Spatial Visions in <i>Il Gattopardo</i>. Literary Representations of (De)Construction of Emotional State

Abstract

In Il Gattopardo views of the Sicilian landscape and natural spaces are recurrent moments of Don Fabrizio’s self-reflection, mapping his own ideas and moods while facing backgrounds of unavoidable social transformation. Natural and spatial persistence contrast experiences of irreversible changes and therefore constitute a stable and timeless projection space for emotions. While spatial based reflections facilitate a deconstructive process of inner hidden emotions, they also build a literary figure and representation mode of the complex and self-conflicting personality of Don Fabrizio. The article focusses on the literary representation of space in Il Gattopardo—its constructive and deconstructive modes—to reflect the protagonist’s emotional identity in light of contemporary social revolution. It outlines traditional literary romantic aesthetics of melancholic nature and space and their modern turn of individual self-perception and mental strength in order to reconsider the cultural challenge of modern social alienation.