Ugo Betti
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Ugo Betti (4 February 1892 in
Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of Cam ...
– 9 June 1953 in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
) was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello.


Biography

Betti studied law in
Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
at the time when
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out, and he volunteered as a soldier. After the war he finished his studies and became a judge. Writing in his spare time, he published his first collections of poems in 1922. These, titled ''Il re pensieroso'' (The Thoughtful King), were written while he was in German captivity from 1917 to 18. ''La Padrona'', his first play, was first performed in 1927, and the play's success made him devote himself entirely to the theatre. In 1931 he moved from Parma to Rome. In 1938 he was accused by the fascists of being a Jew and an anti-fascist. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he was accused of being a fascist, but was cleared of all charges. In his later years, he worked at the library of the Ministry of Justice. Altogether he wrote 27 plays, the most highly regarded written in the final period of his career, from 1940 until his death. His works explore the nature of evil, the existential guilt experienced by his protagonists, and the theme of redemption. Sometimes referred to as "the Italian
Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
", the criminal investigation is a characteristic motif in his plays. In ''The Inquiry'', the procedure moves gradually from the realistic to the metaphysical level, without it ever being clearly revealed what the object of the investigation is. His best-known play is probably ''Corruzione al Palazzo di Giustizia'' (Corruption in the Palace of Justice). In it, an investigation into the possibility of corruption in the judiciary implicates more and more people, until the investigator himself is driven to address his own culpability.


Works

*''Il re pensieroso'' (''The Thoughtful King'', 1922) *''La Padrona'' (''The Mistress of the House'', 1926) *''L'isola meravigliosa'' (1929) *''Il diluvia'' (1931) *''Una bella domenica di settembre'' (1935) *''I nostri sogni'' (1936) *''Frana allo scalo nord'' (''Landslide at the North Station'', 1936) *''Il paese delle vacanze'' (''Summertime'', 1937) *''Favola di Natale'' (1937) *''Il cacciatore di anitre'' (''The Duck Hunter'', 1940) *''Il diluvio'' (''The Flood'', 1943) *''Spiritismo nell'antica casa'' (''Spirit-Raising in the Old House'', 1944) *''Corruzione al Palazzo di Giustizia'' (''Corruption in the Palace of Justice'', 1944-1945) *''Delitto all'isola delle capre'' (''Crime on Goat-Island'', 1946) *''Ispezione'' (''The Inquiry'', 1947) *''Aque turbate'' (''Troubled Waters'', 1948) *''La regina e lgli insorti'' (''The Queen and the Rebels'', 1949) *''L'aiuola bruciata'' (''The Burnt Flowerbed'', 1952) *''La Fuggitiva'' ( ''The Fugitive'', 1953)


Selected filmography

* ''
A Woman Has Fallen ''A Woman Has Fallen'' (Italian: ''È caduta una donna'') is a 1941 Italian drama film directed by Alfredo Guarini and starring Isa Miranda, Rossano Brazzi, and Claudio Gora. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Gustav Abel, Paolo ...
'' (1941) * ''
The Woman of Sin ''The Woman of Sin'' (Italian: ''La donna del peccato'') is a 1942 Italian drama film directed by Harry Hasso and starring Viveca Lindfors, Otello Toso and Gustav Diessl. It was one of two films Swedish actress Lindfors made in wartime Italy. It ...
'' (1942) * ''
Yellow Hell ''Yellow Hell'' (Italian: ''Inferno giallo'') is a 1942 Italian drama film directed by Géza von Radványi and starring Fosco Giachetti, Maria von Tasnady and Pál Jávor.Gundle p.215 A Doctor working in the tropics falls in love with another man' ...
'' (1942) * '' The Adulteress'' (1946)


Texts available in English

*''Three Plays''. Edited by Gino Rizzo (New York: Hill and Wang, 1966). Includes ''The Inquiry'', ''Goat Island'', and '' The Gambler''. *''Three Plays''. Translated by Henry Reed. (New York: Grove Press, 1958). Includes ''
The Queen and the Rebels ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', ''Summertime'', and ''
The Burnt Flowerbed ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''. *''Three Plays on Justice''. Translated by G. H. McWilliam. (San Francisco: Chandler Publishing, 1964). Includes ''
Landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
'', ''
Struggle Till Dawn Struggle may refer to: Film and TV * ''Struggle'' (2003 film), an Austrian film * Struggle (2013 film) * ''Struggle'' (TV series), 2007 Chinese TV series Music * ''Struggle'' (Nonpoint album), 1999 release * Struggle (Woody Guthrie album), 1 ...
'', and '' The Fugitive''.


Further reading

*Eric Salmon. "Ugo Betti's Troubled Waters." ''Modern Drama'' 11 (1968): 97-108. *Harold H. Watts. "Ugo Betti: The Theater of 'Shame." ''Modern Drama'' 12 (1969): 64-79. {{DEFAULTSORT:Betti, Ugo 1892 births 1953 deaths 20th-century Italian judges Italian male poets Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian poets 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian male writers