ITALIAN WOMEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
After the torpor and stagnation of the last two centuries, after the
self-abasement of the people, and the apparent extinction of all spirit
of national pride, the French invasion and domination, under the stern
rule of Bonaparte, was a rude awakening. Old boundaries were swept
aside, old traditions were disregarded, old rulers were dethroned;
everywhere were the French, with their Republican banners, mouthing the
great words Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, ravaging and plundering
in the most shameless fashion, and extorting the most exorbitant taxes.
But the contagion spread--the Italians were impressed with the wonderful
exploits of the one-time Corsican corporal, and they, in turn, began to
wag their heads in serious discussion of the "rights of man," as the
French had done a decade before. For the dissemination of the new ideas,
political clubs were organized throughout Italy as they had existed in
France, and the whole country was in ferment. Add to that the fact that
Napoleon began to levy troops in Italy as soon as his position warranted
this action, and that soon Italian soldiers were in all parts of Europe
fighting under the French flag, and one can perhaps have some picture of
the complete way in which French influences were made to prevail. In
this conquered territory the population may be divided into three
classes: first, the deposed nobility, who had for the most part left
the country; second, the middle class, composed of professional men and
the wealthier citizens; and third, the common people. Of these three
classes, the second was the one which Napoleon tried in every way to
conciliate, for he counted upon its aid in the moulding of public
opinion. He had little to do with the departed nobility, the common
people were helping him fight his battles, but, if he hoped to occupy
Italy permanently, his real appeal had to be made to the educated class.
Accordingly, the arts of peace were used in the interests of the god of
war; public improvements of all kinds were begun over all Italy, under
the supervision of the French officials, canals were built, marshes were
drained, academies of learning were founded, commerce was stimulated,
schools for girls were started at Milan, Bologna, and Verona in
imitation of those which had already been established in France, and, in
fact, everything was done to prove to the people that the rule of the
French was beneficial to the best interests of the peninsula. Many men
of letters were won over by fair promises, and scientific men were, in
many instances, so aided in their researches and so loaded with honors
that it was difficult to resist the approaches of the emperor; and there
resulted much fulsome praise in honor of Napoleon, who was hailed as a
veritable god. Some there were, however, who resisted the advances of
the conquerors and were loath to see the country so completely in the
control of a foreign nation. It is true that Italy was enjoying a great
prosperity in spite of the demands made upon it by the French, but this
sudden accession of Republican ideas and the consciousness that Italian
armies were fighting bravely all over the continent had aroused a
national spirit which had lain dormant for centuries; the more
far-seeing patriots were already looking forward to a time when Italy
might be not only free but independent.
Among those unmoved by French promises were a number of brilliant women,
who were outspoken in their hostility, and who gathered about them many
of the most able men of the time. Though it is true that the French set
the fashions, and in every city it was usual to find that the French
officials were eagerly courted by the inhabitants, it is none the less
true that in many of these cities there was some small but active centre
of opposition, the salon of some gifted woman who was working might and
main for the final triumph of the principle of Italian control in Italy.
Napoleon had penetration enough to take such opposition at its just
valuation. Women had already given him many a _mauvais quart d'heure_ in
Paris; Madame de Stael and, later, the beautiful Madame Recamier were
forced to go into exile because he feared their power, and here in Italy
he resolved not to be caught napping. Among the number of these Italian
women who were daring enough to oppose his success, one of the most
influential and best known was the Countess Cicognara. Her husband,
Count Leopold Cicognara, was an archaeologist of some reputation, who is
to-day best known by his _Storia della Scultura_; he was precisely the
type of man whose friendship and good will Napoleon was anxious to
obtain. Cicognara kept his distance, however, and in his determination
to hold himself aloof from all actual participation in the new order of
things he was ably seconded by his wife, who was a most ardent partisan.
