# IX explained — After the Divorce

> Chapter companion for After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda.

## What happens

Giovanna Era prepares for her civil marriage to Brontu Dejas after obtaining a divorce. She and her mother visit the Porru house in Nuoro to purchase wedding supplies, funded by a loan from Aunt Anna-Rosa Dejas. The chapter explores the social and moral tensions surrounding the marriage, including the disapproval of friends and family, and a heated theological debate between Paolo Porru and his mother about the nature of marriage and sacrament.

## Themes in this chapter

### Religion and Morality

The chapter centers on a heated argument about the sanctity of marriage, with Aunt Porredda defending religious sacrament and Paolo arguing for civil contract.

### Social Class and Community

Giovanna's marriage to Brontu is scandalous in the community, leading to ostracism and disapproval from friends and family.

### Suffering and Resilience

Giovanna justifies her actions by citing her poverty and past suffering, presenting herself as a victim of circumstance seeking a better life.

## Character check-ins

### Giovanna Era

Giovanna is preparing her wedding outfit for her marriage to Brontu Dejas, showing both practicality and emotional preoccupation.

### Aunt Bachissia

Bachissia Era supports her daughter's marriage and argues fiercely with Aunt Porredda about the morality of the situation.

### Paolo Porru

Paolo, the lawyer who obtained Giovanna's divorce, defends civil marriage and expresses progressive views, causing conflict with his mother.

### Aunt Porredda

Aunt Porredda is deeply troubled by the divorce and remarriage, viewing it as a sin and a sign of moral decay.

### Uncle Efes Maria Porru

Efes Maria remains mostly silent during the debate, caught between his wife and son.

### Grazia

Grazia, now a tall and pretty girl, is seen reading a fashion paper, largely detached from the adult conversation.

## Key lines

> you are as poor as Job, and can’t get work, and have nothing, nothing, nothing! And just tell me, you, Aunt Porredda, suppose I had been some other woman, and suppose there had been no divorce, what would have happened? Why, mortal sin, that is what would have happened, mortal sin!

Giovanna argues that without divorce, her poverty would have forced her into mortal sin.

_Giovanna uses her economic desperation to justify her divorce and remarriage._

> What is marriage, after all? It is a contract made between men, and binding only in the sight of men. The religious ceremony really means nothing at all⁠—

Paolo Porru dismisses religious marriage as meaningless, asserting that marriage is merely a human contract.

_Paolo's secular view directly challenges his mother's religious beliefs._

> When I was married before⁠— to that unfortunate ⁠—I had only the civil ceremony, and if he had not been arrested, who knows when we ever would have had the religious marriage! And yet, were we not just as much man and wife?

Giovanna recalls that her first marriage was also civil only, questioning why that was acceptable but her remarriage is not.

_Giovanna uses her past experience to argue for consistency in moral judgment._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/after_the_divorce_se/chapters/part-ii-ix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/after_the_divorce_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/after_the_divorce_se/chapters