Giuseppe Giacosa

• Born: October 21, 1847
• Birthplace: Colleretto Parella, Piedmont (now in Italy)
• Died: September 1, 1906
• Place of death: Colleretto Parella, Italy

Other Literary Forms

Although Giuseppe Giacosa owes his reputation to his dramatic repertoire, his other accomplishments are well worth mentioning because of their exceptional literary value. A collection of short stories, Novelle e paesi valdostani (1886), portrays the daily struggle of the mountaineers in Valdaosta against the natural forces that shape their destiny and condition their ability to make a living. Impressioni d’America (1891), a series of travel sketches occasioned by a trip to New York, reveals Giacosa’s remarkable talent for accurate observation. Castelli valdostani e canavesani (1897) is a series of popularized chronicles of castles in the Canavese region.

Giacosa also collaborated with several newspapers and literary magazines and was the founder of Lettura, a monthly literary review. In collaboration with Luigi Illica, he wrote librettos for Giacomo Puccini’s most famous operas: La Bohème, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly.

Achievements

In the extensive dramatic production that followed the success of The Wager, Giuseppe Giacosa alternated romances in Martellian verse with comedies in contemporary prose, seemingly unconcerned with criteria of stylistic development. Thus, The Wager and Il fratello d’armi, both romances in verse, were followed by Unhappy Love, a naturalist drama in prose, with a return to verse in Il conte rosso, a realistic historical drama adversely affected by the artificial verse scheme, once more followed by prose in Like Falling Leaves, Giacosa’s most famous commedia borghese, and by The Stronger, an attack on the double standards of the bourgeoisie, also in prose. What struck some critics as lack of direction in Giacosa’s constant stylistic shifts made him popular with the public. Giacosa’s perennial wavering between past and present reflected only too well the unsettled tastes of the bourgeoisie, fascinated by French naturalism and Giovanni Verga’s Verismo, or Verism, yet unwilling to give up the nostalgic charm of Romantic drama, and increasingly enticed by the idealistic aspirations that were gaining in popularity in the late nineteenth century.

Following World War I, Giacosa’s popularity suffered a steady decline from which it never recovered. Giacosa’s insistence on using topical references and fashion symbols of his day to characterize the world of the rich—knickerbockers, portable bathtubs, plaid tout de même—dates his comedies and greatly reduces their attractiveness to a contemporary audience. As for his medieval romances, their charm cannot withstand the test of time. They are peculiar period pieces no longer in demand, sharing in this the fate of most nineteenth century Romantic drama. The critics, who at first had been very favorable to Giacosa, reversed their verdict and claimed that his dramatic production lacked a coherent aesthetic growth. The most severe among them charged Giacosa with dilettantismo, Benedetto Croce’s favorite epithet for mediocrity, dealing the last blow to Giacosa’s already faltering reputation. Today, a more balanced critical perspective praises Giacosa’s talent for brilliant dialogue, which portrays the irresponsible rituals of the rich, dedicated solely to preserving their privileged position unchanged. In the history of the Italian theater, Giacosa unquestionably remains one of the most eloquent and versatile exponents of the teatro borghese (bourgeois theater).

Biography

Giuseppe Giacosa can best be understood as man and as writer when placed in the natural setting that gives significance to his life and to his work: the breathtaking beauty of the Alps which surround Colleretto Parella, the Piemontese village where he was born on October 21, 1847, and where he died on September 1, 1906. The rugged life of the mountaineers and their courageous struggle against enormous odds transformed Giacosa’s admiration into a mythic celebration of their will to survive, lyrically expressed in his collection of short stories Novelle e paesi valdostani. The mountaineers’ brave acceptance of a cruel fate convinced Giacosa that a person at his or her best is “l’eroe del bisogno,” the hero of need, and that moral strength generates from a realistic appraisal of life. This view shapes the tragic flaw of several of his protagonists, who lack the ability to face financial ruin simply because they lack the moral strength to recognize the role of the will in overcoming misfortune.

Although Giacosa revealed his penchant for literary studies early in life, his father, a successful lawyer, convinced him to get a degree in law at the University of Turin. Giacosa complied, but without enthusiasm, and his first appearance in court was a disaster. Fortunately, his literary tendencies came to his rescue and enabled him to leave the bench forever. In March, 1872, Nuova Antologia published his dramatic legend The Wager, which attracted exceptionally favorable critical reviews. Although not intended for the stage, the play was presented on April 30, 1873, in Naples, under the direction of Achille Torelli. It was an unprecedented success, and the name of Giacosa became guarantee enough for Italian capocomici always searching for new talent to satisfy their public.

