Italian Ladies, Sexy Men, Good Drinks, and A Little about Literature[1]

Rome and its literature definitely echo each other. Whether you are walking through ruins, going to a museum, or visiting a Roman restaurant or bar, you are experiencing the literature of Rome as well. You may stop and ask yourself why I say this. First, many of the writers who lived in Rome wrote extensively of their travels there as well as of the culture of Rome. Roman history lives on through the literature, as the literature lives on through Rome today.

One of the authors we read in class was Edith Wharton. Being an English major, as well as someone who has always been interested in literature, I have had previous experience with her writing. When I was in ninth grade, my school library had a book sale and at that sale I bought Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence, read it, and fell in love with it. I think I read it at least three times during high school. This lead to me to read more of Wharton’s work so when we read the short story, “Roman Fever” I mostly knew what to expect. And as I walked through Rome with the rest of our group, or alone, I could see evidence of Roman Fever in the romantic atmosphere that sometimes pervaded the environment. For example, in a restaurant it wasn’t uncommon to see a couple sharing a bottle of wine with their pasta as they obviously enjoyed one another’s company. Also, it wasn’t uncommon for a female American tourist to meet a local Roman man and spend a little too much time with him, perhaps even making promises she knew she could not keep.

Of course, Roman Fever carries its own deadly end, as it did for Daisy Miller in Henry James’ work. “Daisy Miller” recounts the tale of a naïve young American tourist who is staying in Rome with her mother and brother. She is away from her father, which may help explain why she constantly searches out the company of men. She is probably trying to find that father figure whom has left her alone in Rome with her obsessively ill mother and young, bratty brother. But it is this drive for the company of men that leads to her death when she stays out too late with a local Roman man, who seems of questionable character. Though I never heard actual tales of this happening in Rome, the literature often mentions the dangers of Roman Fever, and as a tourist traveling through Rome, I too felt the potential danger in letting oneself go, even though I probably did from time to time. But when in Rome it seems appropriate to do what the Romans do.

Another aspect of Italian culture is the history within its literature. For example, in class we read about how women were perceived through popular literature written by male Roman authors. One example of this literature detailed the prevalence of women existing as witches. As I visited Roman museums, I saw evidence of the unfair treatment of women in its art. For instance, women were often shown being subservient to men in some way. In one piece of art, whose title I do not recall, there was a rendition of a woman being trampled by a man’s horse while the man gloriously lifted one arm into the air. In another work of art, a man held onto the hair of a woman right before he apparently was to slash her neck.

These images, as well as others, demonstrate the views of women held by many Romans during ancient times as well as in the present. While traveling through Rome, I did not see many examples of this horrendous treatment of women in contemporary culture, though I did notice some interesting advertisements where women were shown as merely sexual beings, though this is common in American advertisements, too. However, in Italy, this problem seemed more prevalent as I saw one ad where a woman was completely nude and the viewer could see just about every part of her body. Also, her pose was highly sexualized, which is something you would not see in an American ad. In American ads, certain parts of her body would be more obstructed or blurred out, though the pose may be as similar. Meanwhile, in a store window, I saw a mannequin posed with her legs spread apart. Nowhere in America have I seen mannequins posed in this fashion.  These images lead me to believe that women are still treated unfairly.

Obviously, this treatment of women is not only concurrent to advertisements or art. All of the Italian women I saw walking the streets were incredibly made up in regard to make up and dress. Even a street worker I saw one morning on a Roman street was wearing makeup and had fancy jewelry on, despite the fact she was wearing an orange suit to clean the streets. Granted, American women also strive to look their best, but we often dress applicably for whatever we are about to do that day. For example, as a teacher I always wear something appropriate to teaching. What I wear may not be considered dressy, but I believe it looks nice. However, if I were to go clean the streets, I would just wear some clothes I did not care about and no make up whatsoever, as I would not see a point. But apparently, in Italy, if you are a woman you must always look your best. And I do not feel this motif is strictly Italian as most European women dress up whenever they know they will be seen in public.

