Carlo Goldoni’s The Holiday Cravings: summary of the plot of the first work of the trilogy The Holiday.Le smania per la villeggiatura is the first of the three comedies of La villeggiatura (or Trilogia della villeggiatura ) by Carlo Goldoni , and was written and performed in 1761.
HOLIDAY DESIRE: SUMMARY
Leonardo lives with his sister Vittoria and is nervous because he is getting ready to leave for a vacation in the fall, in Montenero, a hill near Livorno. He therefore urges the servant Paolo to empty the trunk because he will have to make some purchases (cutlery, coasters, candlesticks, coffee, chocolate, etc.) so as not to disappear in front of the neighbor who is Mr. Filippo, father of the girl he is in love with, Giacinta . But Leonardo does not have the cash and will have to buy everything on credit and the servant tries to make him see reason, but he does not want to listen to reason.
Leonardo hopes his uncle will die so he can get his large inheritance soon. Leonardo then sends his servant Cecco to inform Mr. Filippo of their departure, and to find out from Mr. Guglielmo , who is also in love with Giacinta, that he had been visiting them. Meanwhile, Vittoria wants to delay their departure because her best dress is not ready and she does not want to be outdone by Giacinta, who, as a servant tells her, has also had a dress made in the latest fashion, but Leonardo does not agree to delay their departure, so she is forced to send his servant Berto to the tailor to protest. Vittoria reaches the tailor to complain and get her dress, assuring him that she will pay for it upon her return.
In the meantime, Philip invites William to the holiday , then regrets it because of the possible gossip that could have arisen since he had his daughter to marry off. But being confident of Giacinta’s seriousness, he convinces himself that he has not acted foolishly. Giacinta is
also busy with preparations and has had a silk overcoat with a hood sewn to protect herself from the dust of the journey and also from the cold. Philip criticizes his daughter for the overcoat because it is an unnecessary expense for him.
HOLIDAY DESIRE: CONCLUSION
At this point Leonardo discovers that Giacinta’s father has invited Guglielmo and, overcome by jealousy, decides not to go on holiday anymore and to find a way to keep the young woman from leaving as well. But Giacinta explains to him that it was her father who had invited Guglielmo and that they should have treated him kindly. She discovers that Leonardo has also asked for her hand in marriage and so they decide to set the wedding date for after the holiday. In the end Leonardo is invited to leave with Filippo and his daughter Giacinta, while Guglielmo will go in a carriage with Vittoria, Leonardo’s sister.
