The Betrothed – Analysis Chapter 7: analysis of the planning of the clandestine wedding, of the most significant events and of the use of language.
The Betrothed – Analysis of Chapter 7
Analysis of Chapter 7 of The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
In the seventh chapter , two events take place at the same time, but of course they cannot be narrated simultaneously and they are on the one hand the preparations for the expedition of the engaged couple to the rectory to celebrate the surprise wedding and on the other hand that of the thugs to Lucia’s house to kidnap her. They are therefore intertwined in a plot, with a moment of synchronization: the poor old man was still trotting; the three explorers arrived at their place; the sun was falling; when Renzo entered the women…
Fable and plot therefore do not coincide. The plot proceeds in three macrosequences , the first two tell contemporary moments in succession, the third the synchronized events from sunset to the early hours of the night, as follows:
- From the evening of November 9th to the late morning of the 10th – preparations for the engaged couple
- From the afternoon of November 9th to sunset on the 10th – preparations of the good guys
- SYNCHRONIZATION MOMENT – sunset on November 10th: the old servant on his way to the convent, the bravos stationed at the inn, the women at home.
- Evening of November 10th – dinner at the inn for both Renzo and his companions and the bravos – start of the expedition to the rectory while the bravos prepare to enter Lucia’s house.
in the chapter action definitely prevails over reflection and no particular theme emerges, even if the action itself gives the opportunity to reflect on the purposes it sets itself: deception . With the exception of Lucia and Menico, all the characters act to deceive others and thus try to solve their problems. The anxiety of discovering whether the deception plotted will lead to the expected goals represents the enigma that increases the suspense, curiosity and therefore the involvement of the reader.
The beginning echoes that of chapter II, which compared Don Abbondio to the Prince of Condè, even if here the irony is missing, given that Fra Cristoforo really has a fighting spirit, in accordance with Manzoni’s idea of the religious mission as a militia, so the similarity with the captain suits him well.
His figure is outlined using the ternary scansion, favored by Manzoni: a series of three adversative antitheses (coordinated by but not with the variation of and not) and three endings (to premunire… to collect… to give…).
With his solemn emphasis and implicit biblical citations, he tries to calm Renzo’s anger (the accumulation of which is expressed by the rhythm of the amphorae: from many…. from many…. from many) by curbing the boy’s impulse to act and by using a language rich in anaphoras , chiasmus (it is a thin word, a bitter word), alliterations (know…. know) and above all oppositions, thus giving a lesson in the language of power that is able to say and dissimulate and communicate the opposite of what it says.
Finally, citing the thread of providence , the friar reveals that he still has the hope of being able to act and his religious words invite patience and the superior justice of God, even if the fighting spirit already allows us to glimpse an immediate practical solution, so that with the same haste as when he arrived, he takes his leave inviting us to hope.
The three characters react to the friar’s departure in a way that is consistent with their character: Lucia has blind faith in the thread of providence and in Fra Cristoforo; Agnese is presumptuous enough to believe that if the friar has not confided anything to her, an experienced woman, it means that one cannot count much on this indeterminate thread; Renzo explodes in his anger with the will to act immediately and in person.
Agnese opposes his madness with the risk of being killed or struck by justice but the young man distorts the meaning of the word justice and interprets it as revenge: Yes, I will do it, justice: I will free the country.
Renzo stages his anger with instinctive theatricality through a language rich in effective figures such as the repetition of words in chiasmus (I will finish it: I will finish it!), a theatrical gesture (for example walking up and down the room), however that scene fails to be dramatic, indeed it borders on comedy. The scene turns into a melodrama and Manzoni plays with the character, having fun at the expense of Renzo who, although the scene is constructed in the manner of romance novels, does not personify the romantic hero at all, but is just a young boy who exaggerates the drama.
Menico’s involvement in the action causes a pause in the tension of the two initial sequences. The boy is one of the childish extras who always present similar characteristics in the novel and, like Bettina in chapter II, shows the typically childish pride of being involved in the world of adults, but also reveals that he had to learn the mentality of adults early on, such as the precocious interest in money.
The suspense , which will explode only in the next chapter, is built up in stages starting from here. The description of the thugs is conducted first through the internal point of view of Agnese and Lucia and of the village, who cannot recognize thugs behind their disguise as beggars; the disturbing figures of the pilgrims develop anguish in Lucia and feed her moral scruples with diabolical, ambiguous, mysterious images, strengthened by indefinite grammatical formulas (certain novelties… a certain something… strange figures…).
