The Charterhouse of Parma · Chapter
II explained
Fabrizio, determined to join Napoleon, receives money and diamonds from his mother and sisters, then flees to Switzerland and on to Paris, where he is robbed by false friends.
What happens
Fabrizio, determined to join Napoleon, receives money and diamonds from his mother and sisters, then flees to Switzerland and on to Paris, where he is robbed by false friends. He buys horses and a servant and heads to the frontier, but is detained by soldiers. Meanwhile, the Contessa Pietranera, widowed and impoverished, rejects her suitor Limercati and eventually accepts her brother the Marchese's offer to return to Grianta. The chapter also introduces Priore Blanès, an astrologer who tutors Fabrizio and leads nocturnal fishing expeditions on Lake Como.
Themes in this chapter
Ambition and Advancement
Fabrizio's reckless journey to join Napoleon's army and his desire to speak to the Emperor illustrate his youthful ambition.
Fate and Foreboding
Priore Blanès's astrological predictions and the prophecy of San Giovita create an atmosphere of fate and mysterious signs.
Love and Passion
The Contessa's vengeful flirtation with Limercati and her rejection of his love demonstrate the destructive power of passion.
Characters to notice
- Fabrizio del Dongo
Leaves home with diamonds sewn into his coat, travels to Paris, is robbed, buys horses and a servant, and is detained by soldiers at the frontier.
- Contessa Pietranera
Widowed, she rejects Limercati's advances, lives in poverty, and eventually accepts the Marchese's offer to return to Grianta.
- Marchese del Dongo
Angry at Fabrizio's departure, he later offers his sister the Contessa an apartment and allowance at Grianta.
- Priore Blanès
Parish priest of Grianta, astrologer, tutors Fabrizio in Latin and leads nocturnal expeditions on the lake.
- Limercati
Rich young man, former intimate friend of the Contessa, offers marriage but is rejected and goes to his country estate.
- Conte Nani
Falls in love with the Contessa and becomes her public suitor, though she does not love him.
Key passages
“was convinced that nothing in the world, except the walls of a prison, could prevent him from starting, she handed over to him the little money that she possessed; then she remembered that she had also, the day before, received nine or ten small diamonds, worth perhaps ten thousand francs, which the Marchese had entrusted to her to take to Milan to be set.”
Believing that only prison could stop him, she gave him her small savings and recalled the diamonds worth about ten thousand francs that the Marchese had given her to have set in Milan.
The Contessa provides Fabrizio with funds and diamonds for his journey.
“That absurd form of courage which is called resignation, the courage of a fool who allows himself to be hanged without a word of protest, was not at all in keeping with the Contessa’s character.”
The Contessa despised passive resignation, which she saw as foolish courage, and instead sought active vengeance.
The Contessa's character is defined by her refusal to accept injustice meekly.
“The Marchese professed a vigorous hatred of enlightenment: “It is ideas,” he used to say, “that have ruined Italy”; he did not know quite how to reconcile this holy horror of instruction with his desire to see his son Fabrizio perfect the education so brilliantly begun with the Jesuits.”
The Marchese hated enlightenment, blaming ideas for Italy's ruin, yet paradoxically wanted Fabrizio to continue his Jesuit education.
The Marchese's contradictory attitude toward education is highlighted.
“The contadini looked upon Priore Blanès with awe as a great magician: for his part, by dint of the fear that his nightly stations in the belfry inspired, he restrained them from stealing.”
The peasants feared Priore Blanès as a magician, and his nightly vigils in the bell tower kept them from stealing.
Blanès's reputation as an astrologer gives him moral authority over the villagers.
