The Charterhouse of Parma · Chapter
Chapter XXVIII explained
Fabrizio and Clelia's secret love affair continues, complicated by Clelia's vow to only meet in darkness.
What happens
Fabrizio and Clelia's secret love affair continues, complicated by Clelia's vow to only meet in darkness. Fabrizio, now Archbishop of Parma, desires to have their son Sandrino live with him, leading to a painful scheme to fake the child's illness and death to abduct him from the Marchese Crescenzi. Clelia struggles with guilt and fear of divine punishment, while Fabrizio enlists Conte Mosca's help to arrange the Marchese's absence. Meanwhile, at the Crescenzi salon, Gonzo's tactless mention of Fabrizio's portrait causes Clelia to faint, revealing her emotional turmoil.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Passion
The intense, secret love between Fabrizio and Clelia drives the plot, marked by jealousy, sacrifice, and the pain of their forbidden relationship.
Sacrifice and Redemption
Clelia's vow and her struggle with guilt over breaking it, as well as Fabrizio's desire for his son, highlight themes of personal sacrifice and the search for redemption.
Hypocrisy and Morality
The contrast between Fabrizio's public piety as Archbishop and his secret life, along with the court's gossip and moral judgments, underscores societal hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Fabrizio del Dongo
Now Archbishop of Parma, he is deeply in love with Clelia and desperate to have their son Sandrino live with him, leading him to propose a risky abduction scheme.
- Clelia Conti
The Marchesa Crescenzi, bound by a vow to only meet Fabrizio in darkness, is torn between her love for him and her religious guilt, and is devastated by the plan to fake Sandrino's illness.
- Conte Mosca
Fabrizio's intimate friend and former minister, who is moved by the love story and agrees to help by arranging the Marchese Crescenzi's absence.
- Marchese Crescenzi
Clelia's husband and a great noble, who is the target of the abduction plot and is later kidnapped by brigands arranged by Mosca.
- Signor Gonzo
A poor but shrewd hanger-on at the Crescenzi salon, whose tactless mention of Fabrizio's portrait causes Clelia to faint.
- Cavaliere Foscarini
An honest man and influential friend of the Marchese's mother, whose shrewd perception makes Clelia tremble with guilt.
- Sandrino
The young son of Fabrizio and Clelia, who becomes the focus of the abduction plot and is made genuinely ill by the prolonged deception.
Key passages
“to see Fabrizio; these had been her exact words; consequently she received him only at night, and there was never any light in the room.”
Clelia's vow meant she only met Fabrizio in complete darkness, never allowing any light during their encounters.
Highlights the extreme secrecy and constraint of their love.
“I wish to have my son; I wish him to live with me; I wish to see him every day; I wish him to grow accustomed to loving me; I wish to love him myself at my leisure.”
Fabrizio expresses his deep desire to have Sandrino live with him so he can build a loving father-son relationship.
Shows Fabrizio's paternal longing and the central conflict of the chapter.
“Gonzo observed that everything which was said about little Annetta Marini made the Marchesa emerge for a moment from the state of dreamy indifference...”
Gonzo noticed that Clelia only showed interest when gossip about Annetta Marini was mentioned, suggesting jealousy.
Reveals Clelia's hidden emotional state and the social dynamics of the salon.
