#i promessi sposi

[enchanting-chit-chat]

Beetlejuice's Backstory and the Black Plague 💚🕷️🥀💀 PART 1

I went and watched the new Beetlejuice movie twice already, can’t wait to share my thoughts! I’ve decided to make a series of posts mainly dedicated to people that are curious about the Black Plague era and BJ's past life. Join me for a historical dive that might make you appreciate Tim Burton’s work even more!

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for the 2024 movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Premise

In European countries, we often study the Black Plague in schools. In Italy specifically, the disease spread multiple times throughout the Middle Ages, with the two worst pandemics occurring around 1350 and 1630. The first one alone spread in many countries and caused a total of 20 million deaths - a THIRD of the population of the whole European continent at the time.

However, the 1630 outbreak is the one we know about the most, thanks to author Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873), who described it meticulously in his masterpiece, ‘I promessi sposi' (The Betrothed): This book is one of the most important works in Italian literature. Although it is a novel, it is often treated as historical evidence because Manzoni actually shaped the story referring to archival documents and chronicles of the time.

Introducing: Monatti, the corpse carriers

In his book, Manzoni recalls a group of people called 'monatti' - the only ones allowed to practice public services such as collecting the dead and washing roads during those hellish times. This concession was motivated by the fact that monatti were considered immune to the disease.

However, they were feared and hated by the rest of the population, because they often misused their ‘privileged’ position: they were untouchable. They often extorted money from the living and stole the belongings of the dead and the sick alike, without repercussions. What made them special was the fact that monatti typically gained immunity after surviving the disease themselves.

“Farewell to Cecilia,” one of the most heart-wrenching moments in Manzoni’s novel, beautifully captured by Francesco Gonin.

In fact, the Black Plague typically spread in three ways: through skin contact (bubonic plague), lungs (pneumonic plague) or blood infection (septicemic plague). The Bubonic form was, and still is, the most common and had the highest survival rate, though it was still quite low. It was easily identifiable because it caused the lymph nodes to swell and become infected, forming characteristic 'buboes'.

It was believed that if a plague victim survived five days, the fever would subside, and they would recover within two weeks. This is what usually happened to the monatti. Similarly, Renzo, the protagonist in Manzoni’s book, recovers, though he never becomes a public worker.

Now, let’s dive back into Beetlejuice’s backstory.

Amidst the eerie glow of moonlight, he's depicted among corpses, at night, behind a wagon, stealing from the dead that were just thrown into a communal pit by plague doctors.

Notice how he’s directly touching the bodies with his bare hands, without any protection: usually, that was considered a death sentence.

In Manzoni’s book, there is a character that meets their end in a similar way, simply by touching the clothes of an infected person. During that era, the danger was so great that people used to burn the bodies of the plague victims along with their clothes, beds, and other possessions.

It is also worth mentioning that, during plague outbreaks, some city governments (particularly in Italy and Poland) imposed strict limitations on the movement of people and goods. In some areas, a nighttime curfew was also enforced (Yes, we invented the lockdown centuries ago!). Under those circumstances, being caught outside your own house at the wrong hour could mean instant death. But guess who had the freedom to roam as they pleased? Yes, monatti and plague doctors (and those with special permits).

Conclusion: Beetlejuice wasn’t just 'a humble grave robber', as he claims. He was definitely a plague survivor and, most likely, a monatto.

The fact that this scene was unveiled and narrated in Italian during the Venice Film Festival further convinces me that this is the correct interpretation of the sequence.

So, what do we think? Have you ever heard or read about The Betrothed before? Anyways, if you liked this analysis, make sure to check out PART 2, in which we can delve even deeper into Beetlejuice’s mysterious past!

Until then, have a fantastic week! ✨

[trecciolinoooooo]

e la sventurata rispose

[the-evil-pizza]

Alessandro Manzoni, circa 1600 in his famous novel: Italians are stupid and racist. They get riled up for little things but let those in power walk all over and manipulate them for what truly matters. We can but hope the next generations will be better

Me, reading it in 2024: Alessà, you will NOT like what I'm about to tell you

[www-pinkhearse]

This is a monanca di monza fanblog

[pietroleopoldo]

[ladyofmelk]

have you ever wanted to read about a character that's a mix between alyosha, katya and grushenka from the brothers karamazov? no? idc let me introduce you to Gertrude/the Nun of Monza from italian cult classic (unfortunately) The Betrothed !!

Her story only takes two chapters of the novel but it's so fascinating as a standalone.

