Manzoni, Alessandro

(1785–1873)

   Born in Milan, Manzoni was the grandson of Cesare Beccaria, the enlightenment philosopher and jurist. As a writer, his most creative period was between 1812 and 1827. In these years, he wrote his most influential poetry and plays and, after 1821, began working on the huge manuscript of I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), which was originally called Fermo e Lucia. The novel was published in 1827.

   I promessi sposi tells the story of two weavers, Renzo and Lucia, who wish to marry but whose love is endangered by Don Rodrigo, a libertine who has other plans for Lucia. The couple flee, are separated, and undergo seemingly endless vicissitudes, but are eventually reunited in happy married life. Summarized so briefly, the novel might seem to be a mere melodrama. In fact, it was a momentous step for Italian literature. For the first time since Boccaccio, ordinary people took the stage in Italian literature, speaking in their native language and being described faithfully as dignified individuals rather than as caricatures. There was nothing artificial or rhetorical about Manzoni’s style, while the powerful Christian humanism suffusing the novel was an equally radical innovation for the time. I promessi sposi remains a subject of compulsory study in Italian schools. After the publication—and immediate public and critical success—of I promessi sposi, Manzoni fell silent. He was made a life senator in 1861. He dedicated his later years to writing a historical essay comparing the French Revolution with the Risorgimento. This work was published after his death in Milan in 1873.

   See also Verdi, Giuseppe.