Moving away from gender, another aspect of Rome we looked at, which I briefly discussed already though not in any particular context, was Rome’s history. In class we viewed the film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Cesar. While in Rome, we were guided to the place of Cesar’s death, which now stands in ruins. All that remains are remnants of buildings or temples and a square where centuries ago the body of Cesar lay dead. What surprised me about this area was that it seemed smaller than I imagined. Perhaps I imagined the place larger because of the historical context. Either way, it seemed like an empty, sad area with just a small place marked by some stones and a tree. Though I did not expect the area to be in great condition, or even fair condition, I did expect something more grandiose. Perhaps a gold or marble statue to tell visitors this was the spot Cesar died and explain something about that March day. Instead, our guide merely pointed out the spot very briefly and some of us took pictures before we moved on.

Speaking of literary figures like Shakespeare, the best part of the Italy trip for me, being a big dork, was visiting the John Keats and Percy Shelley house. The poet I first fell in love with was John Keats, so having the opportunity to visit the place he lived for a time and later died was very important to me. Inside, I couldn’t help but be amazed that the original tiled ceiling still remained and I kept looking up imagining that John Keats had done the same thing upon waking each morning. Also, I left feeling impressed that so much had survived since that time, such as letters and furniture. The only disappointing part was that really none of John Keats’ original belongings remained as they were burned because he died of Tuberculosis.  When people died of the dreaded consumption, the remaining family members or other people close to the victim would burn the objects of those who died from it in order to prevent infection, which really didn’t work in the first place. Because of this, the furniture in the Keats room did not originally belong to Keats, though it felt amazing to be in the room he had once inhabited and sadly died in.

The topic of death brings me to my favorite tour during the trip: The Dark Heart of Rome Tour, given by the very sexy Angelo who reminded many of us of an Italian (though he was Australian) version of Johnny Depp. Not only did he look very handsome, but he also had the vivacity and gesticulations of Johnny Depp, as well as that hint of the enigmatic personality Depp produces. Anyway, the tour was amazing all by itself as he guided us to a church where inside everyday objects such as a chair or chandelier were constructed from human bones to the spot where miracles occurred because of a portrait of the Virgin Mary. After the tour, all of us in our group took a photo with the very hunky Angelo, under Elizabeth’s wise urging, before we scattered off to have very sweet dreams about our handsome guide.

However, not all guides were handsome. In fact, Angelo was pretty much the only sexy guide we had. (“Had” as in for a guide, not in any other way unfortunately.)  Not that this is relevant to anything academic, but I think it is important to note. Yet, all our guides were interesting and had more than their share of personality. Our first guide, whose name I already forgot, wore a very old fashioned suit and kind of resembled a character from a Lemony Snicket book. A part of me believed him to be relatively harmless, yet I felt he could also be daring and/or nefarious, though that observation probably doesn’t make any sense to anyone but me. Ah, well.

Moving on, it is hard to determine what I enjoyed most about Rome and Italy. Certainly, a lot of things struck me as I wasn’t expecting the magnitude of apartment complexes and tiny automobiles. I guess I just never thought about the lack of space as space is something I truly take for granted. I adore my space and don’t know how I could deal without it. Sorrento was a great town to be in as it was not as obtrusive as Rome felt and I just liked the feel. Sorrento had everything: a college-town like atmosphere coupled with really great shopping areas and restaurants. The people seemed kinder in Sorrento as well. Romans could be rather snobbish, though they certainly knew how to have a good time, which is an asset I appreciate in anyone, no matter how questionable their character. (There were a few questionable characters as well, but I digress.) No matter what aspect of Italy I look at, even the negative ones, I appreciate everything I experienced. I really became acculturated much faster than I thought I would. Coming home was a strange reunion and it took at least a week to adjust to my own life here. Frankly, I had forgotten about my normal routines. Sure, I missed my boyfriend and friends, but I forgot about the things we all used to do together like go out for a drink or dance to bad music in my boyfriend’s kitchen.

 I wish to say that overall, I enjoyed the class and not just because I had the opportunity to travel to Italy, but I also enjoyed meeting all the people who went on the trip and learning all I could about Italian life, literature, and culture.  I hope others take this opportunity in the future and I know they will enjoy it just as much as I did and hopefully learn from it as well.