Italy has had over fifty governments since the end of the Second World War. That means almost one government every year. Politics in Italy has always been a touchy subject with the Italian community because of the unrest in their country. Dario Fo's play looks at this and in a comical, yet satirical manner exposes government tactics used. Fo's focus is mainly the issue of currency and its value. In Italy there was a time when the price of goods and services ran so high because of inflation that people were able to afford the most common things such as bread and sugar. These items became rare and cherished commodities because of their expensive nature. People struggled with merchants to negotiate prices, but to no avail, until finally the people thought it was time to rise up and say: We won't pay! We won't pay. Or at least this is what Fo describes the situation to be.
Arising in this play are issues about political structure and political power over the people. Government have the power to do what they believe is best for the people however as Fo puts it, some governments are just out to better themselves. Although reading a play is not the same as seeing one performed, people can still get an idea of what characters are like. For instance there is a point where Antonia speaks to Giovanni about how the Prime Minister is urging for people rich and poor to stick together throughout the economic recession and to have patience while make the most of their money. One can't help but feel that she is being incredibly sarcastic. Also the scene where Margherita "goes into labor" to avoid a search for stolen goods, the audience can get the sense that these two women are trying to make a mockery of the Italian police and therefore the Italian government, right to their faces. Also it is interesting how all the people, even those with ties to the government such as police, agree with the people if Italy that the prices of goods are so ridiculous that they can't even get by. Also one would think that an ambulance technician would be upset of having wasted time with a woman who's not really pregnant, instead he encourages them for being brave and doing what they did. Therefore the issue of loyalty to the government from its people rises as an issue in this play as well.
"Viaggiando manterrà il vostro cuore giovane nella vostra mente forte," was one of the many inspirational quotes told to me by my Italian grandmother. Storytelling was her forte. And it is because of these stories of her life that I developed an obsession for Italy and travel. Full of energy and complete wanderlust, she lived life to the fullest, passing away at 94. I often wonder if her long life had anything to do with growing up in Italy, and whether her lifestyle choices varied significantly from that of American culture. From a business perspective, GDP is an oftentimes used term to describe the government’s spending habits. And as a business major intent on making a positive difference in our society, I can’t help but wonder why Italians have a much longer lifespan, yet spend nearly half of what the United States do on their health care system.
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
First of all, this is determined by Italy's weak and foreign expansion policy. Secondly, this is also determined by Italy's national interests. Third, after the outbreak of World War I, the Allied Powers all met the requirements of the Italian territory.
During the late 1800's Italy became one of the most overcrowded countries in Europe. Many Italians began to consider the possibility of leaving Italy to escape the new low wages and high taxes. For centuries the entire Italian peninsula was divided into quarreling states, with foreign powers often controlling several states. In this chaotic situation, the feudal system ruled above the economic system, leaving money only in the hands of a select few (Wikepedia.com, 2007).
Once the Italian roots skimmed the ground, nothing makes for a better storyline than a disaster which struck the global economy, posthumously kno...
While the feudal system did not disappear for some 30 years after unification, both feudalism and a more modern-day rule of law would always be subject to interpretation. Legal scholar and philosopher Dennis Patterson concisely points out there are two prevailing camps standing at opposites: Those who argue that the interpretation of law is solely objective versus those who see it in terms of subjectivity (671). Assuming that passions during the time of Sicily’s turbulent unification were predicated more on subjectivity than objectivity, it becomes understandable that Don Fabrizio was caught in a historical trajectory not of his own choosing.
To begin, he enacted parliamentary decrees, calling for a personal tax on bachelors to fund the Protection of Mothers and Children (Doc 1). The emphasis on protecting the mothers and their children shows Mussolini ’s need to reinvigorate Italy through a higher population. With the women and children surviving, Mussolini created a way for his population to keep rising.
This play can be summed up by looking at one character in particular. Brutus is a prime representation of how our government is. He started out wanting to do what was best for the people of Rome and ends up being corrupted by hid and others greed. He not only loses the sanctity of Romans, he loses himself in every action he takes in becoming a traitor. No longer is he a caring member of society, he has blackened his soul to the point of no return. Brutus was only out for number one, he became the person he tried to prevent coming into power. Ironically, he ends up dead as well, so his mission was accomplished in the end. No one who was greedy took charge.
