Vanina Vanini
Encyclopedia
Vanina Vanini is the title of a story by Stendhal
(1783-1842), the nom de plume of Marie-Henri Beyle. Set in 1830s during the early Risorgimento, when Italy
was under Austrian control, it concerns the love affair of a young Roman princess and a revolutionary carbonaro.
Vanina finds another window that lets out on the same terrace, and looks through into the mysterious room. There, she sees a wounded woman lying in bed, as well as bloodstained woman's clothing that seems to have been pierced many times with a knife. She observes her father come up to the room and speak to the woman, though she cannot hear what the two are saying. Vanina is fascinated by the mysterious woman, and when, one evening, the woman sees Vanina spying, Vanina falls to her knees and tells the woman that she loves her and is devoted to her.
The woman, who gives her name as Clementina, asks Vanina to visit her every day, but to keep the visits a secret from her father. Vanina wonders why the woman is hurt and must stay hidden; perhaps she has rejected a powerful man, or killed her lover. Clementina does not want the assistance of a surgeon, because surgeons are required to report wounds that they treat to the police, but Vanina offers to bring her a surgeon loyal to the family.
The woman then reveals that she is in fact a man, Pietro Missirilli, a carbonaro and the nineteen-year-old son of a surgeon from Sant'Angelo in Vado
. Missirilli's group had been ambushed and he taken in chains to Rome, but after thirteen months, he was helped to escape in disguise as a woman. However, as he left the prison, in a moment of folly he struck and killed a guard who cursed the carbonari, and was pursued through Rome and wounded. Finding himself in the garden of Countess Vitelleschi, Don Asdrubale's mistress, he was spirited away in the latter's carriage. Don Asdrubale has thus saved his life, but he is dying of his wound.
That night, a surgeon arrives alone: Vanina's pride has been wounded by Missirilli's confession, and she does not want to see him. She is conflicted, struggling between love and pride, but eventually returns and confesses her love; soon after there is "nothing left that she could withhold from him."
Four months later, Missirilli is recovered, and Vanina thinks that he will be happy to remain with her, but he wants to take revenge and liberate Italy. Several times he plans to leave, but she persuades him to stay; she offers to marry him, but he refuses her in the interest of Italian liberation, and his nobility makes her love him more.
Missirilli goes to Forlì
in Romagna
, where he is made the leader of a band of carbonari. Vanina joins him there, giving a great deal of money and arms to his band; he is entirely occupied by his plans and his patriotism. She utterly fails to get him to show her love, but is too proud to leave him, so, via a former serving-maid, she denounces every member of Missirilli's band of carbonari, save Missirilli himself, to the authorities, hoping that this will end his plans and reunite him with her.
Instead, Missirilli turns himself in — he does not want his compatriots to think, because he was the only one not captured, that he was the traitor. He asks Vanina to avenge him against whoever betrayed them, "even if it should be my own father."
Vanina tries to win Missirilli's freedom: she gets her suitor Livio Savelli, nephew to the governor of Rome, to bring her information and to gain places in the governor's household and at Castel Sant'Angelo
for two of her own servants, saying that these are tests of Savelli's worthiness. The other carbonari's sentences are commuted by the Pope to a few years in prison, but Missirilli is condemned to death.
Vanina enters the house of Monsignor Catanzara, the governor of Rome, disguised as a man, and threatens him with a pistol, having unloaded his own pistol before he came home. She maneuvers the situation into a joke, a visit paid by a lady to her future uncle. She succeeds in getting him to try to commute the sentence; besides her persuasion, he is also motivated by the thought that he is still young and may see a day when the execution will be a stain on his character. Msgr. Catanzara obtains the pardon from the Pope.
When Missirilli and the other carbonari are transferred to a new prison, Vanina arranges to meet him in a chapel at midnight, where he will be chained and in sight of a jailer, but where their conversation will not be overheard. Vanina hopes that he still loves her enough to pardon her treachery.
Missirilli expresses regret for their affair, thinking that his misfortunes are punishment for having a passion other than Italian liberation. He wishes to remain friends, advises Vanina to marry Savelli, and promises that the money she contributed to the cause will be repaid when Italy is free. Vanina gives him the jewels she is wearing, and he asks her to forget him.
Vanina angrily tells him everything she has done to save his life; then she says that she has done much more out of love for him, and reveals her betrayal. Missirilli, outraged, tries to kill her with his chains, but the jailer rushes in and restrains him. He throws back at her the jewels she has just given him. Shortly after, she returns to Rome and marries Livio Savelli.
(1906-1977) adapted this story to a film of the same title
in 1961 starring Sandra Milo
(Vanina) and Laurent Terzieff
(Pietro). On 1963, the East German television
had broadcast a film based on the novel, starring Annekathrin Bürger in the title role, Peter Sturm
as Asdrubale and Alfred Struwe
as Savelli.
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
(1783-1842), the nom de plume of Marie-Henri Beyle. Set in 1830s during the early Risorgimento, when Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was under Austrian control, it concerns the love affair of a young Roman princess and a revolutionary carbonaro.
Synopsis
Vanina Vanini, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a Roman aristocrat, Don Asdrubale Vanini, is sought after by all the young princes of Rome, but refuses them all, for of "the same [reason] that led Sulla to abdicate: her contempt for the Romans." When she notices that her usually carefree father is taking pains to lock up one room in his palace, and that a window in that room that was closed when she left is open, she begins to investigate.Vanina finds another window that lets out on the same terrace, and looks through into the mysterious room. There, she sees a wounded woman lying in bed, as well as bloodstained woman's clothing that seems to have been pierced many times with a knife. She observes her father come up to the room and speak to the woman, though she cannot hear what the two are saying. Vanina is fascinated by the mysterious woman, and when, one evening, the woman sees Vanina spying, Vanina falls to her knees and tells the woman that she loves her and is devoted to her.
