Giovanni Verga's Literary Exploration of Labor and Class in Post-Unification Italy

Giovanni Verga (Vizzini, 2 September 1840 – Catania, 27 January 1922) is examined for his portrayal of work and social division in post-unification Italy, where the industrial North prospered while the South clung to rural identity. Literary critic Asor Rosa noted Verga's rejection of progressive ideology as key to his success. Verga shifted from bourgeois narratives to depictions of Sicilian peasant communities, as seen in I Malavoglia (1881), where protagonist padron 'Ntoni declares attachment to his land. The novel contrasts traditional values with the pursuit of wealth, a theme continued in Mastro-don Gesualdo and the short story La roba (1882). Verga's objective, scientific observation highlights the 'vinti' (the defeated) like Rosso Malpelo, a boy worker subjected to brutality. The author saw work as a source of dignity but criticized the capitalist 'God Money' that alienates individuals. In an 1873 statement, Verga described Italy as living in an 'atmosphere of Banks and Industrial Enterprises.' The article, by Sabrina Pessina for MIfacciodiCultura, was first published on Artspecialday.