The House by the Medlar Tree (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Giovanni Verga
- First Published: 1881
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Impressionistic realism
- Time of Work: Mid-nineteenth century
- Setting: Sicily
- Genres: Long fiction, Impressionistic literature
- Subjects: Family or family life, Nineteenth century, Villages, Storms, Bankruptcy or financial crisis, Shipwrecks, Smuggling or smugglers, Italy or Italians, Debtors or creditors
- Locales: Sicily, Italy
Characters Discussed
Padron ’Ntoni Malavoglia (N-toh-nee mah-lah-VOHL-yee-ah), head of the once-prosperous family that lives by the medlar tree.
Bastianazzo (bah-stee-ahn- NAHZ-zoh), his son. His ambition to take black beans to Riposto to sell at a huge profit ruins the family when his boat, the Provvidenza, is wrecked.
La Longa, Bastianazzo’s wife, who distrusts Uncle Crucifix, the moneylender, but signs over to his assignee her rights to the house when he repeatedly demands payment for his loan on the lost beans. She dies of cholera.
’Ntoni,...
[The entire page is 504 words long]
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