In Milan her salon was known to be of the opposition, and there gathered
all the malcontents, ready to criticise and blame, and wholly refusing
their aid in any public matters undertaken under French auspices. Here,
at Milan, Madame de Stael came to know the countess in the course of her
wanderings through Italy, and, as may readily be imagined, the two women
were much drawn to each other by reason of their similar tastes,
especially with regard to the political situation. Later, at Venice, the
Countess Cicognara was again the centre of a group of free-thinkers, and
there it was that she first felt the displeasure of Napoleon. The count
had been summoned by him in the hope that he might finally be won over,
but Cicognara conducted himself with such dignity that he excited no
little admiration for his position of strict neutrality; his wife did
not fare so well, inasmuch as she was harshly criticised for her active
partisanship. Also, Napoleon caused it to be known that he would look
with disfavor upon all who continued to frequent the salon of the
countess; the result of this procedure was that of those who had
formerly thronged her doors but two faithful ones remained--Hippolyte
Pindemonte and Carlo Rosmini, both staunch patriots and men of ability.
After Waterloo and the fall of Napoleon, the French power in Italy was
gone, and the Congress of Vienna, which arranged the terms of peace for
the allied powers of Europe, restored the Italian states to their
original condition, as they were before the Revolution. But the real
conditions of Italian life were changed; for the people were now aroused
in an unprecedented way, which made a return to the old mode of life
impossible except in the outward form of things. The socialistic ideas
of the French had gained some foothold in Italy; men and women were
waking up to the possibilities which lay before them in the way of
helping each other; and charitable and philanthropic works of every kind
were undertaken with an interest which was altogether uncommon. As might
be expected, women occupied an important place in these various
activities and showed much enterprise and zeal in carrying out their
plans. The Marchioness Maddalena Frescobaldi Capponi aided in founding
at Florence a house of refuge for fallen women; Maria Maddalena di
Canossa, in the year 1819, established at Venice and at Verona the Order
of the Daughters of Charity, whose task it was to perfect themselves in
"love to God and love to man"; and various charitable schools were
organized in other parts of the country. At Turin, Julie Colbert di
Barolo, the friend of the famous Silvio Pellico, founded the Order of
the Sisters of Saint Anne, whose members were to devote themselves to
the education of poor girls, training them not only in the usual
studies, but also in manners and deportment, and teaching them to be
contented with their lot, whatever it might happen to be. The spirit of
arts and crafts had ardent supporters at this time, and many endeavors
were made to teach the people how to do something which might be of
avail in their struggle for life. Among those interested in this
movement was Rosa Govona, who had founded a society whose members were
called, after her, Les Rosines, and who were bound to support themselves
by means of their own work. The Napoleonic campaigns had taken from
Italy many men who never returned; thus, there were many women who were
left to their own resources, and it was for this class that Rosa Govona
was working. The society grew rapidly, branch organizations were
established in many cities, and there is no doubt that the movement was
productive of much good. Another woman philanthropist of this time was
the Countess Tarnielli Bellini, who left quite a large sum of money at
Novara for the establishment of several charitable institutions, among
them an industrial school.
Rome now became the real centre of Italian life; it was the objective
point of every tourist, and it soon gathered together a somewhat
heterogeneous population which was to pave the way for that cosmopolitan
society which is to-day found in the Eternal City. While this foreign
element was growing more important every day, it cannot be said that the
members of the old and proud Roman nobility looked upon it with any
smile of welcome. Many of the newcomers were artists, sculptors and
painters, who were attracted by the wealth of classic and Renaissance
art which Rome contained, or they were expatriates for one of a number
of reasons. One of the most distinguished women of this foreign colony
was Madame Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother, who took up her residence in
Rome after 1815, and lived there until 1836, the year of her death. She
was a woman of fine presence and great courage, content with a simple
mode of life which was quite in contrast with the princely tastes of her
sons and daughters. Pauline Bonaparte, the emperor's favorite sister,
had lived in Rome for a number of years, as she had married, in 1803,
Camillo, Prince Borghese. She was soon separated from her husband, but
continued to reside in Rome, bearing the title of Duchess of Guastalla;
there she was housed in a fine palace, where she dwelt in a style of
easy magnificence. Pauline was one of the most beautiful women of this
time, and much of her charm and grace has been preserved in Canova's
famous statue, the _Venus Victrix_, for which she served as model.
