The Charterhouse of Parma · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal.

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Chapter 1
To the Reader
The author explains the origins of the story, which was written in the winter of 1830, far from Paris, and based on a tale told by a Canon's nephew in Padua. The narrative is drawn from the Canon's journal and concerns the Duchessa Sanseverina and the intrigues of the Parma court. The author notes that the Italian characters differ from French ones in their sincerity and passion, and that he has left their natural asperities intact while adding moral censure.
Chapter 2
The Charterhouse of Parma
The final chapter depicts Fabrizio's retreat to the Charterhouse of Parma after the death of his son Sandrino and Clelia's vow to never see him again. He spends a year in pious solitude, visited occasionally by the Duchessa and Mosca, before dying of a fever. The Duchessa and Mosca survive him, with the Duchessa passing away shortly after, and Mosca retiring to a comfortable life in Milan.
Chapter 3
I
The chapter opens with the entry of General Bonaparte into Milan on May 15, 1796, marking a dramatic shift in Lombard society from a sleepy, despotically ruled state to a passionate, heroic age. It introduces the del Dongo family at their castle in Grianta, focusing on the young Fabrizio, his pious mother the Marchesa, his sullen father the Marchese, and his brilliant aunt the Contessa Pietranera. Fabrizio, neglected in his education but favored by his aunt, is recalled from Milan to the castle, where his father and elder brother engage in secret correspondence with Vienna. The Marchesa worries about Fabrizio's ignorance and his Jesuit-influenced fanaticism, while Fabrizio spends his days hunting and boating, befriending the pro-French servants.
Chapter 4
II
Fabrizio, determined to join Napoleon, receives money and diamonds from his mother and sisters, then flees to Switzerland and on to Paris, where he is robbed by false friends. He buys horses and a servant and heads to the frontier, but is detained by soldiers. Meanwhile, the Contessa Pietranera, widowed and impoverished, rejects her suitor Limercati and eventually accepts her brother the Marchese's offer to return to Grianta. The chapter also introduces Priore Blanès, an astrologer who tutors Fabrizio and leads nocturnal fishing expeditions on Lake Como.
Chapter 5
III
Fabrizio, after being robbed and betrayed, wanders the battlefield in search of his regiment. He meets a kind vivandière who feeds him and advises him on soldiering. He buys a new horse and eventually joins an escort of generals, including Marshal Ney, experiencing the chaos and noise of battle for the first time.

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To the Reader

The Charterhouse of Parma

I

II

III