times. My association: artificially cheap bread is like the artificially cheap money (i.e. interest rates near zero) we've enjoyed for more than a decade largely due to the same pressures (namely political). Astounding how relevant this novel still is...
I was about to make a glib comment on the compounding decrees and then we sank into a really tough description of the suffering. As amazing the description I hope we lift out of it soon.
Two small moments that struck me (as well as all that everyone has already pointed to) -- from the ironic commentary over the decrees, "To imagine that any such decree could be executed would take quite an imagination indeed."
But the other: Manzoni's apparent faith in, as an indisputable and unvariable scientific fact, leaving "things to the natural law of supply and demand"--I suppose this is a very 19th century confidence but it surprises me, as I've become so used to the contemporary feel of his understanding.
I was interested to glean the bits about bread making—wheat, rice, other grains, salt, and wondered about the use of yeast. Then that woman with grass in her mouth. An overwhelming chapter.
Punishment at the discretion of His Excellency for the commission of what must have been grossly unpopular laws, and based on the “quality” of the transgressor, and turning neighbor against neighbor (“every individual was commanded to report transgressors“) cannot foster stability among the populace.
Wow, that was rough. I read thinking of the homeless people in my city, especially during the worst of the pandemic, especially in the Tenderloin. It is tough on the street, and laws seem to do little to help, then and now. Charity is never enough, innocents get mixed in with the wicked, will we never figure this out?
This chapter reminds me of Boccaccio's opening chapter to The Decameron, describing plague-ridden Florence in a wealth of awful detail. The suffering eclipses all.
I like Manzoni's wry comment about Ferrer's proclamation and new regulations, saying that if every decree issued in those days were to be carried out, "the Duchy of Milan would have to send as many men out to sea as the British fleet does today". It's a nice comparison between one imperial power in the past and a greater one in the present.
Perhaps the most poignant moment is when Manzoni, quoting Ripamonti, describes the dead body of a woman with chewed grass sticking out of her mouth. I was reminded of a poem, also based on historical fact and set during the Irish famine.
https://poets.org/poem/quarantine
Thank you for the poem. Very moving.
I love this poem--and Boland in general. I heard this in the show Boland: Journey of a Poet, which the Druid Theatre did in 2021. They made it available online, which is how I got to watch it. "The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her." And that mother's to her baby, which hopefully the people who found them were able to save.
Descriptions of the “pitiable throng” pouring into Milan brought to mind the hundreds of migrants arriving daily to the U.S: “People kept pouring into the city, first from neighboring villages, then from the wider countryside, then from other cities in the state, and finally even from cities outside the state.” Also of migrants all over the world right now fleeing war and other forms of violence, famine, climate catastrophe, etc. and who receive less than a warm welcome wherever they end up. A never ending historical cycle.
Appreciate how Manzoni opens the lens of novel to show larger historical context in which characters are simply regular people whose lives/stories we happen to be following on a closer scale. Great storytelling. Reminds me of War & Peace, which I happen to be rereading alongside The Betrothed.
And a rough account it is....heartbreaking. Also interesting how we are all associating it with more recent history or modern times. My association: artificially cheap bread is like the artificially cheap money (i.e. interest rates near zero) we've enjoyed for more than a decade largely due to the same pressures (namely political). Astounding how relevant this novel still is...
I was about to make a glib comment on the compounding decrees and then we sank into a really tough description of the suffering. As amazing the description I hope we lift out of it soon.
“Indignant and furious, we rebel against moderate ills, but bow in silence before the extremes.”
Manzoni once again flexing his psychology prowess.
Two small moments that struck me (as well as all that everyone has already pointed to) -- from the ironic commentary over the decrees, "To imagine that any such decree could be executed would take quite an imagination indeed."
But the other: Manzoni's apparent faith in, as an indisputable and unvariable scientific fact, leaving "things to the natural law of supply and demand"--I suppose this is a very 19th century confidence but it surprises me, as I've become so used to the contemporary feel of his understanding.
I was interested to glean the bits about bread making—wheat, rice, other grains, salt, and wondered about the use of yeast. Then that woman with grass in her mouth. An overwhelming chapter.
Punishment at the discretion of His Excellency for the commission of what must have been grossly unpopular laws, and based on the “quality” of the transgressor, and turning neighbor against neighbor (“every individual was commanded to report transgressors“) cannot foster stability among the populace.
Wow, that was rough. I read thinking of the homeless people in my city, especially during the worst of the pandemic, especially in the Tenderloin. It is tough on the street, and laws seem to do little to help, then and now. Charity is never enough, innocents get mixed in with the wicked, will we never figure this out?
This chapter reminds me of Boccaccio's opening chapter to The Decameron, describing plague-ridden Florence in a wealth of awful detail. The suffering eclipses all.