The Italian Or the Confessional of the Black Penitents; A Romance

by Radcliffe, Ann; Garber, Frederick; Clery, E. J.

• ISBN13: 9780192832542
• ISBN10: 0192832549
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

'His figure was striking, but not so from grace ... and as he stalked along, wrapt in the black garments of his order, there was something terrible in its air; something almost super-human.' First published in 1797, The Italian is one of the finest examples of Gothic romance. The fast-paced, narrative centres on Ann Radcliffe's most brilliant creation, the sinister monk Schedoni, whose past is shrouded in mystery. From the novel's opening chapters the reader is ushered into a shadowy world in which crime and religion are mingled. In the church of Santa Maria del Pianto in Naples, Ellena Rosalba and Vincentio di Vivaldi first meet; but their love is ill-omened. Leagued against them are the proud andambitious Marchese di Vivaldi and her confessor Father Schedoni. When Ellena vanishes on the death of her guardian, Vivaldi sets out in pursuit of her across the mountainous regions of southern Italy before himself falling prey to the Holy Inquisition. This revised and expanded edition explores the novel in the context of British attitudes to Italy and Roman Catholicism in the late eighteenth century with close attention to the novel's style and form.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii	(25)
Note on the Text	xxxii	(1)
Select Bibliography	xxxiii	(4)
A Chronology of Ann Radcliffe	xxxvii
THE ITALIAN INTRODUCTION	1	(4)
VOLUME I	5	(124)
Chapter I	5	(18)
Chapter II	23	(13)
Chapter III	36	(12)
Chapter IV	48	(6)
Chapter V	54	(2)
Chapter VI	56	(14)
Chapter VII	70	(13)
Chapter VIII	83	(15)
Chapter IX	98	(11)
Chapter X	109	(7)
Chapter XI	116	(13)
VOLUME II	129	(130)
Chapter I	129	(20)
Chapter II	149	(16)
Chapter III	165	(6)
Chapter IV	171	(8)
Chapter V	179	(13)
Chapter VI	192	(16)
Chapter VII	208	(7)
Chapter VIII	215	(10)
Chapter IX	225	(16)
Chapter X	241	(18)
VOLUME III	259	(158)
Chapter I	259	(17)
Chapter II	276	(15)
Chapter III	291	(8)
Chapter IV	299	(5)
Chapter V	304	(21)
Chapter VI	325	(9)
Chapter VII	334	(21)
Chapter VIII	355	(13)
Chapter IX	368	(17)
Chapter X	385	(4)
Chapter XI	389	(16)
Chapter XII	405	(7)
Chapter XIII	412	(5)
Explanatory Notes	417