Cavalleria rusticana (short story)

"Cavalleria rusticana"
Short story by Giovanni Verga
Language	Italian
Publication
Published in	Novelle rusticane
Publication date	1883

Cavalleria rusticana
Date premiered	1884
Place premiered	Turin
Original language	Italian
Genre	Tragedy

"Cavalleria rusticana" (Italian for 'Rustic Chivalry') is a short story by the Sicilian Giovanni Verga, published in a collection entitled Novelle rusticane in 1883 and presented in dramatic form as a one-act tragedy at Turin in 1884. Pietro Mascagni made this prose play the basis of the verse-libretto of his one-act opera, Cavalleria rusticana (1890).

Characters

• Turiddù Macca
• Lola
• Alfio
• Santuzza

Plot

The scene is a Sicilian village and the time is Easter Day at the hour of mass. Turiddu Macca, a young peasant, son of a widowed mother, was in love with the coquette, Lola. On his return from military service, he found her married to Alfio, a carter. Out of pique, he paid his addresses to Santuzza, who fell desperately in love with him and on receiving his promise of marriage admitted him to her chamber. Lola, annoyed that Turiddu should love anyone else, ensnares him again, and her husband's frequent absences enable them to meet at her house. Meanwhile, Santuzza finds herself about to become a mother. During the time of mass on Easter morning she rebukes Turiddu for his infidelity and begs him to return to her; but he refuses roughly, and Santuzza then reveals to Alfio, who has just returned from a journey, the relations of his wife, Lola, and Turiddu. Alfio finds Turiddu drinking in the village square after church and challenges him to a duel—a challenge which is sealed by the peasants' custom of embracing and biting the ear. They go out quietly and word comes almost immediately that Turiddu is slain.

Appraisal

Helen Rex Keller writes, "The story both in its narrative and its dramatic form presents in lively colors the fierce passions and primitive customs of the Sicilian peasantry."

Sources

• "Cavalleria rusticana". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2022.

Attribution:

• Keller, Helen Rex (1924). "Cavalleria Rusticana". In The Reader's Digest of Books. The Library of the World's Best Literature. New York: The Macmillan Company. p. 131. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Further reading

• Verga, Giovanni (1893). Cavalleria Rusticana, and Other Tales of Sicilian Peasant Life. Translated by Alma Strettell. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
• Verga, Giovanni (2003). Life in the Country, short stories, including "Rustic Honour". Translated by J. G. Nichols. London: Hesperus Press.