Giovanni and Lusanna

Giovanni and Lusanna

Introduction

Gene Brucker's Giovanni and Lusanna is an account of the attitudes on love, marriage, social class and gender of the Florentine society in the Renaissance and that were central in the outcome of the case. The story portrays the courageous step taken by Lusanna who challenges the social and political hierarchies in the world of Renaissance Florentine. The story highlights the role and status of women in those times, the role of marriage in the society and what things surrounded marriage of those times in a way that makes it a highly readable and compelling story. At the same time it brings out the factual realities of the life and society as it was in those times.

Discussion

Lusanna was a beautiful woman from a middle class background and a daughter of a Florentine artisan and widow of a linen-cloth manufacturer. The central conflict in the story is the suit she initiates against Giovanni, the son of a wealthy merchant who she states is her husband. Lusanna and Giovanni were lovers and had secretly married after the death of Lusanna's husband. Giovanni kept the marriage a secret stating that since the two were not of equal status, the disclosure of their marriage might result in his father disinheriting him. The two were happy for some time and went to long walks and public festivities as husband and wife. When Giovanni's father died, it was expected that he will now declare their marriage but instead he because of the pressure of the rank and family he belonged to, he married the daughter of one of the wealthiest and powerful family in the city. It was then that Lusanna realized that there was no hope from him to declare their union and she turned to the church for help. This was Lusanna's part of the account while Giovanni denied that such an event had ever taken place. It is not known for certain or in other words, the author has not stated explicitly what actually were the truth yet evidence and details in the story indicate that they had actually married. The contrasting positions of the two account for a deeper understanding of the customs and values of the Florentine society surrounding around marriage, love and relationships. The manner in which the case is conducted depicts the power structure of the fifteenth century Florence4.

The microhistory very effectively brings out what constituted marriage of those times. It is essential to understand marriage to understand what characterized Renaissance as a whole and compare it with the relationship of the two lovers. Marriage provides an understanding of the actions of the people and the story bring out all the aspects that defined the perceptions of the people towards marriages. We can see from the text that a legal marriage in those times always took place in the presence of 'relatives and friends of the family'1 (Bucker, 80). Apart from that, social status of the man and woman were considered to be the ...