# Chapter XXVII explained — The Charterhouse of Parma

> Chapter companion for The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal.

## What happens

Fabrizio, now Coadjutor Archbishop, navigates court life in Parma while pining for the Marchesa Crescenzi (Clelia), who rejects his advances out of remorse. He corresponds with Conte Mosca and the Duchessa Sanseverina in exile, advising on political affairs. The Prince, bored and infatuated with the Duchessa, offers her a morganatic marriage, which she refuses, proposing instead a lasting friendship. Meanwhile, Fabrizio's indifference and moral purity earn him the Prince's favor, but his unrequited love for Clelia plunges him into despair.

## Themes in this chapter

### Power and Politics

The chapter explores the dynamics of court power, as Fabrizio navigates favor with the Prince, Rassi's rise to Prime Minister, and the Conte's strategic exile. The Prince's offer of marriage to the Duchessa underscores the intertwining of personal passion and political control.

### Love and Passion

Fabrizio's unrequited love for Clelia drives his despair, while the Prince's infatuation with the Duchessa leads to a proposal. Both relationships are marked by barriers—remorse, rank, and duty—highlighting the tension between passion and moral constraints.

### Hypocrisy and Morality

Clelia's remorse and spiritual guilt contrast with the court's superficial morality, as seen in Rassi's absurd nobility decrees. The Duchessa's refusal of the Prince's offer on grounds of self-respect exposes the hypocrisy of oaths extracted under duress.

## Character check-ins

### Fabrizio del Dongo

Serves as Coadjutor Archbishop, corresponds with the Conte and Duchessa, and secretly attempts to communicate with Clelia through flower arrangements. His indifference to courtly passions earns him the Prince's favor.

### Clelia Conti

Now the Marchesa Crescenzi, she is consumed by remorse and avoids Fabrizio, refusing his letters and staying confined to her palazzo. She resists his floral overtures.

### Conte Mosca

Exiled in Naples, he corresponds with Fabrizio, engages in archaeological excavations, and awaits a recall to Parma. He is made a Duca by the Prince and sends messages through Fabrizio.

### Duchessa Sanseverina

Resides in Naples with the Conte, hosts concerts and conversazioni, and advises Fabrizio to cultivate his preaching. She refuses the Prince's offer of marriage, proposing instead a lifelong friendship.

### Prince Ranuccio

The young Prince, infatuated with the Duchessa, offers her a morganatic marriage and grants favors to Fabrizio. He is bored and easily swayed by courtiers like Rassi.

### Rassi

Now Prime Minister and a Count, he becomes obsessed with nobility, issuing decrees requiring eight quarterings for court access. He is mocked for his absurdity.

## Key lines

> The extreme reserve which, in Fabrizio, sprang from an indifference bordering on disgust for all the affections or petty passions that fill the lives of men, had pricked the young Prince’s vanity; he often remarked that Fabrizio had as much character as his aunt.

Fabrizio's aloofness, born from a near-total disinterest in the trivial emotions that occupy most people, intrigued the Prince, who noted that Fabrizio possessed a strength of character equal to his aunt's.

_Highlights Fabrizio's unique position at court and the Prince's admiration for his detachment._

> The Marchesa Crescenzi, crushed by remorse, and frightened by her spiritual director, had found an excellent way of withdrawing herself from Fabrizio’s gaze. Taking as an excuse the last months of a first confinement, she had given herself as a prison her own palazzo.

Overwhelmed by guilt and fearing her confessor, Clelia isolated herself in her palace under the pretense of her pregnancy, effectively imprisoning herself to avoid Fabrizio.

_Illustrates Clelia's internal conflict between love and religious duty._

> The Prince went to see her in her palazzo. 'You are leaving,' he said to her in a serious tone which the Duchessa thought odious; 'you are leaving, you are going to play me false and violate your oath! And yet, if I had delayed ten minutes in granting you Fabrizio’s pardon, he would have been dead.'

The Prince visited the Duchessa and accused her of breaking her oath by planning to leave, reminding her that he had saved Fabrizio's life just in time.

_Shows the Prince's desperation and the leverage he believes he holds over the Duchessa._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/chapters/xxvii
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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/chapters