I Malavoglia

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I Malavoglia is the best known novel by Giovanni Verga. It was first printed in 1881.

This work belongs to the Ciclo dei vinti, together with Mastro-don Gesualdo, and La Duchessa di Leira, L'Onorevole Scipioni and L'uomo di lusso, works which face with the problem of progress. La Duchessa di Leira remained only a draft, while the last two novels planned for the Ciclo were not even started.

I Malavoglia deals with a family of fishermen who work and live in Aci Trezza, a small Sicilian village near Catania. The novel possesses a coral aspect, and depicts characters united by the same culture, but divided by ancient rivalries.

The writer adopts the impersonality technique, reproducing some features of the dialect and adapting himself to the point of view of the characters. In doing so, he renounces the customary mediation of the narrator.