Review article
Epidemiological Measures and Punishments During the 1630 Plague in Milan According to Alessandro Manzoni
Katja Radoš-Perković
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Sanja Roić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni (Milan, 1785–Milan, 1873) is the author of the historical novel I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), which combines historic facts with the struggles of the two betrothed silk-weavers in the seventeenth century on the basis of an allegedly found manuscript. The original novel contained an appendix as well, an essay entitled History of the Infamous Column, usually omitted from contemporary editions. The paper offers less known information on – and provides connections between – the two texts while focusing on the details regarding Manzoni’s depiction of the 1630 plague in Milan and his implicit but devastating critique of social relations, judicial responsibility and the role of the nobility. The analysis will extrapolate and comment on the data regarding the epidemiological measures and atrocious punishments for their violations as well as on their counterparts in the modern-day COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
: Manzoni, The Betrothed; History of the Infamous Column; 1630 plague epidemic; epidemiological measures; punishment; implicit critique
Hrčak ID:
267359
URI
Publication date:
16.12.2021.
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