I Grotteschi: Godo
Synopsis
- Reading time
- 5 min.
Boundless ambition, an assassination attempt and the revelation of a long-held secret: the plot of I Grotteschi thickens, as the youngest generation prepares to take over.
Who is who
Melancolia is the patriarch of the family. He is the father of Coraggio and the grandfather of Privilegio and Capriccio. A grieving widower who suffers from dementia, he wanders at the edge of the world of the dead.
Coraggio is the son of Melancolia and the husband of Costanza. A mysterious illness put him in a coma. Cared for by Carità, he wakes up at regular intervals and begins to rave.
Costanza lives in unbearable anticipation of her husband Coraggio’s awakening.
In her loneliness, she falls madly in love with Fortuna, the maid. But how long before Costanza realizes that Privilegio, her eldest son, is Fortuna’s lover?
Privilegio is the eldest son of Coraggio and Costanza. He is a violent, power-mad man who abandons his pregnant wife Virtù to conquer the maid Fortuna.
Virtù is Privilegio’s neglected pregnant wife. Despite the many humiliations she suffers, she clings to her unshakeable integrity.
The ephebe Capriccio makes a very different impression than his older brother Privilegio. Initially mischievous and lively, he gradually turns away from the philosopher Sapienza, who until then was responsible for his education, to explore carnal love with Impazienza.
The spider in the web of family intrigues is the governess Esperienza. She guards a dark secret. An attentive confidante and comforting mother figure, she nevertheless has her own agenda. Her two daughters, Impazienza and Fortuna, are the children of an unknown father.
Fortuna is the family’s maid. Driven by greed, she ignores the warnings of her mother, Esperienza, and manipulates her lover Privilegio to achieve her goal: gaining access to the ruling class, regardless of the cost.
Impazienza, Esperienza’s second daughter, flirts openly with the handsome Capriccio. Can Impazienza, who stands in the shadow of her sister Fortuna, control her jealousy?
The nurse Carità, the mistress of the gardener Giudizio, takes care of Coraggio. Strangely enough, however, his condition hardly seems to be improving, on the contrary. Could Carità’s devotion be hiding a darker side to her personality?
The gardener Giudizio, Carità’s lover, is a fickle man: now light-hearted and sensual, now empathetic and serious. Above all, he is guided by his survival instinct.
The philosopher Sapienza provides the family members with sound advice. But in this house, wisdom comes at a price, especially when the powerful start to perceive it as a nuisance.
Prologue
The ‘grotteschi’ reflect on how at night, when everything is quiet and everyone is asleep, thoughts and tears bring torment.
Act 1
Together with his gardener and friend Giudizio, the euphoric Privilegio celebrates the death of Sapienza, whose corpse he defiles. However, when he kisses him, he remembers how much he loved him when he was his ephebe and he weeps inconsolably. With a tray full of drugs, Carità joins the orgy of young people.
Melancolia announces the return of Privilegio’s father Coraggio, who secretly observes the fall of his family and household. Privilegio mocks Melancolia by urging him to share the news of Coraggio’s return with his mother.
Melancolia is left alone and in a moment of clarity laments his meaningless life. Like Orpheus, he wants to die in the hope of catching a glimpse of his deceased lover. While the ghost of Sapienza reproaches him for his posthumous love, Privilegio thinks about how the greedy earth opens its mouth to devour the living. His unbridled ambition incites him to push his grandfather down the stairs.
Carità arrives and finds Melancolia in need of help. She begs Privilegio to show more compassion for his grandfather. When she hears Coraggio speak, she realizes that he has awoken from his coma. She thinks he is still rambling and once again pretends to be the goddess Minerva in order to manipulate him, but Coraggio realizes that she has repeatedly poisoned him and rejects her. Coraggio finds the injured Melancolia on the stairs and is relieved to see that his father is still alive.
In the hope of impressing her mother, Impazienza introduces her new lover: the rich, young Capriccio. Esperienza, however, pays no attention to the young couple, thinking instead about love and old age. Out of jealousy towards her sister Fortuna, Impazienza seeks out Costanza to declare her so-called love for her. Lovesick, Costanza pretends to reciprocate Impazienza’s love; she reveals her shocking plan to kill Fortuna. Without hesitation, Impazienza agrees to lend Costanza her clothes so that she can commit the murder in disguise. Costanza goes along with the young woman’s ambition to sexually abuse her.
Meanwhile, the gardener Giudizio suffers a nervous breakdown as a result of his drug addiction: due to the constant violence and because he has nowhere to go, he considers taking his own life.
Fortuna rejoices in Sapienza’s death and thinks of her upcoming marriage. Esperienza urges her daughter never to trust the rich, to which Fortuna responds by promising to always keep her mother close to her. As mother and daughter fall asleep in the garden, they are watched by Capriccio, who reflects on how people forget everything as soon as they close their eyes. Dressed as Impazienza, Costanza approaches, but before she can do anything, she is caught by Capriccio.
Virtù takes advantage of her husband’s presence to share with Carità that she is looking for a new lover. Privilegio mocks his wife, who wonders out loud if he is worthy and capable of taking his father’s place in the dynasty. Impazienza arrives sudenly, rejoicing at the thought of the murder of her sister Fortuna. Her jubilation is interrupted by the entrance of both Esperienza, who accuses Impazienza of the murder, and Privilegio, who believes that Virtù is behind the murder. Costanza intervenes and, to provoke her son, says that she herself is guilty of the attempted murder of Fortuna. Privilegio shows himself to be both merciful and cruel. After all that has happened, Virtù decides to exit the house and leave behind the life she has always known.
Act 2
Alone in the servants’ quarters, Esperienza wonders whether she should remain silent or reveal the secret she has kept all her life. Melancolia desperately waits outside for his wife and complains, to Esperienza’s annoyance, about the behaviour of the other women in the house. Elsewhere in the garden, Capriccio dies of a fatal stab wound. Melancolia thinks she hears the voice of God and has a heart attack.
Privilegio reveals to Fortuna that it was his mother Costanza who plotted her murder. Nothing stands in their way now: they decide to get married that very day.
Costanza mourns the loss of her son Capriccio, while Carità observes that even in the shadow of power, life remains uncertain. Melancolia, who is about to die, tries to make clear to Costanza that Coraggio has returned, but she doesn’t believe him. Privilegio pours oil on the fire by confronting Carità about her disguise as Minerva, with which she deceived and poisoned Coraggio.
Esperienza is alone with the dead Melancolia, who was the love of her life, and surrenders to her grief. At first she still boasts about her daughter’s bright future, before slowly losing control until, in a fit of madness, she reveals the secret she has been carrying with her all her life. In the darkness, Costanza sees someone disguised as her husband; terrified, she locks herself in the bedroom. She gradually realizes that the man in front of her can be none other than Coraggio, and the two are at last reunited.
Melancolia’s ghost has never left the house and sings a love song to his long-lost bride, who answers him from the underworld.
Privilegio crowns his mistress Fortuna as his new ‘queen’. Before leaving the house, Fortuna mocks Virtù: once she was a queen, now she is a beggar. Privilegio interrupts their bickering by ordering them both to submit to him.
The ‘grotteschi’ complain about their fate: a thousand times a day they are born and die, without any hope of salvation.
— Translated by Patrick Lennon