In December, 1891, Giacosa, who was very popular by then, traveled to New York to assist Sarah Bernhardt rehearse in The Lady of Challant, a historical drama he had purposely written in French for her. The Italian version of the drama was presented in Turin, in October of 1891, with Eleconora Duse as the protagonist. During the last sixteen years of his life, Giacosa moved from Turin to Milan, where he founded Lettura, a literary journal responsible for effecting the transition from scapigliatura (an aesthetic movement founded by Giuseppe Rovani and concerned with protecting artistic freedom from Utilitarian attacks) to Verismo, the Italian version of French naturalism. While in Milan, Giacosa taught at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici and actively participated in city government. A capable actor with excellent diction, Giacosa gave public readings of his plays both in Italy and in other European countries, where he was much in demand. As already noted, Giacosa died in Colleretto Parella, his native village in Piemonte, where he spent his summers. Piemonte still celebrates Giacosa as one of the greatest writers of the region.

Analysis

Because eclecticism is the dominant note in Giuseppe Giacosa’s dramatic production, the following discussion proposes to consider the most important plays from each genre: The Wager, a dramatic legend in Martellian verse; Unhappy Love, a naturalist drama; Like Falling Leaves, by far his most brilliant commedia borghese; and The Stronger, also a commedia borghese, and his last play.

The Wager

The Wager opens with a prologue in which the author informs the audience that this leggenda drammatica is based on a Provençal romance that he read by chance and found enticing because of its melodious Martellian verse. It is autumn, and like leaves that before succumbing to their seasonal doom burst into multicolored hues, the mind of the poet finds new associations by reading material doomed by long neglect. Aware of the role that reminiscences play in the creative process, the author takes the opportunity to revive the legend and to offer his own interpretation to the reader.

The Wager is divided into two scenes. Both scenes take place in the great hall of a medieval castle in the Alps, decorated with flags, a huge fireplace, and a gothic window. The first scene opens with Renato, the lord of the castle, and Iolanda, his comely daughter, sharing premonitions of the merciless winter ahead. Their isolation would be hardly tolerable if it were not for the love they have for each other. Moved by tenderness for his daughter, Renato declares that while at one time he had wished for a son, Iolanda has fulfilled his every wish so completely that his heart would have no room for anyone else. Teasingly, Iolanda objects that his heart will have to make room for her bridegroom. The old man expresses his desire to hear the laughter of Iolanda’s children. Made bold by this admission, Iolanda shares with him her maiden fantasies of a handsome suitor who might brighten her days with passionate words of love. Renato reminds her of the suitors she has already refused, but Iolanda insists that the one who will win her heart must be handsome. Beauty is first to capture the beloved—the rules of love must not be disregarded. While conversing, Renato praises Iolanda for her great skill in playing chess; even he, her teacher, is no longer a worthy competitor. Iolanda, filled with love and gratitude for her father, surrenders her will in his hands: He will be the one to choose her future husband. As Renato thanks her for her absolute confidence in his wisdom, the sentinel in the tower signals the arrival of a vassal accompanied by his retinue.

In scene 2, Count Oliviero, an old comrade-in-arms of Renato, arrives with his page Fernando and other knights. Oliviero proudly introduces Fernando, who, single-handedly, has saved him from the ambush of ten highwaymen. Renato is touched by the prowess of the young man, who is an orphan and thus must rely exclusively on his ability to make his way in the world. Fernando’s excessive self-assurance, however, brings a fatherly reprimand from Renato, who admires his bravery but regrets what he considers an overdose of conceit. His lack of humility defies fate: His only excuse is his youth. Fernando replies that an orphan is never young, and that his earlier experiences in war and in love have instilled in him tremendous self-assurance and an unshakable faith in his skill to overcome all obstacles. Torn between admiration and anger, Renato challenges Fernando, who claims to be an expert at chess, to test his infallibility by playing a game with Iolanda. If he wins, he will marry her; if he loses, he will die. Fernando accepts, and the game begins. Conquered by Iolanda’s beauty, Fernando makes several wrong moves and loses control of the game. The melodious love duet of the players finds an effective counterpoint in the conversation between Renato and Oliviero, the former expressing his regret and his eagerness to renege on the horrible pact that he has made with Fernando. Actually, Iolanda, much more attentive to the game than the page, is winning without much competition. Renato almost begs Fernando to call off the bet, but Fernando, knowing that his honor is at stake, refuses. Iolanda, unaware of the deal between her father and the page, becomes suspicious, but Fernando is adamant.

