# Ferrante Palla — The Charterhouse of Parma character guide

> Ferrante Palla in The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Ferrante, the famous Ferrante Palla, Poor Ferrante, Signor Ferrante Palla, Palla

**First appearance:** 0012-xi

## Snapshot

An impoverished poet and revolutionary who recites sonnets in the woods of Sacca and nurses a hopeless, dangerous love for the Duchessa Sanseverina.

## Who they are

Ferrante Palla lives as an outlaw in the forests outside Parma, a man whose verses the Duchessa judges equal to the finest written in Italy in two centuries, and whose republican fury the authorities would happily hang. He refuses every valuable gift for his children yet cannot govern his passion for the Duchessa, who eventually forbids him to speak to her; he obeys with perfect docility. His genius and his volatility make him both a weapon and a liability in the Duchessa's schemes, and his hidden chamber in the Palazzo Sanseverina becomes a secret that ties his fate to Fabrizio's.

## Relationships

### [Duchessa Sanseverina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters/duchessa_sanseverina)

_psychological_

The Duchessa manipulates the impoverished, revolutionary poet Ferrante, using his love for her to secure his services for murder.

### [Duchessa Sanseverina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters/duchessa_sanseverina)

_psychological_

The Duchessa manipulates the impoverished, revolutionary poet Ferrante, using his love for her to secure his services for murder.

### [Duchessa Sanseverina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters/duchessa_sanseverina)

_psychological_

The Duchessa manipulates the impoverished, revolutionary poet Ferrante, using his love for her to secure his services for murder.

## In the story

### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/chapters/xxi)

Offers his life to the Duchessa, agrees to poison the Prince, and is disguised as a Capuchin.

### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/chapters/xxiii)

Mentioned in the Duchessa's thoughts as a potential source of danger if caught.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters/ferrante_palla
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_charterhouse_of_parma_se/characters