# XV explained — After the Divorce

> Chapter companion for After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda.

## What happens

Costantino, newly released from prison, journeys back to Orlei but is overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and alienation. He reunites with his old friend Isidoro Pane, but their meeting is strained; Costantino's demeanor has changed, and he struggles with grief and memories of his lost life with Giovanna.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Longing

Costantino's profound sense of homelessness and aimlessness, his longing for the past, and his inability to reconnect with his former life.

### Suffering and Resilience

Costantino's physical and emotional exhaustion, his fits of grief, and his struggle to find meaning after years of brutal imprisonment.

### Injustice and Fate

Costantino reflects on his undeserved fate and the irreversible changes wrought by his wrongful imprisonment.

## Character check-ins

### Costantino Ledda

Returns to Orlei after imprisonment, grappling with despair and a changed identity; his reunion with Isidoro is marked by emotional turmoil.

### Isidoro Pane

Old friend who welcomes Costantino but is shocked by his altered appearance and behavior; feels pity and diffidence.

### Giovanna Era

Costantino's lost wife; memories of their shared home and bed haunt him during his journey.

### Giacobbe Dejas

Mentioned as dead; Isidoro reveals he confessed to the murder, a key piece of news for Costantino.

### Brontu Dejas

Mentioned as the man Giovanna has married, adding to Costantino's sense of loss.

## Key lines

> Oh, that divine melancholy of a spring evening! Felt even by happy souls, may it not be an inherited homesickness, transmitted through all the ages?

The narrator muses that the bittersweet feeling of a spring evening might be a deep-seated longing passed down from humanity's first loss of paradise.

_Reflects Costantino's own sense of loss and exile._

> He was like a young bull caught and held fast in the leash, and made to submit to the red-hot iron.

Costantino's grief is compared to a calf being branded, emphasizing his violent, helpless suffering.

_Highlights the raw, physical nature of his emotional pain._

> The great tempest of sorrow had broken over him long before and seemingly passed on; but instead of that it had only hidden itself for a time; it was there now, stealing along, keeping pace with him.

Costantino's grief is like a storm that appears to have passed but actually lurks nearby, periodically overwhelming him.

_Illustrates the cyclical and inescapable nature of his trauma._

## Links

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