In a lovely poetic passage, Fernando describes his native Provence and contrasts the blue-eyed, blonde charm of Iolanda to the passionate, bold looks of the women of his land. No longer capable of keeping his secret, Fernando tells Iolanda of the pact he has made with her father, and Iolanda confesses her love for him. Once she has admitted her love, Fernando is in control of the game, and Renato, caught in his own web, offers Fernando a castle if he will give up the prize. Unwilling to displease Renato, Fernando almost yields to his demands, but Iolanda takes his hand and leads him in the final move proclaiming his victory. Quickly appeased, Renato thanks heaven for giving him a son, and the play ends with the leitmotif of the lovers that became one of Italy’s favorite refrains: “E ancor, paggio Fernando, mi affissi e non favelli? Io ti guardo negli occhi che son tanto belli.” (“Page Fernando, why do you glance at me without a sigh? I gaze into your eyes that are so bright.”) The facile ditty made Giacosa the uncontested ruler of romantic theatergoers, until changing times relegated his melodious game of chess to literary history.

Unhappy Love

In dedicating Unhappy Love to Piero Costa, a sculptor from his native Piemonte, Giacosa signaled a shift from the Martellian verse of his previous romances to prose. The shift, however, is not merely in metrics. Giacosa displays the influence of the French naturalist theater. Émile Augier and Henry Becque were his favorite playwrights, and Alexandre Dumas, fils’s La Question d’argent (pr., pb. 1857; The Money-Question, 1915) considerably influenced Unhappy Love. In this play, Giacosa explores the established theme of ménage à trois with stark realism, enhanced by a faithful adherence to the Aristotelian unities of time and place.

The action of this three-act comedy is confined to one room in the home of Giulio Scarli, a provincial lawyer whose wife, Emma—Emma Bovary comes unavoidably to mind—is having an affair with his best friend, Fabrizio Arcieri. The closely knitted plot, which culminates in the inevitable discovery of adultery, is forwarded by a terse, compelling dialogue, completely devoid of the romantic commonplaces typical of Giacosa’s earlier plays. The fundamental uprightness of the protagonists and their obvious reciprocal respect save the play from the hopeless fatalism present in so many tranche de vie dramas and allow genuine empathy for the predicament of each character. Although a future reconciliation between Giulio and Emma seems unlikely, family ties prove stronger than personal revenge. Thus Fabrizio leaves town without Emma, who accepts a grim, lonely future to remain at the side of her only daughter, Gemma. Giulio accepts her presence for the sake of Gemma and finds solace—and, in a sense, annihilation—in the ascetic loneliness of his studio, where he will dedicate his life to increasing his fortune, thus making Gemma an heiress capable of marrying a man of considerable wealth. Relieved of pecuniary pressures, Gemma’s husband will be able to dedicate the largest share of his time to making her happy. A wife’s faithfulness, Giacosa seems to imply, is largely subordinate to her husband’s ability to dedicate his time to her need for affection.

Ironically, the problem of conjugal love remains unsolved. Giulio’s stress on the importance that material prosperity plays in the relationship between husband and wife seems to subordinate love to affluence, a notion that clearly points to Giacosa’s most unsuccessful commedia borghese, Like Falling Leaves, in which the theme of Unhappy Love is further explored.

Like Falling Leaves

In Like Falling Leaves, through a reversal of fortune, the immense wealth amassed by Giovanni Rosani through the hard work of a lifetime is irremediably lost, leaving the spoiled family members completely unprepared for poverty and bitterly unwilling to cope with it.