The appeal to the reader , a usual intrusion of the narrator as a narrative turning point, introduces the analepsis which, like a flashback , frames Don Rodrigo in the exact same situation as his last appearance, intent on measuring, with furious steps, the battlefield. Thus, only now do we learn that the battlefield of the clash between Don Rodrigo and the friar was a room adorned with portraits of the ancestors: the room is described according to the modalities of the castle chronotope, typical of historical novels and contains within itself the concept of space and time due to the presence of the history of Don Rodrigo’s family and the portraits of the ancestors, emblematic of the historical period in which the novel is set.
These portraits (absent in Fermo e Lucia) are seen through the internal focalization of Don Rodrigo, but his distorted mentality, skillfully exaggerated by the narrator, makes the description alien and we laugh at it as much as Don Rodrigo feels subjugated by it.
As for Griso , the narrator first constructs his portrait as that of a romantic, ruthless killer : he is introduced by the servant, who, hearing his name, says to himself: Big things…. We then move on to the parody of the killer: Griso is someone who prides himself on using gallant language like gentlemen and greeting people like a big, self-important man, but he is also someone who believes in witches and witches’ sabbaths, just like the peasants, whom he also looks down upon.
His character gives the narrator the opportunity to denounce once again the distorted mechanism of justice.
Once the analepsis is concluded, we move on to the simultaneous action of the different characters and at the same time the suspense is built.
The tempo is accelerated, starting from the previous summary of the agreements between the squire and Griso (rr.303-308), conducted through infinite duratives and a rapid list of the various rascalities to be put into action. Now the preparations take on the rhythm of military expeditions: Griso has the attitude of a commander who, after having given rapid and decisive orders, at the end remains in ambush with the bulk of the troops to wait; the old servant reveals the caution of a hardened spy and his only fear is that of bringing aid to Pisa; the vanguard of bravoes goes into hiding and at the end everyone is at their combat post and the rhythm becomes cadenced, with very short sentences and coordinated by asyndeton.
The suspense is increasing. The tavern scene begins with strong color contrasts: the flashing now white now black of two griffin eyes, the crimson velvet cap, the dark forehead; it becomes grotesque with the bravo transformed into a caryatid, an image taken from the classical world and used in a parodic, anti-heroic way. Then we move on to the caricature of one of the bravos playing, blocked with one hand in the air, with three fingers stretched out and spread and his mouth still open; finally, as in a pantomime, everyone communicates with gestures and glances.
The two groups face each other three by three and the numerical symmetry reveals a game of correspondence later confirmed by the glances, gestures and speeches that the two groups will seem to take from each other, unconsciously imitating each other throughout the scene.
The first innkeeper in the novel is portrayed while performing the typical gestures of his profession: he shows up with a coarse tablecloth under his arm and a flask in his hand, symbolic objects of his profession, and typical of the category is also the characteristic, which we will find in all the other innkeepers in the novel, of the utilitarian vision of human relationships and morality. This innkeeper, in fact, behaves differently with Renzo and with the bravo, because he has nothing to fear from Renzo and from the bravo he does, however he wants to keep both of them happy: with the bravos he puts in a good word for Renzo and reminds Renzo that if you can get to know people well, as we four do, it is better.
At the end of the chapter , with the attack on the rectory, a narrative mode begins that alternates scenes rich in suspense and action with descriptive moments and that will continue throughout the night of deception. The image of the village at dusk is very reminiscent of the quiet of Saturday in Leopardi’s village, or again the representation of village life in chapter II of Verga’s I Malavoglia.
The use of the imperfect duratives, the musical repetition of verbs, the chiasmus: the women were coming….the men were coming; one could hear…they could hear, the ringing of the bells that announces the end of the day, create a background of melancholic musicality.
The adventurous party headed for the rectory recalls the expedition of the trio from Rossini’s Barber of Seville, also headed for a surprise wedding.
As in a theatrical stage direction, the position of the various characters is indicated in detail; the party and the military strategy of Agnese who wants to take possession of Perpetua, then, act almost as a comic counterpoint to the expedition of the thugs.
