XII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Suffering and Resilience

  Giovanna endures verbal abuse, isolation, and degradation, yet she fights back with fierce defiance, revealing both her suffering and her resilient spirit.

• Gender and Power

  Giovanna is treated as a servant by her husband and mother-in-law, highlighting the power imbalance in marriage. Her rebellion threatens the patriarchal order of the household.

• Isolation and Longing

  Giovanna feels profoundly alone, even within her own family, longing for the freedom and happiness she once glimpsed. Giacobbe also experiences isolation, caught between hatred and pity.

Characters to notice

• Giovanna Era

  Giovanna is overwhelmed by bitterness and despair, feeling like a servant in her own home. She repulses Brontu's drunken advances and unleashes her pent-up rage, threatening to kill herself and revealing a debt.

• Brontu Dejas

  Brontu is drunk and quarrelsome, attempting to assert dominance over Giovanna but ultimately sobering when the conflict escalates. He tries to mediate but is ineffectual.

• Giacobbe Dejas

  Giacobbe is drunk and provocative, laughing at the family's strife. He later reflects bitterly on his hatred for the Dejas family and his conflicted pity for Giovanna, and is expelled from the house after confronting Aunt Bachissia.

• Aunt Martina Dejas

  Aunt Martina remains unmoved during the confrontation, accusing Giovanna of madness and defending her own authority. She is the target of Giovanna's accusations of tyranny.

• Aunt Bachissia

  Aunt Bachissia arrives after hearing Giovanna's angry voice, attempting to calm her daughter but is confronted and expelled by Giacobbe.

• Priest Elias

  Priest Elias is observed by Giacobbe during the Mass, described as a gentle, dreamy figure who preaches forgiveness and goodness, contrasting with the family's turmoil.

Key passages

• ““What!” she hissed. “Am I treated any better than a servant in this house?” “Well, a servant; all right, you can just stay one. What else should you be, woman?””

  Giovanna angrily asks if she is treated as anything more than a servant, and Brontu coldly confirms that she is no better than one.

  This exchange encapsulates the degradation Giovanna feels in her marriage and the power dynamic that reduces her to a subordinate role.

• ““The excommunication,” she thought, “has fallen on us all: on this servant, who dares to defy his master; on the son, who upbraids his mother; on me, Giovanna, who loathe and despise them one and all!””

  Giovanna feels that a curse has descended on the household, as everyone—servant, son, and herself—acts in defiance of proper order and respect.

  This internal reflection reveals Giovanna's sense of moral and social collapse within the family, linking personal strife to a broader spiritual condemnation.

• ““I’m not bad, though; didn’t I stay up at the folds only today, working to repair the damage made by yesterday’s storm? Then, when I came down, there was Giovanna getting dinner all by herself. She was dirty, and ill, and unhappy. No holiday for her! The mother and son go off together, and she, the maid-servant, stays at home and does the work. Well, it serves her right⁠—a bad woman! And yet, I do feel sorry for her sometimes.””

  Giacobbe reflects on his own hard work and observes Giovanna's miserable state, torn between blaming her as a 'bad woman' and feeling pity for her plight.

  This passage highlights Giacobbe's conflicted emotions and offers a glimpse of sympathy for Giovanna, even as he condemns her.