Summary and description of the day of Mastro don Gesualdo, one of the passages from the famous novel by Giovanni Verga.
Master Don Gesualdo
Mastro don Gesualdo is a novel by Giovanni Verga, published in 1889. From the first publication the characters undergo a radical revision.
The title comes from the juxtaposition of two very different names:
- master = manual activity
- don = bourgeois
- mastro-don = enriched worker
The work is divided into four sequences:
- 2 of the rise of master-don Gesualdo
- 2 decline and defeat
Mastro Don Gesualdo is a complex character : he climbs the social ladder but falls back. He is also vulnerable on the emotional level.
Gesualdo falls ill with cancer, and the text refers to the agony and death of the man, pervaded by an anguished sense of estrangement and decay. All these elements make “Mastro-don Gesualdo” considered the first Italian novel of alienation.
Other figures in the novel:
- Trao Brothers = exponents of an ancient nobility now fallen
- Bianca = predestined victim of the family’s hereditary defects and the only character who rejects the religion of property
Gesualdo’s day
The song opens with the screams and curses of the protagonist, master-don Gesualdo, who rails against the workers considered to be time wasters.
In contrast to him is his brother Santo , who spends his time idling; in fact Gesualdo even teaches Agostino the good rules of the overseer.
The second part of the passage describes the return of master-don Gesualdo to Canziria, his first purchased farm. Waiting for him are Diodata, the peasant-lover, and Massaro Carmine, the herdsman.
With the latter he discusses the work done by the laborers during the day; while Diodata prepares dinner. Later Gesualdo recalls in broad terms his social ascent since he was just a boy, but which led him to isolation from his family. in fact the only purpose of his life was to get rich, and consequently the defense of the “stuff” against everyone.
Diodata also helps his master in the defense of the property, working for him.
The conversation shifts to Diodata and those who are behind her skirt and then to the desire of master-don Gesualdo to get married. Diodata’s reaction is immediate: she in fact begins to cry, putting an end to the idyll.