On the night of November 1st 2007 in Peruglia Italy, Meredith Kercher was murdered by being stabbed in the neck. Kercher’s roommate, Amanda Knox had returned home on the morning of November 2nd, from spending the night with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Later, Knox returned to Sollecito’s apartment and explained that she had observed small speckles of blood in the bathroom, the front door ajar, and Kerchers bedroom door locked. Kercher’s body was found half naked, and under a duvet after police broke down the door to Kercher’s bedroom. Knox was interrogated on multiple times without an attorney present. She was slapped on the back of the head and forced to visualize a probable scenario, of which the police took as an admission of guilt and had her sign a statement to the vision. DNA was retrieved from the crime scene, but only pointed to one suspect, Rudy Guede, who had fled Italy on the night of the murder, arrested in Germany, admitted to being in Kercher’s apartment that night, and was later found guilty. No DNA evidence was recovered to implicate either Knox or Sollecito as to being present at the time of the murder. In 2009 Knox and Sollecito were found guilty and sentenced to 25 and 26 years. In 2011 an appeals judge repealed Knox and Sollecito’s sentence based on no proof of their guilt. Knox returned home in the U.S. In 2013 Italy’s Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation, ordered a retrial. Knox and Sollecito were then found guilty of Meredith Kercher’s death. Italy has since called for the extradition of Amanda Knox, but it is still being appealed.
Since the beginning of its existence as a country, Italy has faced enormous challenges in establishing itself as a unified political and social entity. The geographic, economic, and linguistic differences between its various regions and the artificial manner in which they were amalgamated created a legacy of internal divisions that continues to dominate the country's political climate to this day. Italy's numerous historical fiascoes, such as its disastrous involvement in the two World Wars and the rise of fascism, further escalated the domestic problems that had haunted it since the Risorgimento. At first, the anti-fascist Resistance movement, which dominated the end of World War II, seemed to bring Italy a ray of hope, promising a new era of freedom, reform, and democratic representation. However, this hope was quickly extinguished, as widespread poverty, government corruption, and deep divisions between regions and classes persisted and no true social reform was attained. These harsh conditions were depicted by a group of Italian film directors whose neorealist works have since been celebrated as masterpieces of world cinema. One of the most prominent of these is Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief. This 1948 film discusses the prevalent themes dominating Italy's social and political history, within the context of the unsettlingly poor post-War urban proletariat.
In today’s world, Niccolo Machiavelli’s teachings on how one must lead would not work because the world is not as chaotic as it was in his time. Italy, d...
The story unfolds with the increasing limitations on the rights of Jewish people in Italy. Mussolini 's racial laws are beginning to take force on the rights of the Jewish people. Prohibitions such as no servants, no library
Ignazio Silone’s Bread and Wine became one of the most controversial as well as influential novels in Italy during the early twentieth century. Bread and Wine is set in rural impoverish Italia countryside under the Catholic and fascist control. It begins with Don Benedetto, an elderly priest and his aged sister are waiting for visitors to come celebrate his birthday. These visitor’s are some of his favorite students who have grown up and moved away. In their reminiscing, Don Benedetto begins to ask how other student lives have turned out after all these years. Including his favorite pupil, Pietro Spina. The former students explain that Pietro Spina had become a communist revolutionary and was exiled from Italy, and is on the run from police who are hunting him. Don Benedetto asks the student to aide Pietro in his return to Italy. At this point the novel begins to focus on Pietro Spina and his return to Italy. Pietro aided by his childhood friend Nunzio dons the disguise of a Catholic priest called Don Paolo Spada. However, Pietro Spina has abandoned the religious beliefs and ideas of becoming a saint that he once had as a child and now in his adult life is considered to be a fervent atheist making; this disguise quite ironic. While in disguise, Spina becomes exasperated with the strong catholic beliefs and superstitious ideas which are the basis of thought of the peasants he is trying to influence. This brings about the continuous theme of socialism and Christianity as well as the question surrounding all the characters within the novel, “How can a decent person act in a terrible time?”1 Silone uses this questions to explore how the political views of fascism within the Catholic church effects uneducated peasants withi...
Before the dawn of Neorealism, Italy was under great turmoil in the early 1920s suffering from major economic crisis, bank failures and a collapsing government, which would also mean a collapse in the Italian film industry and the ‘Silent Era’ of cinema (Roberts, 2005). When Benito Mussolini took control as the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 the revival of Italian cinema would be once again be relived, but this time ruled under the control and guidance by Mussolini and his fascist government (Bondanella, 2001).
William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice presents a battle between love and hate, influenced by money. Written during the 16th Century, Shakespeare depicts an anti-Semitic era through the eyes of both Jews and Christians. Each perspective has it’s struggles, but what stays consistent between them is what makes this play so historical. Throughout this play, it becomes clear that culture affected by love and hatred, under the influence of money, can deliver a powerful message that still speaks to readers today.