The most hospitable palace in all Rome during the first quarter of the
century was that presided over by Signora Torlonia, Duchess of
Bracciano. Her husband, "old Torlonia," as he was familiarly called, was
a banker during the working hours of the day; but in the evening he
became the Duke of Bracciano, and no one questioned his right to the
title, as he was known to have paid good money for it. He had made
princes of his sons and noble ladies of his daughters, and his great
wealth had undoubtedly aided his plans. Madame Lenormant says of him:
"he was avaricious as a Jew, and sumptuous as the most magnificent
grand seigneur," and he seems to have been a most interesting character.
He lived in a beautiful palace upon the Corso, wherein was placed
Canova's _Hercules and Lycas_, and there he and his wife dispensed a
most open-handed hospitality. Madame Torlonia had been a beauty in her
day, and she was a very handsome woman even in her later years. Kind and
good-natured, she was like the majority of Italian women of her time--a
curious combination of devotion and gallantry. It is related of her that
she confided to a friend one day that she had taken great care to
prevent her husband's peace of mind from being disturbed by her somewhat
questionable conduct, and then added: "But he will be very much
surprised when the Day of Judgment comes!" The Torlonia palace was
practically the only princely house open to strangers, and it often
sheltered a most distinguished company. Among those who were entertained
there may be included Thorwaldsen, the great Danish sculptor, Madame
Recamier, Chateaubriand, Canova, Horace Vernet, the French painter, and
his charming daughter Louise, and the great musician Mendelssohn. The
last, in a letter written from Rome in 1831, makes the following
allusion to the Torlonias, which is not without interest: "Last night a
theatre that Torlonia [the son] has undertaken and organized was opened
with a new opera of Pacini's. The crowd was great and every box filled
with handsome, well-dressed people; young Torlonia appeared in a stage
box, with his mother, the old duchess, and they were immensely
applauded. The audience called out: _Bravo, Torlonia, grazie, grazie!_"
Italy had continued its reputation as the home of music, and now, as in
the eighteenth century, Italian singers, men and women, were wearing the
laurel in all the capitals of Europe. Among the women who were thus
celebrated the best known were Grassini, Catalani, Pasta, and Alboni.
Grassini was the daughter of a Lombardy farmer, and the expenses of her
musical education had been defrayed by General Belgioso, who was much
impressed with her wonderful voice and her charm of manner. Her debut at
La Scala was a wonderful success in spite of the fact that she then sang
in company with the two greatest Italian singers of the time,
Crescentini--one of the last of the male sopranos--and Marchesi. Later,
she attracted the attention of Bonaparte, and soon accompanied him to
Paris, anxious, it has been said, to play the role of Cleopatra to this
modern Caesar. Josephine's jealousy was aroused more than once by this
song bird of Italy, but she continued in the emperor's good graces for a
number of years, in spite of the fact that she was ever ready to follow
the whim of the moment and distributed her favors quite promiscuously.
In 1804 she was made directress of the Paris Opera, and some years
after, returning from a most wonderful London engagement, she sang in
_Romeo and Juliet_ with such effect that the usually impassive Napoleon
sprang to his feet, shouting like a schoolboy; the next day, as a
testimonial of his appreciation, he sent her a check for twenty thousand
francs.
Angelica Catalani first created a stir in the world at the age of
twelve, when, as a novice in the convent of Santa Lucia at Gubbio, in
the duchy of Urbino, she sang for the daily service in the little chapel
with such amazing sweetness that people came from all the neighborhood
to listen to her. After some preliminary training, which was undertaken
without the entire approval of the girl's father, Angelica was confided
to the care of the great teacher Marchesi, who soon put her in the front
rank of singers. Her success upon the stage was unquestioned, and her
voice was one of the most remarkable in all the history of music, being
a pure soprano, with a compass of nearly three octaves,--from G to
F,--and so clear and powerful that it rose fresh, penetrating, and
triumphant above the music of any band or orchestra which might be
playing her accompaniment. Bell-like in quality and ever true, this
voice lacked feeling, and while it never failed to awaken unbounded
enthusiasm, it rarely, if ever, brought a thrill of deeper emotion.
