The start of the novel finds the four friends visiting the Capitoline Museums and discovering the remarkable resemblance between the carefree and passionate Donatello and the Faun of Praxiteles. That relaxed atmosphere has allowed Miriam to employ herself as an artist and find success in spite of unanswered questions about her past. A generation later Daisy Miller would have something to say about that, but that's how Hawthorne presents the place. People can mingle together and are more freely excepted with less prying questions than anywhere else. The artistic and social world of Rome is much more relaxed than the rest of Europe or even America. Miriam is a dark haired beauty whose origins are mystery and who refuses to join in the greater society of the city despite its invitations. Kenyon is a promising sculptor in love with Hilda, but gently refused. Hilda is sweet-natured and devout, literally living above the city in a tower room and, though Protestant, maintains a shrine to the Virgin Mary as part of her rent. 'The Marble Faun' follows three expatriate artists and their Italian friend Donatello living in Rome in the mid 19th century. Thank you Little Edie, I never would have picked this if it hadn't been for you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |