# XVII explained — After the Divorce

> Chapter companion for After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda.

## What happens

Costantino, now sixty-four days after his return, is consumed by misery and rage, feeling isolated and worn down. He waits for Mattea, a half-witted girl who brings him gossip from the Dejas house, at Isidoro's hut. After a tense interaction, Mattea leaves abruptly. Costantino drinks alone, wrestling with his longing for Giovanna and his scorn for her, ultimately deciding to walk toward the village.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Longing

Costantino feels a frozen void around him, likened to a shipwrecked mariner, and longs for light and connection, mirrored by the blind man's song.

### Suffering and Resilience

Costantino's heart is 'eaten into by misery, by rage and passion,' yet he continues to endure, even as he contemplates self-destructive choices.

### Love and Betrayal

Costantino's conflicted feelings for Giovanna—longing mixed with scorn—and his thoughts of her betraying Brontu highlight the theme of love and betrayal.

## Character check-ins

### Costantino Ledda

Suffering from isolation and inner turmoil, he waits for Mattea and struggles with his feelings for Giovanna.

### Mattea

A half-witted girl who brings Costantino gossip; she visits him at the hut but leaves abruptly after a tense exchange.

### Isidoro Pane

Mentioned as being away on a fishing trip; Costantino feels relief from his semi-paternal oversight.

### Giovanna Era

The object of Costantino's conflicted longing and scorn; he recalls a kiss and debates whether to approach her.

### Brontu Dejas

Mentioned as a threat by Uncle Isidoro; Costantino dismisses the danger of Brontu killing or arresting him.

## Key lines

> A frozen void seemed to surround him, like a great sea, calm, but boundless, stretching away in all directions from a shipwrecked mariner.

Costantino felt an immense, cold emptiness around him, like a calm but endless ocean surrounding a castaway.

_Illustrates Costantino's profound isolation and despair._

> He remembered a kiss he had once given her as she lay asleep, and how she had opened her eyes with a startled look, exclaiming: 'Oh, I thought it was some one else!'

He recalled kissing Giovanna while she slept, and her startled reaction when she woke, thinking he was someone else.

_Highlights Costantino's painful memories and his longing for Giovanna._

> He dreamed of Giovanna an honest woman, lost forever in this world, but restored to him in eternity.

He imagined Giovanna as a virtuous woman, lost to him in this life but reunited with him in the afterlife.

_Reveals Costantino's spiritual yearning and moral conflict._

## Links

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