V as violence, V as vengeance

The resistance of women in Paola Drigo’s novel Maria Zef

Abstract

Paola Drigo (1876-1938) was an important and original voice of Italian literature and many critics consider her to be one of the most important writers of the first half of the 20th century. The main themes that the writer faced during her literary production seem very different: we go from an initial phase in which the description of the sparkling and empty environments of the rich bourgeoisie in which she lived prevails, to a more mature phase in which the writer places humble, poor and marginal women at the center of her stories, weakened by fate and overcome by misfortunes.

When she published Maria Zef in 1936, the novel caused a stir among the Italian literary community, because it dealt with subjects, considered taboo, harshly and openly, with an evident desire for denunciation and a sometimes disarming simplicity.

The plot, actually quite stark, revolves around three female figures who are at the center of the narrative plot and from whose relationships the fundamental dynamics of the novel originate. However, this simplicity is only apparent, since the novel proceeds intelligently through the presentation of some clues that will lead to a final epiphany, which will be followed by a destructive and decisive gesture, a gesture widely justified by the premises. The ending is worthy of a Greek tragedy: the fatal component dominates, the intertwining of destinies, fallen in luck to ignorant humans, and inevitably death assumes the dimension of the event necessary to satisfy the thirst for a just revenge.