''Mastro-don Gesualdo'' is an Italian novel written by
Giovanni Verga
Giovanni Carmelo Verga di Fontanabianca (; 2 September 1840 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian realist ('' verista'') writer, best known for his depictions of life in his native Sicily, especially the short story and later play ''Cavalleria ...
, published in 1889. The first English edition, ''Master Don Gesualdo'' (1893), was translated by
Mary A. Craig and was published in London by
J. P. Osgood, McIlvaine publishers. Giovanni Cecchetti, in the introduction to his translation of the 1979 edition, writes that it "is generally regarded as a masterpiece".
This work belongs to the ''
Ciclo dei vinti'', together with ''
I Malavoglia
''I Malavoglia'' () is the best known novel by Giovanni Verga. It was first printed in 1881.
Background
The readers' good reception of the short story ''Nedda'', published in 1874, encouraged the project of a "sea sketch" entitled ''Padron 'N ...
'', ''
La Duchessa di Leyra'', ''L'Onorevole Scipioni'' and ''L'uomo di lusso'', works which deal with the problem of social and economical advancement. ''La Duchessa de Leyra'' remained only a draft, while the last two novels planned for the Ciclo, ''L'Onorevole Scipioni'' and ''L'Uomo di Lusso'', were not even started.
The novel is divided into four parts, each of which is made up of several chapters.
''Mastro-don Gesualdo'' deals with Gesualdo Motta, a man who focuses his life on his economic assets instead of personal relationships, ending up crushed by the empty life he has created. Gesualdo lives in
Vizzini
Vizzini is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It is located from Catania in the Hyblaean Mountains, on the most northwesterly slopes of Monte Lauro.
The commune territory is b ...
(
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
) during the
Italian unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
.
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
wrote an introduction to ''Mastro-don Gesualdo'', published in ''Phoenix II''. Lawrence also wrote an essay on ''Mastro-don Gesualdo'', published in ''Phoenix'' and in ''Selected Literary Criticism''.
[Lawrence, D. H., ''Selected Literary Criticism'', New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1956, pp. 270-279.]
References
External links
Original book
{{Authority control
19th-century Italian novels
1889 novels
Novels set in Sicily