Who's who?

Melancolia

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

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

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

Privilegio’s neglected pregnant wife. Despite the many humiliations she suffers, she clings to her unshakeable integrity.

Capriccio

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.

Esperienza

This governess is the spider in the web of the family intrigues. 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

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?

Carità

Mistress of the gardener Giudizio, and the nurse who 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?

Giudizio

This gardener, the lover of Carità, is a fickle man: now light-hearted and sensual, now empathetic and serious. Above all, he is guided by his survival instinct.

Sapienza

A philosopher who 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.