The Betrothed: From the Italian of Alessandro Manzoni
1827
This is the novel that shaped a language and defined a nation's consciousness. Set in 1620s Lombardy under Spanish occupation, The Betrothed follows two young villagers, Renzo and Lucia, whose simple desire to marry becomes a nightmare when the petty nobleman Don Rodrigo decides he wants Lucia for himself. Forced to flee their village, the lovers are brutally separated and must navigate a landscape of famine, imprisonment, and a devastating plague that wipes out half of Milan. Yet what elevates Manzoni's masterpiece beyond a mere romance of impediments is its unflinching portrait of power: the cowardice of those who wield it, the courage of those who resist it, and the quiet faith of ordinary people who refuse to be broken. Along the way, Renzo and Lucia encounter some of fiction's most unforgettable figures: the timorous priest Don Abbondio, the fierce friar Cristoforo, the haunted Nun of Monza, and the legendary Unnamed, a murderer seeking redemption. Nearly two centuries old, this novel still speaks directly to anyone who has faced systemic cruelty and found, against all odds, the will to endure.
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“Bullies, oppressors and all men who do violence to the rights of others are guilty not only of their own crimes, but also of the corruption they bring into the hearts of their victims.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“Certainly the heart has always something to tell about the future to those who listen to it. But what does the heart know? Scarce a little of what has already happened. ””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“I would really like, in fact, to be born again in another two hundred years' time.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“They settled the question, by deciding that misfortunes most commonly happen to us from our own misconduct or imprudence; but sometimes from causes independent of ourselves; that the most innocent and prudent conduct cannot always preserve us from them; and that, whether they arise from our own fault or not, trust in God softens them, and renders them useful in preparing us for a better life.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“Crime is a rigid, unbending master, against whom no one can be strong except by total rebellion””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“One the advantages about this life is that you can hate someone without knowing him””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“Si potrebbe però, tanto nelle cose piccole, come nelle grandi, evitare, in gran parte, quel corso così lungo e così storto, prendendo il metodo proposto da tanto tempo, d'osservare, ascoltare, paragonare, pensare, prima di parlare.Ma parlare, questa cosa così sola, è talmente più facile di tutte quell'altre insieme, che anche noi, dico noi uomini in generale, siamo un po' da compatire.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“The arousing from sleep, after a recent misfortune, is a bitter moment; the mind at first habitually recurs to its previous tranquility, but is soon depressed by the thought of the contrast that awaits it.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
“-Il cuor mi dice che ci rivedremo presto. - Certo, il cuore, chi gli dà retta, ha sempre qualche cosa da dire su quello che sarà. Ma che sà il cuore? Appena un poco di quello che è già accaduto.””
— Alessandro Manzoni
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Manzoni, Alessandro. The Betrothed: From the Italian of Alessandro Manzoni. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-betrothed-from-the-italian-of-alessandro-manzoni-131bca48-3f64-4ffc-997d-ef5068df9f46.Manzoni, A. (1827). The Betrothed: From the Italian of Alessandro Manzoni. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-betrothed-from-the-italian-of-alessandro-manzoni-131bca48-3f64-4ffc-997d-ef5068df9f46Manzoni, Alessandro. The Betrothed: From the Italian of Alessandro Manzoni. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-betrothed-from-the-italian-of-alessandro-manzoni-131bca48-3f64-4ffc-997d-ef5068df9f46.
