Italian Unity as Leitmotiv in British Literature, 1820-1865
Graduation Date
Spring 2005
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Martin Anderson, JD, PhD
Second Reader
James Boitano, PhD
Abstract
This paper demonstrates that popular cultural interests, fueled by the forces of the marketplace, can develop and formulate a political will and expression. In nineteenth- century England, a sympathetic embrace of what the historian C. P. Brand called Italianate fashion” (3), captivated the interest of the rapidly expanding reading public. The commercial success of published works in which Italy was the leitmotiv helped convince the British public that Italy should be an independent and unified nation. This work traces the progression of printed British works of poetry, periodical reviews, travel guides and serialized novels from 1820-1865 and shows that the consistent theme of Italian national unity ultimately influenced the political affairs within England. The public interest in reading about Italy had, however, marginal influence over the Italian political struggle but significantly liberalized the political environment in Great Britain. The composition summarizes further the development of English liberalism and how this process progressed with the help of the reading public’s interest in “Italianate fashion.” The works of literature that followed also provided a cultural critique of the British political system as it reacted to the Italian struggle for independence. To narrow the scope of this critique, the common theme of Italian politics is followed through the published works of Lord Byron (1788-1824), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), W.E. Gladstone (1809-1898), and George Elliot (born Mary Ann Evans 1819-1889).