Romola (Penguin Classics)

by George Eliot (Author), Dorothea Barrett (Introduction), George Eliot (Author), Dorothea Barrett (Introduction), George Eliot (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  1996

  $13.44

  One of George Eliot's most ambitious and imaginative novels, Romola is set in Renaissance Florence during the turbulent years following the expulsion of the powerful Medici family during which the zealous religious reformer Savonarola rose to control the city. At its heart is Romola, the devoted daughter of a blind scholar, married to the clever but ultimately treacherous Tito whose duplicity in both love and politics threatens to destroy everything she values, and she must break away to find her own path in life. Described by Eliot as 'written with my best blood', the story of Romola's intellectual and spiritual awakening is a compelling portrayal of a Utopian heroine, played out against a turbulent historical backdrop.

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $3.46

  Set in late 15th-century Italy, in the Renaissance Florence of Machiavelli and the Medicis, Romola (1862-3) is the most exotic and adventurous of George Eliot's novels. It reconstructs a turning-point in the intellectual history of Europe by charting the career and martyrdom of the charismatic religious leader Savonarola, who rebelled against the humanist spirit of the age and burned books on a bonfire of vanities . Interwoven with these momentous public events is the personal story of Romola de' Bardi, the most inspirational of George Eliot's heroines, and Tito Melema, the most unscrupulous of her villains. Of all her novels Romola was Eliot's favourite, I felt some wonder that anyone should think I had written anything better . She was later to remark, I could swear by every sentance as having been written with my best blood. The text is taken from the authoritative Clarendon edition. The notes provide bibliographical information on the numerous historical figures in the novel, identify quotations and literary, biblical and mythological allusions, explains historical and topographical references, and gives translations of all Italian words and phrases.