APS TOGETHER
Day 20
The Betrothed by Alessandro ManzoniChapter 14
March 12, 2023 by Michael F. Moore
The Tower of… babble. At the beginning of this chapter Renzo is intoxicated by the crowd. At the end he is just plain intoxicated.
Manzoni is embarrassed to report his character’s behavior that night, but he cannot suppress a giggle:
“I am relating only some of the many words he spouted on that fateful evening. The many more that I am leaving out would be too unbecoming, for not only did they make no sense, they did not even try to, which is a prerequisite for a printed book.”
Renzo is redeemed only by the fact that he did not mention Lucia’s name.
Paper, pen, and ink. Renzo is oppressed almost as much by his illiteracy—a societal imposition rather than a personal failing—as he is by Don Rodrigo.