Like Falling Leaves focuses on two themes increasingly central to Giacosa’s philosophical development; financial bankruptcy and moral disintegration. The coexistence of the two evils points to the inability of the wealthy members of society to adjust to reduced financial circumstances with dignity and with a mature acceptance of their new station in life. Like leaves in autumn, beautiful but doomed, pampered individuals must perforce be crushed by unexpected reversals, for they lack the will to overcome adversity through personal labor and effective moral choices. The title Like Falling Leaves is an allusion to Dante’s famous description of the damned seeking to board Charon’s bark to reach their eternal perdition: “Come d’autunno si levan le foglie,/ l’una appresso dell’altra fin che’l ramo/ rende a la terra tutte le sue spogli.” (“Like leaves in Fall, one after another,/ fall to the ground till the bough/ gives back to the earth all its spoils.”)

Act 1 of Like Falling Leaves is carefully calculated to test the reaction of every character to the specter of poverty. Fifty-six-year-old Giovanni Rosani has lost his considerable fortune through ill-advised stock investments. Conscientious to a fault, he proposes to repay his debtors by awarding them the full amount from the sale of his elegant villa and other personal effects. His second wife, Giulia, who is only thirty-four, has tried to persuade him to cheat his creditors by selling some of the valuables of the villa without their knowledge. Tommy, the charming, spoiled son of his deceased first wife, has tacitly assumed that Giovanni has agreed to go through with the deal proposed by his stepmother, and that his father will still be able to provide him with the money he needs to maintain his gambling and other dissolute habits. The Rosani family is preparing to abandon its luxurious Italian villa and move to Switzerland, where Massimo, a relative they hardly know, hearing of their financial predicament, has volunteered his help by offering Giovanni a modest but adequate position.

The play opens as Nennele, Tommy’s sister and also the daughter of Giovanni’s first wife, supervises the movers as they carry out the family’s luggage. Nennele’s efforts to keep some order in the frantic household are effectively contrasted to Tommy’s and Giulia’s futile attempts to ignore their new situation in life. Tommy laments the absence of the servant who usually helps him dress in the morning, while Giulia argues with the dressmaker who refuses to leave the dress that Giulia has ordered unless she receives full payment. Innuendos of shady financial deals between Giulia and Tommy, who has recently won a large sum at the gaming table, become the play’s leitmotif. Meanwhile, Massimo arrives from Budapest, where he has been for a few days to complete a business transaction. He is to escort the family to Switzerland, where he has rented an unpretentious but comfortable house in the country. With the exception of Giovanni, who appreciates Massimo’s efforts in their behalf, the Rosani family unanimously despises Massimo, a dedicated worker who has earned a large fortune solely through his efforts. Giovanni, whose sedentary work habits have made him a stranger to the family, realizes only too well the huge gap that divides Massimo’s industrious dedication to duty from the fatuous indolence of Tommy and the irresponsible behavior of Giulia, who plans to supplement the meager family income by becoming a professional painter. Nennele’s motherly love for Tommy is complemented by her devotion to Giovanni. She seems to sense the situation better than the rest, and to be willing to face the future without too many regrets.

The theme of money again opens act 2. The family is now settled in Switzerland and is struggling to make Giovanni’s modest income suffice. Nennele refuses to accept from her father the entire sum needed for the month’s housekeeping. She is concerned, since some of the money has been disappearing, and she begs Giovanni to give her small amounts that she can easily control. A series of vivid short scenes dramatizes the circumstances of the Rosanis’ new ménage. Reluctantly, Nennele has started giving lessons in English to the son of a widow. Giulia is painting Mont Blanc, assisted by Helmer Strile, a Swedish painter who obviously is more interested in her charm than in the mountain’s majestic beauty.

