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Romola

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Romola is constantly called Eliot's weakest novel, with even serious critics reluctant to praise it. However, it was seen in the 19th century as Eliot's masterpiece. Some of the blame for the novel going out of fashion must rest with F.R. Leavis who said that "few will want to read Romola a second time, and few can ever have got through it once without some groans." If Leavis, viewed as one of the great literary minds, thinks this, then more average readers like us are bound to be put off.

True, the start of Romola is bogged down in detail, but it is introduced by a wonderful, stirring and majestic 'Proem' which sees the Angel of the Dawn sweeping across the Earth and loftily states how humanity is the same now as it was when Romola is set. After this, the notes are best ignored - consult them separately, and concentrate on getting into the book. It is a stirring and sometimes hard read, and moves one with awe at what Eliot has created - you really feel you are experiencing Florence in the 15th century. There is one scene that stands out for me - the haunting and almost surreal episode where Romola drifts by boat to an apparent coastal haven. Images of peace and life are reversed disturbingly.

So ignore Leavis and the dissenters. If you've read another Eliot, you'll like it. If you haven't, maybe start with something else, but come back, for it's a rewarding read

George Eliot spent two years preparing "Romola", and the result is a rich, densely detailed "Tale of the Renaissance". Never a facile writer, here she is concerned with one of the most intellectually challenging (not to mention politically complicated) periods in history; and she paints the panoply and power struggles as a background for the personal tragedy which is the novel's crux. While not an "easy read" in the Sir Walter Scott sense, "Romola" presents in sumptous detail the banquets, the festivities, and the famous bonfire of vanities that one associates with late 15th Century Florence.But from a purely literary viewpoint, the most important thing about the book is its delineation of Tito Melema, the young man who in the opening chapters is the story's hero, but slowly, irrevocably becomes its villain. Neither Sir Walter nor Charles Dickens has psychological insight (in the modern sense) as sharp as George Eliot's, and this study of a fictional character's downfall is one of the most stunning depictions of corruption in English literature. That he is the husband of the heroine, a sensitive, finely sensual woman, makes the tragedy all the more poignant. Scenes involving historical characters (including Savonarola and Machiavelli) tend to be a little stiff in costume movie style. Oh, and because the story takes place in the 1490's, one must imagine the Piazza della Signoria without Michelangelo and Cellini. This must really have frustrated a connoisseur like George Eliot.

Given the majority of Eliot readers begin with Middlemarch, I found myself in the unique position of not only beginning with Romola, but also on a subject that I find most interesting. That of Renaissance Italy. Beginning at the death of the great Lorenzo di Medici in '92 I read this great novel twice. Once quickly as any other Twenty-First century paperback; the second, slowly, with more respect for the intellectual scope within the pages.
After the first attempt I was mildly disappointed. I came away with no true sense of the whole that is fifteenth century Florence and a bewilderment at the inconsistent central characterisation of Tito Melema and his golden-haired wife, Romola. The supporting actors were brilliant, from Fra Girolama's fantatical Catholicism to Bratti's salesmanship. But I was left disappointed, believing in the superficality of Tito, the maddening naivety of Tessa, and the almost puritanical martyrdom of Romola.
So I re-read it. Slowly.
It is now extremely clear why this great work of english literature is, as Eliot herself puts it, a "book of mine which I more thoroughly feel that I swear by every sentence as having been written with my best blood".
Each scene is mesmerically depicted, the infintesimal attention to details and Eliot's total control of her subject matter shines through.
Renaissance Florence wasn't so well depicted by its contemporaries.
From Tito's waking at the Loggia de' Cerchi to his final fall at the Ponte Vecchio his character moves through a full range as you would expect from a man in his early twenties. His child-like mesmerism coupled with his Greek tutorage gives rise to a cherubic man whom Florence loves. His fatal flaw is his desire for love and a single terrible lie he gives that, like Murphy's Law, evolves into a a stigma that alters his very persona. What is all the more damaging is that you truly believe he is unaware of the pain he causes. He is truly egocentric, in an almost blameless way. For Romola, you cold argue the opposite. Indeed she is potentially more culpable. Her fierce intellectualism is offset by a descent into a world of religious supersition, a world where religion is used as a political tool. Throughout she has the knowledge of where her actions will take her and a terrible sense of duty and restrains her. From the beginning, with the story we hear so often of Tito's escape from drowning, to his final near drowning at the hands of the mob, to his strangulation by his father there is a certain bitter justice until all that he leaves is his proud and world-scarred wife Romola and the innocence that he preserved with Tessa. Tito's move from innocent 'hero' to startled villain is an excerise in human failings. Yet it is not a sufficient single human tragedy, as Eliot says, "Florence was busy with greater affairs, and the preparation of a deeper tragedy".
In many respects `Romola' is Eliot's King Lear. The parallels are many, including Baldessare's depiction. There is no Edgar, nor Edmund but the Fool is here in many guises. In taking one of Shakespeare's finest themes, Eliot has given true life to fifteenth century Florence and it is, perhaps, best encapsulated by Romola's final statement to Tessa's son, Lillo:
"There was a man to whom I was very near... who made almost everyone fond of him, for he ws young, and clever, and beautiful...I believe, when I first knew him, he never thought of anything cruel or base. But because he tried to slip away from everything that was unpleasant, and cared for nothing else so much as his own safety, he came at last to commit some of the basest deeds - such as make men infamous."
So, Eliot's `Romola'. Read it, delight in it because it truly is, as the author can rightly claim, one of the finest works in english literature.

