journey to italy

JOURNEY TO ITALY:Mass Tourism, the Victorian Age, & the Modern NovelNovember 2, 2021

Leopardi, “Night Song of a Wandering Shepherd in Asia” 1831

• When we consider Leopardi and Rossetti, we are considering difference. • Leopardi is Italian, not a tourist in Italy.• Rossetti is a woman, rather than a man, and her exile is inverted as

compared to Byron and Shelley.

• It is worth keeping in mind how their poetic perspectives are different due to their own differences.

Discussion Questions

• Petrarch, Shelley, and Byron all set themselves up as lone wandering poets flung across the Italian landscape. Leopardi’s wandering is imagined in Asia, what do you make of this? • How is his shepherd’s wandering similar to and different from

the British Romantics’ imagery, setting, and themes?

Christina Rossetti

• Italian British poet and political activist (1830-1894)

• Her father, Gabriele Rossetti, was a poet and political exile in Italy. Christina was born in London.

• Christina Rossetti is a firmly Victorian poet.

European History Timeline

190018701840181017801750

Italia

n U

nific

atio

n (1

860)

First Industrial Revolution

(1760-1790)

French Revolution

(1789-1799)

Napoleonic Wars

(1803-1815)

The Enlightenment(1715-1789)

The Romantic Period(~1780-late 1800s)

1stG

en R

oman

tic P

oets

(~17

98)

2nd

Gen

Rom

antic

Poe

ts (~

1820

s)

Victorian Age(1837-1901)

Star

t of W

WI (

1914

)

Expansion of Train Network (1830s-1870s)

Steamship brings about “first wave of globalization” (1870-1913)

Koda

k ca

mer

a go

es o

n th

e m

arke

t (18

88)

Inno

vatio

ns in

pho

togr

aphy

mak

e it

easie

r and

mor

e ve

rsat

ile

Mar

coni

send

s firs

t Rad

io m

essa

ge (1

895)

2nd Industrial Revolution, “unprecedented movement of people

and ideas” (1870-1913)

Star

t of A

mer

ican

Rev

olut

ion

(177

5)

Literary Modernism(late 1800s – early 1900s)

Risorgimento(1848-1871)

Subsequent rise of the

middle class

Firs

t Coo

k To

ur o

f Ita

ly (1

861)

Herc

ulan

eum

& P

ompe

ii ex

cava

ted

(173

8)

European Age of Empire(1848-1914)


• Christina Rossetti was an Italian-British poet, who was born in London while her Italian father was in exile in England. How does her treatment of Italy differ from those who seek refuge there?• How does her treatment of Rome differ from the other poets we

have read?


• FINAL THOUGHTS• Where do you think these poets are locating ‘paradise’

‘utopia’ or ‘Arcadia’?• What is the relationship between exile and paradise, in your

opinion, or as you see it expressed by these poets?• Do you see these themes as correlated to any other of the

course themes we’ve looked at thus far?• The sublime• The picturesque• The beautiful• Gothic literature• Nationhood• Freedom/liberty• Sentimentality/Emotion/Feeling• Ruins• Mortality/decay/march of Time• Moon

Part II: MASS TOURISM, THE

VICTORIAN AGE, AND THE MODERN NOVEL

Mark Twain

• Born Samuel Clemens in Missouri, USA (1835 - 1910)• American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer

• Most famous for his two related novels:• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

• The Innocents Abroad was the publication that immediately preceded Twain’s most renowned books.• There is a theme of the conflict between history and

modernity in the book, which Twain sees as so much more apparent in Europe than in the US.

• Twain visited the 1867 Paris World’s Fair while in Europe• It is worth noting that not only science, technology, and

international culture was on display at World’s Fairs. They were a chance for empires to show off their ‘exotic discoveries’ from around the world.

• The second half of the 1800s saw, indeed, the beginning of the European Age of Empire.

European History Timeline

190018701840181017801750

Italia

n U

nific

atio

n (1

860)

First Industrial Revolution

(1760-1790)

French Revolution

(1789-1799)

Napoleonic Wars

(1803-1815)

The Enlightenment(1715-1789)

The Romantic Period(~1780-late 1800s)

1stG

en R

oman

tic P

oets

(~17

98)

2nd

Gen

Rom

antic

Poe

ts (~

1820

s)

Victorian Age(1837-1901)

Star

t of W

WI (

1914

)

Expansion of Train Network (1830s-1870s)

Steamship brings about “first wave of globalization” (1870-1913)

Koda

k ca

mer

a go

es o

n th

e m

arke

t (18

88)

Inno

vatio

ns in

pho

togr

aphy

mak

e it

easie

r and

mor

e ve

rsat

ile

Mar

coni

send

s firs

t Rad

io m

essa

ge (1

895)

2nd Industrial Revolution, “unprecedented movement of people

and ideas” (1870-1913)

Star

t of A

mer

ican

Rev

olut

ion

(177

5)

Literary Modernism(late 1800s – early 1900s)

Risorgimento(1848-1871)

Subsequent rise of the

middle class

Firs

t Coo

k To

ur o

f Ita

ly (1

861)

Herc

ulan

eum

& P

ompe

ii ex

cava

ted

(173

8)

European Age of Empire(1875-1914), Hobsbawm

GBFrance

SpainPortugal

NetherlandsGermany

TurkeyBelgium

RussiaJapan

Austrian EmpireSwitzerland

NorwayUSAItaly

Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869

• The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims’ Progress.

