La Patria e Destino O (L’individuo verso Il tiranno)
Lettere 23 Ottobre, 25 Maggio,
La perdita della patria evoca un senso di disillusione ed esilio, perche’ one’s identity is inextricably linked to la patria. Il Trattato di Campiformio del 1797 turned over Venice to Austria; this historical event triggered the writing of “L’Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis”. Le lettere del 23 Ottobre e 17 Marzo reveal a disenchanted man and the importance della patria. The delusion of Ortis caused by the political tyranny is broken by the exile and Jacopo now believes that life and happiness is an illusion. Jacopo Ortis does not rely on free will, but instead blames fate and the tyrants for his hardships. Through his letters, Ortis makes it apparent that his only hope in life is to leave behind a tomb and a memory for those fellow unfortunates who can sympathize with his unhappy life. Jacopo Ortis decides to accept his fate and sacrifice himself just as his homeland was sacrificed, with the hope that he will become a martyr by succumbing to his unfortunate destiny.
Il Trattato di Campiformio del 1797, marca il prima lettera di Jacopo Ortis. Questa situazione affected Ortis, an ardent patriot, deeply. La patria e’ la base della vita umane; la gente non puo vivere senza la propria terra. Because of the perilous situation in Venice, Jacopo longs for solace and a sense of protection. He finds this in the hills outside of Venice, “Se m’e dato lo sperare mai pace, l’ho trovata.” Ortis comes to the country as a fugitive from Venice, and though he is safer here, he can never feel at ease because of his longing for him homeland. The loss of his homeland torments Ortis especially because he feels that the political leaders who he had trusted in have sold himself and his fellow countrymen.
The theme of the individual versus the society and the collective becomes evident this early on in Jacopo’s letters. He describes himself as being treated come “una fiera generosa a selvatica.” In many ways, Ortis is more a beast because he relies on his intuition, the land, and his raw emotions rather than reason and intellect. Ortis himself that he cannot trust humans, “I have not had such good treatment from human beings as to lead me to trust them straightaway.” This makes him opposite of a tyrant who is governed by intellect, reason, and cunning motives. However, Ortis does not blame the tyrant because he believes that the tyrant is made by Nature herself. This can be seen in Ortis’ view towards Signore T** and Napoleon. He respects both men, yet at the same time he sees them as tyrants who are controlling and dictating; Napoleon over Ortis’ homeland, Venezia, and Signore T** over Teresa.
17 Marzo
-Ortis’ love for his homeland will never be weakened.
-“love in an embittered heart, and where the other passions are in despair, becomes all-powerful.”
-Ortis is living only for love: love for his homeland, and the slim hopes of returning, and his love for Teresa, whose existence is what is keeping Ortis alive.
-The magnanimous minds of himself and other patriots, cannot help to be ardently passionate about their homeland; the ancient mortals were also possessors of a magnanimous mind, and they led “gloriously unhappy lives”.
“I admire them and pity them at the same time, because, if God has no pity on Italy, they will have to keep secret their desire for a homeland, a fatal desire because it either consumes or brings suffering to one’s whole life. And yet, rather than abandon this desire, they will cherish the dangers, the anguish, and death itself. And I am one of these men, and so are you.”
He believes that his situation was predestined for him, and the “tyrants” who prostituted his homeland . He believes that he is a man set apart from society and freed from the disillusionment. He believes that he is one of the unfortunate few who can see the truth about life; that fate rules over all and that he is destined to be unhappy. Ortis believes that the hero cannot exist; Nature rules over the motives of humans. Humans do not have free will because they are always living in the “dream” state, which is life. In a sense, this mode of thinking may be necessary for Ortis, because he fought for Napoleon, he shed blood under his leadership with the hopes that his patria would be saved. The fact that Napoleon betrayed him and his people does not apply in his case, because the leader became a tyrant not of his own volition, but because if Nature, also, Ortis beared arms, and he fought for his country. He was defeated. However, those who did not bear arms and were sold without their knowledge were betrayed, they were denied the chance to bear arms and potentially govern their own fate.