Yes, it bristles with Glossaries and Appendices and Notes like so much barbed wire. (And if you actually read the Penguin editor's introduction, it's a sure thing you'll never read the novel: she makes it sound like about as much fun as chewing rocks.) But don't let all that deter you. You may have some rough going at the beginning, mostly because Latin and Greek scholarship is so important to the plot. Use the notes and they'll enhance your enjoyment of the story, but ignore them and you're still in for a thrilling tale gorgeously told. Tito Melema is one of the great characters in fiction, and he's someone we all know: a thoroughly despicable human being who has no idea he's anything but a nice guy. Eliot has wrought a dreamy and hair-raising hybrid of fiction and history, infused with her own astonishing insight and complicated sympathy and delivered in her matchless prose. I loved this book.

Romola was a difficult book to read. If I did not happen to be on a business trip that left me long hours on seemingly endless international flights, I doubt if I would have had the perseverance to stick with it. In writing this book, Eliot spent six months in exhaustive research on fifteenth century Florence, and she is going to give it all to you whether you like it or not. This made it difficult to enjoy because I was constantly going to the back of the book get the translation of Italian and Latin phrases, reference to obscure historical characters, and other minutia which would only be clear to someone with a doctorate in Italian history. I was frustrated by this throughout the book. Having said that, the book is worth the wade! As always Eliot's writing is a pure joy to read. Some of her description is so beautiful that I have to step back in wonder that someone can create narrative so rich and inviting. Her characters are complex, intriguing and well developed. First, Tito was the most original antihero I have run across in years: a man who avoids unpleasantness and discomfort to the point that he betrays anyone he has ever loved while intending only to take the easy way in all his dealings. Romola is a women deeply learned, but raised only by her aging father and the classics, is unprepared for what the fates have brought her: love, duplicity, and purpose. And lastly, Savonarola, Tito's opposite: a religious visionary who strives to lead Florence to a new order, and is willing to give up church, state---anything but his place in the order, to see his prophecy fulfilled. This is Eliot's favorite book. I can see why.

Funny how Eliot's least-loved novel today was the author's personal favorite and her best seller during her lifetime. How did it slide into relative obscurity? Partly because Eliot's acknowleged forte is her depiction of rural life in Victorian England, whereas this novel is set in a large Italian city (Florence) during the Renasaissance. Also, the novel does bog down a bit in its own scholarliness, as nearly every reviewer has mentioned. Still, the innumerable references to prominent Florentines can be glossed over without losing much. As for the urban setting, Eliot's Florence is every bit as vivid as Dickens' London, or Dostoevsky's St. Petersburg. And, of course, every page is filled with Eliot's trademark wisdom.

For anyone who cares about great books, all seven of Eliot's novels are absolutely mandatory. So, by all means start with "Adam Bede" or "Middlemarch", but don't neglect "Romola."

A word about the Konneman edition: I love the compact format (It fits easily into a briefcase or purse), the lovely cover art and the high-quality cloth binding. Be advised, however, that it is loaded with typos, some of them hilarious. It's still a good buy, however.

When one starts reading a Victorian novelist, one prepares before hand to face a certain amount of wooden, heavy-handed moralizing, as every great narrative of the epoch is fraught with the opposition between the calls of pleasure and the calls of duty, between seeking for one's private advantage and sticking to one's role, with the writer making the latter to win overwhelming. This novel is no different, in that it's the dutiful Romola that has the upper hand over her nice and debauched husband Tito Melena in the end. However, the novel being set in late Renaissance Italy- a country with which George Eliot had an enduring love affair - it captures the atmosphere of the time and place in such a beautiful way that this enormous, throughly reserched historical novel has such a flowing, luxurious style that takes an almost liquid quality, like a fresh, transparent scream flowing along a summer Mediterranean landscape. Also, in the person of Savonarola, Eliot menaged to introduce the figure of the idealist turned evil through his attachment to his call. In short: a gorgeous novel. Loved it!

I loved this book! Set in fifteenth century Florence, Romola explores the deep recesses of the soul. Renaissance Italy with its political/religious conflicts, intellectual, pursuits, artistry and pageantry are all beautifully protrayed throughout Eliot's magnificent love story. Deceit, greed and selfishness are artfully displayed against the purity of a nobel soul which knows no compromise. Romola, the book's main character is a study in virtue, while Tito her husband has but the veneer of goodness. Tito falls forever because of one lie. This is a book to read slowly and savor.

A book with unforgettable characters - in Tito who demonstrates the degeneration of the soul in the pursuit of money and an ideal character in Romola who personifies duty. This book characterizes George Eliot's concept of truth. Truth according to her is not only what is real, but also, what should be. Another character who fascinates is Savonarola - we see him as a human being, with strengths and weaknesses. And Eliot teaches us to be like Romola - to appreciate the good in a human being instead of damming him completely. Along with true to life characters, ideal characters,historical characters, also a superb depiction of rennaisance Italy. Whatever critics say about 'Romola' being the least readable of all Eliot's books, it remains her most idealistic work which makes one feel deeply, and want to emulate the good. Hence, a great classic which is enjoyable and which sets you thinking about your own inadequacies.

Romola is a dense, compelling historical novel by the master of English fiction, George Eliot. Although this book is a bit slow going at first, the true-to-life characters and the towering themes make the reader's efforts more than worthwhile. Like the great film "Kiss of the Spider Woman," this novel deals with love, betrayal, parenthood, revenge, greed, spirituality, religion, and deceit, in ways that seem remarkably modern. I read it three times!