• ”The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious, theological fiction in English literature. It has been translated into more than 200 languages and has never been out of print. It has also been cited as the first novel written in English. […] The entire book is presented as a dream sequence narrated by an omniscient narrator. The allegory's protagonist, Christian, is an everyman character, and the plot centreson his journey from his hometown, the "City of Destruction" ("this world"), to the "Celestial City" ("that which is to come": Heaven) atop Mount Zion.” (Wikipedia)


• ALL TOGETHER• What do you think Twain means by his subtitle?• Why did I have you read the introductory material? • Regarding the Preface, specifically, how do you think Twain’s goals

and tone relate to prior travel narratives we have read?


• ALL TOGETHER• How has travel changed? Try to consider this question from various

points of view (technological, social, etc.).• How does the trip described in the advertisement compare to the Grand

Tour?• On page 23, in reference to Italy, Twain mentions ‘Garibaldi!’. Does

anyone remember who this is and why Twain might be excited about him?• If so, what does this say about Twain’s politics?

• Why did I have you read the first two pages of Chapter 2? What is relevant or striking about Twain’s description of travel on these pages?

Giuseppe Garibaldi

• Italian general (considered one of the greatest of modern times), patriot and republican (1807 – 1882)

• Many Italians emigrated in the 1800s as the economic opportunities in Italy were limited. Garibaldi moved to South America as a young man and participated in various efforts to liberate South American countries from their colonial subjugation.

GBFrance

SpainPortugal

NetherlandsGermany

TurkeyBelgium

RussiaJapan

Austrian EmpireSwitzerland

NorwayUSAItaly

Giuseppe Garibaldi• Italian general (considered one of the greatest of modern times), patriot and republican (1807 – 1882)

• Many Italians emigrated in the 1800s as the economic opportunities in Italy were limited. Garibaldi moved to South America as a young man and participated in various efforts to liberate South American countries from their colonial subjugation.

• In 1842, Garibaldi led a fleet of Italian soldiers, called the Red Shirts, in the Uruguayan Civil War, which was part of Uruguay’s struggle for independence.

Giuseppe Garibaldi• Garibaldi returned to Italy in 1848 when Italy’s own fight for independence began to gain steam.• Italy’s first war for independence was not successful, but in 1860, during the second war for independence, Garibaldi’s efforts were central to the Italian victory.• He is most famous for the Campaign of 1860, also known as the Expedition of the Thousand, during which 1,000 volunteer troops (Red Shirts), under Garibaldi’s command, sailed to Sicily and sought to defeat the foreign Bourbon kingdom’s army and navy there. They were successful.• His men continued to march north, up the peninsula, and with the help of other volunteer armies that joined them, they continued to take cities until they reached Rome. • They took all of Italy except the region in Northeast, held by Austria, which fell only 6 years later, with Garibaldi still leading men into battle.

Henry James• American author (1843 – 1916)

• He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language.

• He is well known for many of his works, my favorites are:• Daisy Miller (1878)• Portrait of a Lady (1881)• The Turn of the Screw (1898)

• When he was 7-11 years old, James’ family spent 5 years abroad, between London, Paris, and Geneva. He continued to travel a great deal to Europe as an adult and became a British subject in the last years of his life.

• James also wrote travel literature. His most famous work of travel writing is the 1909 Italian Hours.

Daisy Miller and the Romantic Poets

• Jeffrey Meyers describes the Protestant cemetery in Rome where Keats and Shelley are buried thus: “Close to the Pyramid and outside the Aurelian wall that circled ancient Rome is the Protestant cemetery, romantically surrounded by the traditional dark cypresses.”

• Based on how we have sought to understand the term ‘Romantic’ as it has come down to us via the Romantic movement. What do you think Meyers means by that term in this citation?

James, Daisy Miller, Part I, 1879

• Where is the first part set?

• Who are the protagonists and where are they from?

• What is happening?


• ALL TOGETHER• How does James describe the setting in the first paragraph? Why might

this be relevant?• How is Daisy Miller described by Winterbourne? How is she seen by his

aunt?• How does Daisy appear to be different from women we have seen before and what

do you make of this difference?

• What do you think Daisy represents so far in the story?• What role do locals (Swiss and Italians) play in this book so far?

• How is this similar to or different from previous portrayals of local people?

Reading Questions

• What do you think Daisy represents in the story?• How is Italy (how are Italians) on view in Daisy Miller?• How is Eugenio treated by the text?• What notable lexical choices are made in description of him?

• How is Mr. Giovanelli treated by the text?• What notable lexical choices are made in description of him?

• What do you make of the description of Giovanelli? Why do you think is he described as he is (be careful to distinguish what the narrator’s goals are and what the author’s goals are where they intersect or diverge)?• How does Winterbourne’s desire to judge and categorize Giovanelli

compare to his attempt to do the same to Daisy?

Reading Questions

• What do you think Daisy represents in the story?• ANALYZE DAISY AS A SYMBOL:

• What does she represent/symbolize? (Name that symbol)• Define the symbol (Tell me what you think that symbol means)• Give two examples from the text• Give me stakes (Why is this symbolism interesting or relevant in a larger

context / in the context of this course?)

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