He is fated to be a victim in the situation with Napoleon and Austria’s seize of Venice; he is fated to live unhappily in exile and fated to fall victim to unrequited love. His homeland, which always identified him has been taken away, and the leaders who he trusted have exiled him. The leaders and even men who are good will inevitably become tyrants because of Nature. The unfortunate patriots like himself are forced to suffer the outcome. Jacopo is “alienated” from men; in the sense that he does not succumb to reason, he is emotional and will always be linked to his homeland. He treasures the importance of the heart, the people whose conversation he appreciates are those that speak from “the heart”.
-Memory and history: (Oct 23 and March 17)
-I believe that the wish to know and retell the history of past times stems from our self-love which would like to be deceived and prolong our life by uniting it with people and things that are no more, making them so-to-speak our own property.”
-The imagination—allows humans to deceive themselves, and believe that their
lives are worthy of being remembered and immortal. The imagination is what
makes humans capable of survival.
His ultimate dream is to be pitied with fellow men’s compassion. He intends to make himself a “martyr” to self-sacrifice. He hopes to become like the great writers of classics and leave a lasting memory of his memory; in sense becoming immortal.
The theme of tombs reoccurs throughout his letters. They represent the most important achievement to Jacopo. According to him, a tomb is one important part of remaining a memory: it is a literal monument to a person, allowing “good” and sympathetic people to pay homage to a fellow sufferer. The unfortunates like himself can only look to death as the final source of peace and solace. Death is a comfort to him, but only in the sense that he wishes to become a venerable memory.
OUTLINES
23 Ottobre
-Peace, solace in the country: himself and Signor T**
-fugitive
-Ortis as a wild beast –Ortis almost alludes to the idea that he is more a beast, he relies on intuition, his happiness and his raw emotions rather than rely on reason and intellect. This makes him different from the regular man, who is a tyrant.
-Signor T** is a good man, however, Ortis still states that he too is a tyrant. The father image always refers back to the tyrant.
-Ortis cannot trust humans, “I have not had such good treatment from human beings as to lead me to trust them straightaway”
-Ortis vs. the “tyrant”.
-Memory and history:
-I believe that the wish to know and retell the history of past times stems from our self-love which would like to be deceived and prolong our life by uniting it with people and things that are no more, making them so-to-speak our own property.”
-The imagination—allows humans to deceive themselves, and believe that their
lives are worthy of being remembered and immortal. The imagination is what
makes humans capable of survival.
17 Marzo
-Ortis’ love for his homeland will never be weakened.
-“love in an embittered heart, and where the other passions are in despair, becomes all-powerful.”
-Ortis is living only for love: love for his homeland, and the slim hopes of returning, and his love for Teresa, whose existence is what is keeping Ortis alive.
-The magnanimous minds of himself and other patriots, cannot help to be ardently passionate about their homeland; the ancient mortals were also possessors of a magnanimous mind, and they led “gloriously unhappy lives”.
“I admire them and pity them at the same time, because, if God has no pity on Italy, they will have to keep secret their desire for a homeland, a fatal desire because it either consumes or brings suffering to one’s whole life. And yet, rather than abandon this desire, they will cherish the dangers, the anguish, and death itself. And I am one of these men, and so are you.”
-Ortis believes that he and Lorenzo are both patriots who are of the “magnanimous minds” and cannot help but always be ardently passionate about their homelands. They would rather die than see their homeland taken away, and if it is taken away they will never settle for being defeated.
-Unfortunately, Ortis knows that his love for his homeland is a “futile passion because he has no control on the outcome of his homeland, instead he chooses to be gloriously unhappy and “weep for his homeland in secret…simply to shed some solitary tears”.
-The “lovers of Italy” complain that they have been betrayed by their leader. Ortis explains that if they were allowed to fight for their country, they would not have been betrayed, because they at least have the chance to defend themselves. Had they “taken up arms, they might have been conquered yet not betrayed, and if they had defended themselves to the last drop of blood, the conquerors could not have sold them, nor the conquered dared to buy them.” Ortis believes that it is important that people fight for their homeland. It is the only way to be honorable, to be willing to die for one’s country. Ortis is willing to do that, and states now that he is ready to live an unhappy life to leave a memory of his ardent passion for his homeland.