A master of sparkling dialogue, Giacosa adroitly employs witty skirmishes to emphasize the superficiality of his characters. The conversation moves as rapidly and as intuitively as do the short scenes. Tommy’s brilliant defense of his own immorality, Nennele’s plaintive satire of the widow and her son, and Giulia’s phony artistic claims are brought into perspective by Massimo’s stringent logic, which effectively deflates the Rosanis’ rose-colored escapism. Tommy has lasted one day on the job that Massimo has found for him and is now deeply involved, financially and emotionally, with a Russian adventuress, Madame Orloff, who allows her wealthy friends to gamble in her palatial home. As he forces the Rosani family to face reality, Massimo increasingly takes on the role of raisonneur, and in a heated conversation with Tommy about Madame Orloff’s questionable virtue, he insists that all Tommy has to do to discontinue his relationship with the lady is to exercise his freedom of choice. In a moment of candid self-assessment, Tommy admits that in the past his choices had always been easy. Affluence had made them for him: He was never obliged to turn anything down. Things are different now, but he does not know how to enforce his freedom of choice. Moved by his sincerity, Massimo suggests that Tommy seek the help of Nennele, as undoubtedly she will help him strengthen his purpose and find new meaning in life. Realizing that Massimo is in love with Nennele, Tommy becomes sarcastic and replies that if Massimo were to ask her to marry him and she refused, all the freedom of choice in the world would not help him alter her decision. Offended but still self-possessed, Massimo retorts that to overcome all his problems, Tommy should marry Madame Orloff, who, to his knowledge, is looking for a husband. Act 2 ends in confusion: Giulia wants to go to a concert at the Artists’ Club and take Nennele with her. Tommy does not want Nennele to go and become involved in Giulia’s schemes. Giovanni comes out of his office for a brief respite, only to find the family in an uproar. Typically, he cannot understand what is wrong, and Nennele begs him to impose his authority on the quarreling family, at least this once. Giovanni, who feels guilty for depriving the family of the wealth to which it is accustomed, pleads for forgiveness and a momentary truce. Touched by Giovanni’s sorrow, Tommy tries to overcome his indolence and promises to take a second job proposed by Massimo. As the act closes, repentance seems to dominate the scene: Giulia renounces her outing to the club, and Nennele decides to resume giving English lessons to the hapless son of the widow.

As act 3 opens, money is again the issue. Frustrated by what she considers to be Giovanni’s lack of appreciation for her artistic talents, Giulia demands to be placed in charge of the family budget. Giovanni timidly tries to dissuade her, but to no avail. To avoid a scene, Giovanni asks Nennele, who by now is missing valuable personal articles, to allow Giulia to control the family’s household expenses. Nennele agrees reluctantly, and Giovanni, guessing the truth but too weak to face it, begs her to keep an eye on Giulia. With the pretext of having found a buyer for Giulia’s paintings, but in reality to make Giulia an easier prey for his amorous advances, Helmer Strile pays a visit and is introduced to Massimo and Nennele. Giacosa capitalizes on the occasion to satirize realism and Symbolism in art through an exchange that exposes the pretentious claims of the “Maestro,” as Giulia admiringly calls Helmer. Unnoticed by the others, Giulia hands Helmer her photograph, framed in a silver frame she has stolen from Nennele. As he leaves, he inadvertently drops it, and Nennele, amused by her stepmother’s duplicity, breaks into spiteful laughter. Once they are alone, Massimo patiently listens as Nennele laments Tommy’s gambling losses and Giulia’s adulterous proclivities. Their irresponsible flirting with danger reminds him of the colorful saraband of leaves in autumn: Their graceful dance will continue until they disappear without leaving even a trace of their presence in the world.

Deeply concerned for her brother’s welfare, Nennele has a confrontation with Tommy, who, after failing to pursue the job Massimo had suggested, is back in the gambling salon of Madame Orloff. He confesses to Nennele that he is deeply indebted to the Russian woman, and his position is such that he has no options left. Terrified, Nennele thinks that he is contemplating suicide, but Tommy, amused by her fear, assures her that suicide is not for people like him. He cannot summon enough courage to do away with his life. Actually he has found a better solution: He will marry Madame Orloff, who has offered to trade all his debts for his name. As Tommy leaves to fulfill his destiny, Massimo asks Nennele to marry him. Convinced that his proposal is prompted solely by compassion, Nennele refuses. Disappointed, Massimo goes away. Act 4 consists of a single scene between Giovanni and Nennele, who has decided to drown herself in the river that flows past the house. Massimo’s presence in the garden saves Nennele from committing the ultimate act of weakness and allows the audience to go home with a premonition of wedding bells as Nennele’s joyous voice invites Massimo to join her in Giovanni’s studio. Thus the family nucleus is reconstituted by the members best able to face life with courage, and with faith in the future. Although the denouement of the play comes as an anticlimax—Nennele’s projected suicide finds no justification in the preceding acts—Like Falling Leaves remains one of Italy’s most effective commedie borghesi. Giacosa unmasks the brilliant superficiality of his characters, combining satire with tragic implications in a manner that anticipates the mixing of genres characteristic of modern theater.