To put it short, Gertrude's a young noblewoman tormented by love and passion that she can't freely express, and her family uses her guilt against her to make her abide to their wishes (punishments), ultimately resulting in her being forced to enter a monastery and having an affair in the dramatic pursuit of freedom and power. From her wiki page:

[she's] a tragic figure, a bitter, frustrated, sexually deprived and ambiguous woman.

You don't need to know much about the background info, just keep in mind that

It's a historical novel set in 17th century northern Italy under spanish occupation (to mirror the austrian occupation of the same areas occurring at the time the book was written - two centuries later)

Gertrude has to look after a peasant girl named Lucia (and her mother Agnese) as she's hiding from a local nobleman (don Rodrigo) who wants to kidnap/deflower her, and for this reason she's had to part ways with her fiancé Renzo

She's actually inspired by a real person, sister Virginia Maria (born Marianna de Leyva), a noblewoman who was forced to become a nun and had an illicit affair with a man + gave birth to his children in secret.

The man (count Osio) killed three people to hide the affair and was sentenced to death for starvation.

There was also trial against Virginia (ordered by archbishop Federico Borromeo, a historical character that actually appears in the book and saves everyone's ass) and she was sent to be basically buried alive in a monastery in Milan; she survived but decided to remain in the convent till the day she died.

Chapters in english:

(No idea why they translated their names, just know half of them are either spanish or italian)

Life of Marianna de Leyva:

(i suggest going to the italian page and using google translate for more info though)

[bucketsandraincoats]

tell me about your hyperfixation

im gonna talk about i promessi sposi babeyyyyy (the betrothed in english)

it was written by Alessandro Manzoni, a madman who sets it in the 1600s (sure great) but also pretends its a manuscript *from* the 1600s that he just found and translated into 1800s italian. There's an introduction written in 1600s italian and frequent mentions that he didn't actually write the novel. It was written in the first half of the 1800s and published officially after several versions because Manzoni originally writes it in northern italian dialect and then goes and tuscan-izes it a couple times over (which why its super important to the development of italian as a unified language! Italian wouldn't be the way it is today if it weren't for Manzoni deciding to use Florentine dialect for his book)

The plot is basically about this poor couple who just wants to get married, but, like, everything goes wrong for them. Renzo is always two seconds away from pulling his knife on people. He holds a priest hostage and leads a popular revolt. Lucia is unfortunately less interesting imo but she's God's favourite while also always remaining just some farmer from Lombardy. There's a redemption arc before redemption arcs were cool. There's a nun with a tragic backstory who has killed a person. There's a friar with a tragic backstory who has killed a person. There's old man clergy yaoi if you squint. The entire thing is a not-so-subtle fuck you to the Austrians occupying Italy during Manzoni's time

[bainisintoomanyfandoms]

God, my obsession for The betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni is getting worse by the hour

[tired-as-a-lifestyle]

‘i promessi sposi’ dovrebbe in realtà essere una commedia, change my mind

il caos che scaturisce quando provano ad ingannare Don Abbondio è troppo divertente per non essere comico

[the-tenth-arcanum]

do non italian speakers know much at all about the betrothed? do you guys even know about suor gertrude

[the-evil-pizza]

Alessandro Manzoni: 5 pages describing some bushes

Alessandro Manzoni: ANYWAY, this plot important kidnapping happens in 2 sentences

[giuliettacapuleti]

*Note: some of these already have English translations, but they are questionable at best.

[cocrante]

When I was studying "I Promessi Sposi" in high school, and we reached the chapter where the Unnamed kidnaps Lucia, my first ship stood before me.

At the time it didn't seem wrong to me, and perhaps I don't think it's wrong even now. I liked that a dark, sinful, violent, and godless man had been touched by the innocence of a woman and enveloped in her light until he found his lost faith. Certainly, this was the message of the chapter, but when I was younger, I thought that the Unnamed had fallen in love because when we are moved by love, we abandon everything of ourselves to meet the expectations of the person we want by our side. Perhaps Lucia couldn't have simply reciprocated, but that doesn't matter: love is not only manifested in the flesh but also in our emotions.

[unbeaumonstre]

HELMUT BERGER in I promessi sposi (1989)

[koifishanonymous]

ALL I WANT TO DO IS DRAW WHY AM I STUDYING THE BETROTHED BY MANZONY RN GET ME OUT OF HERE

[ladyofmelk]

gm with italian old men yaoi (federigo borromeo x l'innominato)