Figuring Women: A Thematic Study of Giovanni Verga's Female Characters

by Susan Amatangelo

It is true, admits Amatangelo (Italian, College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts) that Italian novelist Verga's (1840-1922) women characters tend to be either the bourgeois ideal of domestic femininity or a threat to domestic tranquility. But that should be the beginning not the end of exploring them. She examines the characters in the social and cultural context of 19th-century Italy, highlighting how social expectations and cultural perceptions of women clash with their individuality. Distributed in the US by Associated University Presses. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

209 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2004