LA MONACA DI MONZA Alessandro Manzoni I Promessi Sposi cap.IX

ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERIZATION

The present extract is the description of ‘la Monaca di Monza’, when Lucia is received in her room.

 Lucia can see the nun trough a grating, that underlines the distance between ‘la Signora’ and the young woman. The description of ‘la Signora’ seems to be told by Lucia’s point of view; but it will be so rich and detailed that it can’t but be a product of the writer. So, the writer uses Lucia’s point of view in order to tell the portrait of ‘la Signora’.

The first impression that Lucia receives from the nun, and consequently, the first information that the reader gets from the description, is that ‘la Signora’ seems to be around 25 years old. She’s young, unlike a common nun, and her age reinforces her uniqueness. In addition, from the first impression, she looks nice, but, moving nearer, Lucia can notice that her beauty has overblown. Right from the start, the reader wants to know why the beauty of a young lady has already overblown.  

The portrayal continues in describing her face.

The writer creates an antithetical contrast between the black color of the veil and the pale color of her skin, as white as the bandage that enclosed her face. It is also a symbolical contrast since white refers to purity, while black is the color of darkness and sorrow.

Watching the nun, an observer can notice that her white forehead frequently convulses in a grievous  expression and her black eyebrows frown themselves. By telling that, the writer keeps the curiosity high, since the reader wants to discover the thoughts of ‘la Signora’ and what are the reasons of her contract expression.   

What mainly captures the attention is the movement of her black eyes: they express infinite sentiments, depending on what the observer gets in them. Her black and deep eyes can unveil infinite and discordant features of her personality: they can express pride or modesty, they can look for love or communicate hate. In the paragraph, the hand of the writer clearly emerges from Lucia’s words, since she couldn’t never notice all these shades.

Her pale cheeks, that have delicate features, are altered by an hidden trouble. Her lips, that stand out on the pallor of her face, are as animated as her eyes and they contribute in increasing the air of mystery that surrounds ‘la Signora’.

Each trait of his face seems to hid a troubled life, that the reader is gradually more and more curios to unveil.

Altogether her magnificence fades because of a general abandonment and carelessness of her posture.

Finally the writer focuses the attention on her clothing, that also announces an unconventional nun. Her waist is tight and a lock of hair appears under the veil: they are elements that suggest a transgression of the orders and prove once again the difference of ‘la Signora’ from the other nuns.

At the end of the description the reader believes to know a lot about ‘la Signora’, since the description is very detailed, but actually he doesn’t really know anything.  The writer gives a rich portrait that wants the reader to go on in reading the story, in order to discover the past life of ‘la Monaca di Monza’.