Eco's 'Island of the Day Before' and the Anatomy of Jealousy

Umberto Eco's 1994 novel 'L'isola del giorno prima' (The Island of the Day Before), published by Bompiani, explores jealousy through its protagonist Roberto de la Grive, a shipwrecked man stranded on the abandoned vessel Daphne in 1643. The narrative unfolds via flashbacks centered on the Battle of Casale Monferrato and Roberto's love for a mysterious lady. In Chapter 28, 'Dell'Origine dei Romanzi,' Eco delves into jealousy as a 'transport that from an imagined evil draws a real pain,' describing the jealous person as a 'hypochondriac who becomes ill for fear of being so.' Roberto's jealousy arises from suspicion that his brother Ferrante has replaced him in Paris, courting the lady. Eco posits that jealousy is 90% imagination, fueled by distance and separation. Roberto sublimates his jealousy by writing a novel about his life, entering the 'Paese dei Romanzi' (Country of Novels), where he gains mythopoeic power to create and resolve stories at will. Writing becomes a therapy to escape jealousy's 'gnawing.' The article, by Arianna Capirossi for MIfacciodiCultura, was first published on Artspecialday.