The Venetians · Chapter
In the City by the Sea explained
Jack Vansittart, a wealthy young Englishman, spends a Carnival day in Venice.
What happens
Jack Vansittart, a wealthy young Englishman, spends a Carnival day in Venice. He meets Lisa Vivanti and her aunt, la Zia, at a concert hall on the Lido and brings them back to Venice. They dine on macaroni at a modest restaurant, where Lisa tells him about her past in a lace factory and her current education in music, funded by a mysterious English gentleman. Vansittart is amused and fascinated by her beauty and vitality, but not in love. After dinner, they go to the Piazza, where he buys her trinkets from a bazaar and a dagger for himself. The chapter establishes Vansittart's idle, pleasure-seeking lifestyle and his dim foreshadowing of future domestic obligations.
Themes in this chapter
Secrecy and Identity
Lisa's story about her English benefactor is shrouded in mystery, and her true history remains unknown to Vansittart, who cares little to learn it.
Class and Poverty
Lisa's past in a lace factory and her life on polenta contrast sharply with Vansittart's wealth and idle leisure, highlighting the social divide.
Characters to notice
- Jack Vansittart
A wealthy, idle young Englishman enjoying Carnival in Venice. He is amused by Lisa Vivanti and feels a sense of freedom, but also has a dim foreshadowing of future domestic ties.
- Lisa Vivanti
A beautiful, vivacious Venetian girl from Burano. She is being educated by a mysterious English gentleman and enjoys the luxuries Vansittart provides.
- la Zia
Lisa's aunt and chaperone, who is content with the present comforts and does not worry about the future.
Key passages
“He was rich, idle, alone in Venice, and he thought it was his right to amuse himself to the uttermost at this Carnival season.”
Vansittart, being wealthy and without obligations, felt entitled to enjoy himself fully during the Carnival.
Highlights Vansittart's carefree and self-indulgent attitude.
“He pictured himself at the head of his breakfast table discussing the summer holiday with his wife, while perhaps his mother-in-law sat by and put various spokes into the family wheel, opposing every preference of his on principle.”
Vansittart imagined a future of domesticity and marital obligations, where his preferences would be challenged by his wife and mother-in-law.
Foreshadows Vansittart's eventual marriage and the constraints it will bring.