Giuditta Pasta, who became the lyric Siddons of her age, began her
career as an artist laboring under many disadvantages, for she lacked a
graceful personality and possessed a voice of but moderate power and
sweetness. One thing she did possess in full measure, however, and that
was an artistic temperament, which, combined with her unbounded ambition
and her ability for hard work, soon brought her public recognition. Her
simple but effective manner of singing and her wonderful histrionic
ability made all her work dignified and impressive; her representation
of the character of Medea, in Simon Mayer's opera by that name, has been
called the "grandest lyric impersonation in the records of art." When
the great actor Talma heard her in the days of her early success in
Paris, he said: "Here is a woman of whom I can still learn. One turn of
her beautiful head, one glance of her eye, one light motion of her hand,
is, with her, sufficient to express a passion." The whole continent was
at her feet--London, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Vienna showered
her with their _bravas_ and their gifts, and her native Italy went wild
at her approach. Her last great public performance was at Milan in 1832,
when, in company with Donizetti the tenor and the then inexperienced
Giulia Grisi, she sang the role of Norma, in Bellini's opera, which was
then given for the first time under the baton of the composer himself.
Alboni, the wonderful contralto who owed her early advancement and
training to the kindly interest of Rossini, Fanny Persiani, the daughter
of the hunchback tenor, Tacchinardi, who through her singing did more
than any other artist to make the music of Donizetti popular throughout
Europe--these and a number of other names might be mentioned to show
that Italy was now the fountain head of song, as in the Renaissance it
had been the home of the other fine arts.
This account of the triumphs of Italian women upon the continental stage
would be wholly incomplete without some reference to the incomparable
_danseuse_ La Taglioni, who will always occupy an important place in the
annals of Terpsichore. Without great personal charm, her success was due
to her wonderful skill, which was the result of the mercilessly severe
training that she had received from her father, Filippo Taglioni, who
was a ballet master of some repute. Born at Stockholm, where her father
was employed at the Royal Opera, she made her debut at Vienna, where she
created an immediate sensation. Hitherto ballet dancing had been
somewhat realistic and voluptuous, as illustrated by the performances of
the celebrated Madame Vestris, but La Taglioni put poetry and
imagination into her work, which was more ideal in character, and her
supremacy was soon unquestioned. Among her most remarkable performances
was the dancing of the _Tyrolienne_ in _Guillaume Tell_, and of the _pas
de fascination_ in _Robert le Diable_. In this mid-century period
dancing occupied a far more important place in opera than it has since,
but with the retirement of La Taglioni, in 1845, the era of grand
ballets came practically to an end. About her work there seems to have
been a subtle charm which no other modern _danseuse_ has ever possessed,
and her admirers were to be found in all ranks of society. Balzac often
mentions her, and Thackeray says in _The Newcomes_ that the young men
of the epoch "will never see anything so graceful as Taglioni in _La
Sylphide_."
