The Charterhouse of Parma · Chapter
XXVI explained
Fabrizio, consumed by melancholy, spies on Clelia from his window and eventually disguises himself to visit her.
What happens
Fabrizio, consumed by melancholy, spies on Clelia from his window and eventually disguises himself to visit her. Clelia, bound by a vow to the Madonna, rejects him but agrees to listen. The Duchessa, suspecting a reconciliation, decides to leave court. Clelia marries the Marchese Crescenzi, and Fabrizio retreats to a convent, gaining a reputation for sanctity. The Archbishop Landriani grows jealous of Fabrizio's popularity.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Passion
Fabrizio's desperate love for Clelia drives him to disguise himself and risk rejection, while Clelia's vow to the Madonna creates a tragic barrier.
Sacrifice and Redemption
Clelia sacrifices her love to honor her vow, and Fabrizio retreats into piety, seeking redemption through religious devotion.
Hypocrisy and Morality
Fabrizio's retreat is misinterpreted as piety, while the Archbishop's jealousy reveals the hypocrisy within the church hierarchy.
Characters to notice
- Fabrizio del Dongo
Spies on Clelia, disguises himself to visit her, retreats to a convent, and gains a reputation for piety.
- Clelia Conti
Bound by a vow to the Madonna, she rejects Fabrizio but agrees to listen; later marries the Marchese Crescenzi.
- Duchessa Sanseverina
Suspects a reconciliation between Fabrizio and Clelia, decides to leave court.
- Conte Mosca
Plans to retire from court, writes a letter of friendship to Rassi.
- General Fabio Conti
Ill and almost insane, hiding near Turin after his disgrace.
- Monsignor Landriani
Grows jealous of Fabrizio's popularity and confronts him about the portrait.
Key passages
“The only moments in which Fabrizio had any chance of escaping from his profound melancholy were those which he spent hidden behind a pane, the glass of which he had had replaced by a sheet of oiled paper, in the window of his apartment opposite the palazzo Contarini”
Fabrizio's only relief from deep sadness came when he secretly watched Clelia from his window, which he had modified with oiled paper.
Fabrizio's obsessive surveillance of Clelia.
“Clelia decided to go to visit her father, who was hiding under an assumed name in a village near Turin; for he had supposed that the court of Parma would demand his extradition from that of Turin, to put him on his trial.”
Clelia visited her father, who was in hiding near Turin, fearing extradition to Parma for trial.
General Conti's fear of prosecution.
“The Archbishop saw one of these portraits, and his rage knew no bounds; he sent for Fabrizio and addressed him in the harshest words, and in terms which his passion rendered at times extremely coarse.”
The Archbishop was furious upon seeing Fabrizio's portrait and harshly rebuked him.
Archbishop Landriani's jealousy over Fabrizio's popularity.