After the Divorce · Chapter
XIII explained
Giovanna gives birth to a weak baby girl, who is baptized with great pomp.
What happens
Giovanna gives birth to a weak baby girl, who is baptized with great pomp. Shortly after, Giacobbe Dejas is bitten by a tarantula, and a superstitious exorcism ritual is performed by local women, which is interrupted by Priest Elias, who sends for a doctor.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Resilience
Giovanna endures childbirth and the baptism preparations, while Giacobbe suffers from the tarantula bite and the ensuing ritual.
Religion and Morality
The clash between Catholic orthodoxy (represented by Priest Elias) and folk superstition (the exorcism ritual) highlights moral and religious tensions.
Social Class and Community
The baptism brings together various community members, and the ritual involves a cross-section of villagers, reflecting social bonds and hierarchies.
Characters to notice
- Giovanna Era
Gives birth to a weak baby girl; participates in the baptism ceremony, looking pale but handsome.
- Brontu Dejas
Freshly shaven and gay, participates in the baptismal procession.
- Aunt Martina Dejas
Slackens her purse strings for the baptism, but is tormented by fear of theft; prepares the linen cloth for the table.
- Aunt Bachissia
Observes the lawyer's arrival and comments on his appearance.
- Giacobbe Dejas
Bitten by a tarantula; undergoes a superstitious exorcism ritual; is feverish and terrified.
- Isidoro Pane
Observes and participates in the exorcism ritual; later sent for the doctor by Priest Elias.
- Priest Elias
Interrupts the superstitious ritual, rebukes the participants, and sends for a doctor.
Key passages
“Time passed on. The sky and weather changed with the changing seasons, but among the inhabitants of the little village all remained much as usual.”
As the seasons shifted, life in the village continued unchanged.
Sets the tone of stagnation and routine in the village.
“In the course of the winter Giovanna gave birth to a weak, puling girl-baby, which did nothing but cry.”
During winter, Giovanna delivered a frail, crying baby girl.
Highlights the fragility of the newborn and Giovanna's difficult situation.
“Aunt Martina, probably for the first time in her life, slackened the strings of her purse, and sent to Nuoro for wines and sweets of the best quality.”
Aunt Martina, unusually generous, ordered expensive wines and sweets from Nuoro.
Illustrates the rare extravagance for the baptism.
“The women, about twenty in all, old and young, were chanting in a melancholy monotone, with sudden breaks and changes, a weird song or exorcism against the bite of a tarantula.”
A group of twenty women chanted a mournful exorcism to cure a tarantula bite.
Describes the superstitious ritual in detail.
“On catching sight of him one of the women gave a scream and others stopped chanting, while the rest motioned to them to continue.”
Upon seeing Priest Elias, some women screamed and stopped chanting, while others urged them to continue.
Shows the tension between religious authority and folk tradition.