With the final accomplishment of Italian unity and the establishment of
the court at Rome, there began a new life for the whole country, wherein
the position of the ruling family was decidedly difficult. At the outset
there was the opposition of the Vatican, for the pope was unwilling to
accept the inevitable and relinquish his temporal power with good grace;
and there was the greater problem, perhaps, of moulding into one
nationality the various peoples of the peninsula. Neapolitans and
Milanese, Venetians and Romans, were all so many different races, so far
as their history and traditions were concerned, and the task of making
them all Italians--which had been put upon the house of Savoy--was
fraught with much danger. It is too early yet to know with what complete
success this work will be crowned, but it may be safely said that Queen
Margharita, wife of Humbert I., did much to bring about that general
spirit of good will which has thus far been characteristic of united
Italy. Owing to the peculiar conditions of the situation, and the strong
local spirit which still endures everywhere, it was soon found that all
Italy would be slow in coming to the court at Rome, and so the court
decided to go to the country. Royal villas are scattered through the
different provinces, and it is customary for the king and his suite to
visit them with some frequency. During all this perambulating court
life, Queen Margharita became a popular favorite, in no less degree than
the king, and their democratic ways soon gained the love and esteem of
the people in general. The following incident will show to what extent
the queen was interested in the welfare of her subjects and what she was
able to accomplish by means of her ready wit. Certain towns along the
coast had become very prosperous through the manufacture of coral
ornaments of various kinds, and large numbers of women were given
lucrative employment in this work until, slowly, coral began to go out
of fashion, and then the industry commenced to diminish in importance.
It became, in fact, practically extinct, and so great was the misery
caused by the lack of work that the attention of the queen was called to
this pitiful situation. Instantly, by personal gifts, she relieved the
pressure of the moment, and then by deliberately wearing coral ornaments
in a most conspicuous way she restored their popularity and at the same
time brought back prosperity to the stricken villages. Since the death
of King Humbert, Margharita has naturally lived somewhat more in
retirement, but she has ever shown herself to be most eager to do
everything for her people and especially for the women of Italy. Much
progress in educational affairs has been brought about through her
influence; and to show her interest in the movement for the physical
training of women, which is slowly taking form, she has recently joined
an Alpine club, and has done not a little mountain climbing in spite of
the fact that she is no longer in the first bloom of youth.
The present queen, Helena of Montenegro, is beginning to enjoy the same
popularity, and there is every reason to believe that her reign will
continue, in a most worthy way, the traditions left by her predecessor.
The conditions attending the marriage of the heir apparent when he was
yet the Prince of Naples were such indeed as to win the sympathy and
approval of the whole nation. Before this marriage, Crispi, the Italian
premier, had tried to arrange for the young prince a match which might
have some political significance, and to this end he collected the
photographs of all the eligible princesses of Europe, put them together
in a beautiful album, and told his young master to look them over and
select a wife for himself. The prince gazed at them with but languid
interest, however, for these royal maidens were, most of them, strangers
to him; he finally announced to the astonished minister that he did not
intend to marry until he found a woman he loved! In this resolution he
was not to be shaken, and the Princess Helena, whom he made his wife, he
saw for the first time at the czar's coronation ceremonies at Moscow,
and it was a simple case of love at first sight. Such simplicity and
sincerity as are apparent in this real affection of the king and queen
for each other cannot fail to have a widespread influence.
The modern Italian woman is not an easy person to describe, as it would
be difficult to find one who might serve as a type for all the rest. In
general, it may be said that they are not so well educated as the women
in many other countries, and that so long as a woman is devout, and at
the same time domestic in her tastes, she is considered to possess the
most essential requisites of character and attainment. The women of the
peasant class work in the fields with the men; in the towns and cities
women help in their husbands' shops, as in France, and while they may
not always possess the energy and business skill which characterize the
French women, they are at least no more indolent and easy-going than
their male companions. The women of the nobility are often less educated
than their plebeian sisters, and for the most part lead a very narrow
and petty existence, which produces little but vanity and selfishness
and discontent. There are exceptions, however, and here and there may be
seen a gentlewoman who has studied and travelled, and made herself not
only a social but also an intellectual leader of distinction.
