Valperga, or the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca is an 1823
historical novelHistorical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in...
by the
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
novelist
Mary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
.
Mary Shelley's original title is now the subtitle; "Valperga" was selected by her father,
William GodwinWilliam Godwin was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and one of the first modern proponents of anarchism...
, who edited the work for publication between 1821 and February 1823. His edits emphasized the female protagonist and shortened the novel.
Valperga is a
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
which relates the adventures of the early fourteenth-century despot
Castruccio CastracaniCastruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli was an Italian condottiero and duke of Lucca.-Biography:Castracani was born in Lucca, a member of the noble family of Antelminelli, of the Ghibelline party. In 1300 he was exiled with his parents and others of their faction by the Guelphs "Black" party,...
, a real historical figure who became the lord of
LuccaLucca is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
and conquered
FlorenceFlorence is a major historical city in Italy, distinguished as one of the most outstanding economical and artistic centres in the peninsula from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance.-Roman origins:...
.
Valperga, or the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca is an 1823
historical novelHistorical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in...
by the
RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
novelist
Mary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
.
Publication details
Mary Shelley's original title is now the subtitle; "Valperga" was selected by her father,
William GodwinWilliam Godwin was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and one of the first modern proponents of anarchism...
, who edited the work for publication between 1821 and February 1823. His edits emphasized the female protagonist and shortened the novel.
Plot summary
Valperga is a
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
which relates the adventures of the early fourteenth-century despot
Castruccio CastracaniCastruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli was an Italian condottiero and duke of Lucca.-Biography:Castracani was born in Lucca, a member of the noble family of Antelminelli, of the Ghibelline party. In 1300 he was exiled with his parents and others of their faction by the Guelphs "Black" party,...
, a real historical figure who became the lord of
LuccaLucca is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
and conquered
FlorenceFlorence is a major historical city in Italy, distinguished as one of the most outstanding economical and artistic centres in the peninsula from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance.-Roman origins:...
. In the novel, his armies threaten the fictional fortress of Valperga, governed by Countess Euthanasia, the woman he loves. He forces her to choose between her feelings for him and political liberty. She chooses the latter and sails off to her death.
Themes
Through the perspective of medieval history, Mary Shelley addresses a live issue in post-Napoleonic Europe, the right of autonomously governed communities to political liberty in the face of imperialistic encroachment. She opposes Castruccio's compulsive greed for conquest with a female alternative, Euthanasia's government of Valperga on the principles of
reasonReason is the mental faculty that is able to generate conclusions from assumptions or premisses.Reason in this sense is often contrasted with authority, intuition, emotion, mysticism, superstition, and faith, and is thought by rationalists to be more reliable than these in discovering what is true...
and
sensibilitySensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something, such as the emotions of another. This concept emerged in eighteenth-century Britain, and was closely associated with studies of sense perception as the means through which knowledge is gathered...
. In the view of
Valpergas recent editor Stuart Curran, the work represents a feminist version of Walter Scott'sSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet, popular throughout Europe during his time....
new and often masculine genre, historical novel. Modern critics draw attention to Mary Shelley's republicanismRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of Republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in...
, and her interest in questions of political power and moral principles.
Reception
Valperga
earned largely positive reviews, but it was judged as a love story, its ideological and political framework overlooked. It was not, however, republished in Mary Shelley's lifetime, and she later remarked that it never had "fair play". Recently, Valperga has been praised for its sophisticated narrative form and its authenticity of detail.