The woman, who gives her name as Clementina, asks Vanina to visit her every day, but to keep the visits a secret from her father. Vanina wonders why the woman is hurt and must stay hidden; perhaps she has rejected a powerful man, or killed her lover. Clementina does not want the assistance of a surgeon, because surgeons are required to report wounds that they treat to the police, but Vanina offers to bring her a surgeon loyal to the family.
The woman then reveals that she is in fact a man, Pietro Missirilli, a carbonaro and the nineteen-year-old son of a surgeon from Sant'Angelo in Vado
Sant'Angelo in Vado
Sant'Angelo in Vado is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about 90 km west of Ancona and about 50 km southwest of Pesaro....
. Missirilli's group had been ambushed and he taken in chains to Rome, but after thirteen months, he was helped to escape in disguise as a woman. However, as he left the prison, in a moment of folly he struck and killed a guard who cursed the carbonari, and was pursued through Rome and wounded. Finding himself in the garden of Countess Vitelleschi, Don Asdrubale's mistress, he was spirited away in the latter's carriage. Don Asdrubale has thus saved his life, but he is dying of his wound.
That night, a surgeon arrives alone: Vanina's pride has been wounded by Missirilli's confession, and she does not want to see him. She is conflicted, struggling between love and pride, but eventually returns and confesses her love; soon after there is "nothing left that she could withhold from him."
Four months later, Missirilli is recovered, and Vanina thinks that he will be happy to remain with her, but he wants to take revenge and liberate Italy. Several times he plans to leave, but she persuades him to stay; she offers to marry him, but he refuses her in the interest of Italian liberation, and his nobility makes her love him more.
Missirilli goes to Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
in Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
, where he is made the leader of a band of carbonari. Vanina joins him there, giving a great deal of money and arms to his band; he is entirely occupied by his plans and his patriotism. She utterly fails to get him to show her love, but is too proud to leave him, so, via a former serving-maid, she denounces every member of Missirilli's band of carbonari, save Missirilli himself, to the authorities, hoping that this will end his plans and reunite him with her.
Instead, Missirilli turns himself in — he does not want his compatriots to think, because he was the only one not captured, that he was the traitor. He asks Vanina to avenge him against whoever betrayed them, "even if it should be my own father."
Vanina tries to win Missirilli's freedom: she gets her suitor Livio Savelli, nephew to the governor of Rome, to bring her information and to gain places in the governor's household and at Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...
for two of her own servants, saying that these are tests of Savelli's worthiness. The other carbonari's sentences are commuted by the Pope to a few years in prison, but Missirilli is condemned to death.
Vanina enters the house of Monsignor Catanzara, the governor of Rome, disguised as a man, and threatens him with a pistol, having unloaded his own pistol before he came home. She maneuvers the situation into a joke, a visit paid by a lady to her future uncle. She succeeds in getting him to try to commute the sentence; besides her persuasion, he is also motivated by the thought that he is still young and may see a day when the execution will be a stain on his character. Msgr. Catanzara obtains the pardon from the Pope.
When Missirilli and the other carbonari are transferred to a new prison, Vanina arranges to meet him in a chapel at midnight, where he will be chained and in sight of a jailer, but where their conversation will not be overheard. Vanina hopes that he still loves her enough to pardon her treachery.
Missirilli expresses regret for their affair, thinking that his misfortunes are punishment for having a passion other than Italian liberation. He wishes to remain friends, advises Vanina to marry Savelli, and promises that the money she contributed to the cause will be repaid when Italy is free. Vanina gives him the jewels she is wearing, and he asks her to forget him.
Vanina angrily tells him everything she has done to save his life; then she says that she has done much more out of love for him, and reveals her betrayal. Missirilli, outraged, tries to kill her with his chains, but the jailer rushes in and restrains him. He throws back at her the jewels she has just given him. Shortly after, she returns to Rome and marries Livio Savelli.
Adaptations
Roberto RosselliniRoberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:Born in Rome, Roberto Rossellini lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had...
(1906-1977) adapted this story to a film of the same title
Vanina Vanini (film)
Vanina Vanini also known as The Betrayer is a 1961 Italian drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini.-Plot summary:Vanina Vanini, a bored, spoiled Roman countess, falls in love with a dedicated young patriot who is in Rome to assassinate a traitor to the brotherhood of the Free Masons.-Cast:*Sandra...
in 1961 starring Sandra Milo
Sandra Milo
Sandra Milo is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in Federico Fellini's 8½ and Juliet of the Spirits, winning a Silver Ribbon best supporting actress award for each film.-Career:...
(Vanina) and Laurent Terzieff
Laurent Terzieff
Laurent Terzieff was a French actor.- Biography :Laurent Terzieff was the son of a plastician and of Jean Terzieff, a Russian sculptor who emigrated to France during the First World War. The original surname of his family was Čemerzin.The spectacle of the bombardments had a dramatic effect on...
(Pietro). On 1963, the East German television
Deutscher Fernsehfunk
Deutscher Fernsehfunk , known from 1972 to 1990 as Fernsehen der DDR , was the state television broadcaster in East Germany.-Foundation:...
had broadcast a film based on the novel, starring Annekathrin Bürger in the title role, Peter Sturm
Peter Sturm
Not to be confused with the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control director by the same name.Josef Michel Dischel , known by his adopted stage name Peter Sturm, was an Austrian and an East German actor.-Early life:Josef Michel Dischel was born into a religious Jewish family...
as Asdrubale and Alfred Struwe
Alfred Struwe
Alfred Struwe was a German actor, best known for his television role as Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in Zahn um Zahn....
as Savelli.