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Romola (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)

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Places Discussed

*Florence. Italian center of art, philosophy, scholarship, and religious and political intrigue that made the city famous as the cradle of the Renaissance. Eliot’s novel is filled with allusions to Florence’s history, from 200 b.c.e. through the late fifteenth century; the stages of its growth parallel the psychological and moral growth of her fifteenth century heroine, Romola de’ Bardi. Eliot’s concern is for both the individual and the larger human community. Many of her Victorian readers who were interested in the contemporary Italian unification...

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