From a legal standpoint, the position of women differs in the various
provinces, for, while the written law may be the same throughout the
kingdom, local customs are often widely divergent. Villari, in his
recent book on Italian life, says that a woman's property is guaranteed
to her by law from any abuse on her husband's part; she has equal rights
of inheritance with her brothers, if her parents have made no will; and
there are few cases in which her rights are inferior to those of her
male relatives. Also, the woman is considered the natural and legal
guardian of her children, after the death of her husband. In spite of
this legal equality, the old idea of woman's inferior position still
crops out, and it is noticeable that a father, in bequeathing his
property, rarely leaves it to his daughters, but rather to his sons, and
often to the eldest son alone, as in the old feudal days. Social
conventions are not unlike those of other southern countries. For the
majority of women marriage is the one aim in life, and an unmarried
woman is shown little consideration and is the butt of much ridicule. In
the northern part of Italy, women are gaining a certain amount of
liberty in these latter days, and young girls of the better class may,
without causing much comment, go upon the street unattended. In the
south, however, the position of women is very different, and they are
still regarded in much the same way as are the women of Oriental
countries. The long years of Saracen rule are responsible for this
condition, which makes the woman little more than the slave of her
husband. It is said that in some country districts it is the custom for
the husband to lock his wife in the house whenever he goes from home,
and the usage is so well established that if the ceremony is omitted the
woman is inclined to think that some slight is intended.
With regard to the education of women, the law makes no distinction
between the sexes, and practically all schools, classical and technical,
under government control, and the universities, are open to both men
and women. Special schools, both public and private, have been
established exclusively for women, but they are not the rule. With
regard to matters of attendance, statistics show that the proportion of
women is larger in the universities than in the preparatory schools. As
yet, the legal profession is not open to women practitioners, but many
have pursued the study of medicine, and there are several who enjoy a
large and lucrative practice. With all these advantages, the ordinary
woman in Italy to-day rarely possesses what we would call an ordinary
education, and there is absolutely no public opinion in favor of it.
There are frequent bluestockings, it is true, but they have no influence
with the public, and are showing themselves entirely ineffectual in
forcing public opinion in this regard.
Though the great singers seem to come from Germany in these modern days,
Italy has held a distinguished place upon the boards for the last
half-century by reason of its great tragic actresses, Adelaide Ristori
and Eleonora Duse. Ristori was beginning her career in the fifties when
she went to Paris, where the great Rachel was in the very midst of her
triumph; and there in the French capital, in the very face of bitter
rivalry, she was able to prove her ability and make a name for herself.
Later, in the United States she met with a most flattering reception,
and for a season played with Edwin Booth in the Shakespearean
repertoire. Duse first came into public notice about 1895, when her
wonderful emotional power at once caused critics to compare her to
Bernhardt, and not always to the advantage of the great French
tragedienne. At one period her name became linked most unpleasantly with
that of the young Italian realist Gabriele d'Annunzio.
In modern Italian literature two women stand out conspicuously--Matilda
Serao and Ada Negri. The Signora Serao, who began life as a journalist,
is to-day the foremost woman writer of fiction in Italy, and her novels,
which are almost without exception devoted to the delineation of
Neapolitan life, are quite graphic and interesting, though her literary
taste is not always good and she sometimes lapses into the commonplace
and the vulgar. Also, she inclines somewhat toward the melodramatic,
and, like many of her brothers in literature, she is far from free from
what may best be termed "cheap sentiment." Ada Negri, who started in her
career as a modest school teacher in Lombardy, is a lyric poet of no
mean ability. She has taken up the cudgel for the poor and the weak and
the oppressed, and so thorough and genuine are her appreciation and
understanding of the life of the people, that she seems to have touched
many hearts. Singing as she does of the hard lot of the poor, and of the
many struggles of life, it is appropriate that the two volumes of her
verses which have appeared up to this time should bear the titles
_Fatalita_ and _Tempeste_.
Many other women have acquired honored positions in literature, and
woman's increased activity and prominence in all intellectual branches
is a condition which may well excite wonder. While from many points of
view unfortunately backward, the women of Italy are beginning to realize
their more serious possibilities, and it is safe to say that the more
advanced ideas regarding woman's work and her position in society, which
come as the inevitable consequence of modern civilization and education,
will soon bear fruit here as in other parts of the continent.
PART SECOND
SPANISH WOMEN