The Stronger

The Stronger, Giacosa’s last play, relinquishes the love motif to concentrate on the role played by money in corroding family and social values. This three-act comedy deals with Darwinian principles in the world of high finance, where survival means the ability to capitalize on someone else’s misfortune. As Cesare Nalli, the protagonist of the play, a dedicated family man who is ruthless in business, explains, “Wealth is like the water of the sea: No one recognizes the rivers that flow into it.” That is to say, success is its own proof of honesty—no one cares to analyze questionable business practices as long as they are legally acceptable. As the title implies, in the world of finance “the strongest one” is the man fearless enough to prevent the moves of his adversary. Therefore, in a Machiavellian sense, the end justifies the means.

A serious condemnation of double standards, the comedy dwells on the discovery made by Silvio Nalli, Cesare’s only son, of his father’s heartless handling of a business deal in which he knowingly ruins a former partner to strengthen his own financial holdings. Silvio, a painter who has received an excellent liberal education through Cesare’s generosity, worships his father and thinks him perfect. One evening, at the club where he is dining, he hears Fausto, the son of Cesare’s former partner, call Cesare a thief. Blind with rage, Silvio wants to avenge the insult with a duel. The duel eventually is averted because Silvio’s cousin Edoardo Falcieri, a pragmatist who benefits from Cesare’s munificence, manages to replace him by slapping Fausto and claiming his right to fight. The sudden act of violence deprives Silvio of the privilege of defending his father’s honor, and, outraged by what he considers Edoardo’s attempt to strip him of a sacred duty, he prepares to go back to Rome. Before leaving, however, while speaking with Don Paolo, a friend who was to be his second, Silvio discovers that Fausto was right after all. Fausto’s father’s financial crisis had been hastened by Cesare’s refusal to go through with a deal that they had planned for some time. In a bitter confrontation with his father, Silvio renounces his wealth, while Cesare angrily denounces his son’s betrayal of the sacrifices that Cesare has made on Silvio’s behalf. Cesare has become a recluse to build a fortune for his son, who is now repudiating the very money that Cesare has spent to give him an education free from practical problems and necessary compromises.

The end of the play is inconclusive. Silvio leaves Cesare’s villa with a parting thrust at his cousin Edoardo, who is on his way to fight with Fausto to defend the family honor—or, more likely, to defend the monthly income generously bestowed by Cesare, who wants him to share in the family fortune. In The Stronger, Giacosa returns to the Aristotelian unities of time and place that he had adopted in Unhappy Love and uses the Nallis’ living room as the central locale in which the comedy evolves. Even though the comedy is primarily a drama a tesi (a thesis play), and though the theme of honor, tied exclusively to a duel, weakens the impact of the moral issues, the play retains important features quite original with Giacosa. His treatment of the conflict between father and son, for example, offers a solution based on reason and love. As Silvio renounces his father’s wealth, his love for his father is strong enough to make him wish to see him again, and he promises to come back occasionally and spend some time with him. Even though a reconciliation does not seem likely—the denouement is reminiscent of Unhappy Love—the door remains open to favorable developments.

The Stronger was presented in Turin’s Teatro Alfieri, on November 25, 1904, by the theatrical company Grammatica-Talli-Calabresi, at the time one of Italy’s most successful companies. In spite of the expectations raised by Giacosa’s reputation, the play was a flop. The public, still elated by the brilliant dialogue of Like Falling Leaves, and by the comedy’s unquestionable stage appeal, was disappointed by the polemical, somber tone of the play. Whatever went wrong, Giacosa can hardly be blamed for inconsistency. When he left the stage, Giacosa was still exploring the issues that had become central to the development of his teatro borghese: the role played by money in shaping, altering, and ultimately destroying the fragile balance of family affections.

Bibliography

Doroni, Stefano. Dall’androne medievale al tinello borghese: Il teatro di Giuseppe Giacosa. Rome: Bulzoni, 1998. A critical analysis of the works of Giacosa. In Italian. Bibliography and index.

Groos, Arthur. “The Lady Vanishes.” Opera News 59, no. 8 (January 7, 1995): 16-20. A discussion of the last act of the opera Madame Butterfly, comparing Luigi Illica and Giacosa’s versions and Puccini’s alterations.

O’Grady, Deidre. Piave, Boito, Pirandello: From Romantic Realism to Modernism. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 2000. An overview of Italian drama during the time in which Giacosa was active. Bibliography and index.