«Fare tutto il contrario». La Novella Senofonte e Niccolò Machiavello e le «Prosette satiriche» di Leopardi

Abstract

This essay carefully analyses Leopardi’s draft of ‘Novella Senofonte e Machiavello’ (its genesis, dating, structure, sources and themes), written during the period of his so-called prosette satiriche (a project separate from that of the Operette morali, which would follow shortly thereafter) and of other incomplete writings from that time (Telesilla), as well as some philosophical and political themes that would become part of Zibaldone. In this fervent phase of creativity (1820-1822), marked by the themes of overturning and reversal, temptation, unmasking and revenge, Leopardi worked through his growing detachment from his family and traditional values, intersecting themes and problems at the core of modern European literature, i.e. the allure of money, pleasure and egotism as the sole forces driving human actions. The essay lastly examines the reasons that led Leopardi to ‘rewrite’ the Novella as the ‘Dialogo di Timandro e di Eleandro’ in the Operette Morali.