-Napoleon, “a base and cruel mind”. Napoleon is the reason why Ortis’ homeland of Venice was turned over to Austria. Ortis had trusted in and fought alongside Napoleon, who committed treason by turning over his homeland. Napoleon betrayed and sold his countrymen. “And the trust which the hero encouraged all of us to have in him has resulted in proscriptions in Italy, emigration and exile…So it always was, and so it always will be. I mourn for my homeland, taken from me in a way that still offends.”
Though Ortis mourns for his homeland, he does not blame Napoleon for his actions, because Napoleon’s “mind of a fox” was caused by Nature, “Nature made him a tyrant, and a tyrant does not take care of his homeland, because he has none.”
-One of Foscolo’s themes is the difference between the tyrant and the noble man. The difference between the two is that one has a passion for his homeland, and the tyrant does not. But why is this so important to Ortis? One underlying reason is passion and love. Ortis is a person who would agree that one does not truly live until he knows what he is willing to die for. Ortis knows what he would die for; his homeland, and his love for Teresa. The tyrant, cannot be blamed, because his actions and motives are governed by Nature (as Nature governs everything), however he is not a noble man because there is nothing that he would be willing to die for. He cheats the noble men and himself by never having any passion in his life. The tyrant, an example being Odoardo, does not feel emotion, he does not have appreciation for the beauties of Nature, he does not sympathize with the unfortunates, he is not unhappy, he places importance on reason and intelligence, and the tyrant does not have una patria. Ortis, according to his standards, is a noble man, a noble “beast” as he would say, because he suffers and mourns passionately for his homeland, he appreciates the beauties and power of Nature, he sympathizes with fellow unfortunates and he places importance on emotions and love, not just intelligence and reason. Ortis considers himself a living martyr because he is living in exile, pining away because of his noble love for his homeland, and also for Teresa. This also alludes the to fact that he will make himself a literal martyr by committing suicide. His life is governed by his emotions. He is governed by love, for Teresa and Venice. He is noble because he is wretched and unhappy, has the ability to sympathize with others and is willing to fight and die for la sua patria and his love for Teresa.
- Ortis reiterates the importance of land— The doctors, merchants, lawyers, professors, all those who become prosperous based on their intelligence and reason are not true citizens because they do not own land. “There can be land without inhabitants, but a people without land, never. For this reason the few country squires in Italy will always be invisible lords and arbiters of the nation.” Land and one’s link to his homeland is what makes his a true citizen. Those who do not love their land, those who do not own or work the land are tyrants, because they have lost the link to his homeland. The doctors, the teachers, the lawyers, the thinkers, the leaders are not noble, individual citizens because instead of living for the land, they are now living for themselves based on their own volition. Ortis believes that one can only call himself a true citizen or individual when he is dependent on land and Nature and is willing to die for his homeland. “I myself do not know what I would choose- not infamy, and not servitude…but the individual has many roads to safety…if nothing else, the grave.”
-“Therefore I would exhort to Italy to accept her present state peacefully, leaving to France the misfortune and the disgrace of having for the sake of liberty bled so many human victimsa dry- on whom the tyranny of the five…has planted or will plant its throne, wobbling from minute to minute, like all those thrones which are founded upon dead bodies.”
-Ortis is suggesting with this statement, that he and all his fellow patriots should accept the situation, because it was destined. However, there is some sort of hope that the tyrants will not prosper because though they have defeated Italy, their new throne will never be secure, it will never flourish because the manner in which is was founded was not noble or right. In other words, the time will come when the new tyranny will be punished.
QUOTES
17 Marzo
“Fratel mio Lorenzo, tu conosci pur poco me e il cuore umano ed il tuo, se presumi che il desiderio di patria possa temperarsi mai, non che spegnarsi; se credi che ceda ad alter passioni” Jacopo is reiterating how he will never stop pining over his love for his homeland.
“L’amore in un’anima esulcerata, e dove le alter passioni sono disperate, riesce onnipotente – e io lo provo…” Love as the most important aspect about life; the reason why Jacopo is living is because of his love for Teresa and his homeland.
“La Natura crea di propria autorita’ tali ingegni da non poter essere se non generosi…” –Nature controls the mindset and motives of men.