La maschera e il corpo. Emblemi del moderno nella novellistica verghiana

Carefully examining the theme of the carnival and of the mask in Verga’s narrative, the critical essay intends to bring out the alienat- ed and upset nature that the urban modernity takes on in the artistic representation of the writer, the instincts of death and self-destruc- tion that pass through it at his sight. The analysis of the novel Lib- ertà, which the essay proposes an original interpretation, is essential for this purpose.