The Baron in the Trees: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Baron in the Trees" is a novel centered around Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, a twelve-year-old boy who decides to live in the trees after refusing to eat a meal prepared by his sister. This pivotal act of rebellion sets the stage for his unique life among the treetops, where he develops new instincts and a philosophical outlook influenced by Enlightenment thinkers. His brother, Biaggio, narrates the story and serves as a supportive figure, bringing Cosimo supplies and sharing the wonders of his adventurous life. Cosimo’s interactions with Viola, a neighbor and member of a rival family, highlight his youthful desire for connection and admiration, ultimately leading to a romantic relationship. The novel also explores family dynamics through figures like Arminio, Cosimo's father, who is caught between his noble aspirations and the realities of his son’s defiance, and Corradino, the Generalessa, who balances strictness with care for her children. Additionally, Battista, Cosimo's sister, represents the contrasting norms of societal expectations, particularly through her marriage into the aristocracy. Together, these characters create a rich tapestry of themes related to individuality, rebellion, and the tension between personal ideals and familial obligations.
The Baron in the Trees: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Italo Calvino
First published: Il Barone rampante, 1957 (English translation, 1959)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Ombrosa, an estate in northern Italy
Plot: Fantasy
Time: The late eighteenth century
Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò (koh-ZEE-moh peeoh-VAHSkoh dee rohn-DOH), who is twelve years old at the narrative's outset. He is the eldest son in the Piovasco family and successor as Baron of the Ombrosa estate. Cosimo is energetic and determined, an idealist who insists on acting on his principles. the central figure in the story, he sets the main action going when he refuses to eat a meal of snails prepared by his sister. Sent from the table, he climbs into a holm oak on his family's estate and vows never to descend from the trees. Cosimo eventually develops instincts and senses different from other humans as a result of living in the wild and having to be ever watchful and alert. This vigilance becomes “his natural state, as if his eyes had to embrace a horizon wide enough to understand all.” Despite his arboreal life, he becomes studious and well read in the philosophy of the Enlightenment; as a reader as well as a tree dweller, he acquires, virtually and literally, a bird's-eye view of his era.
Biaggio Piovasco di Rondò (bee-AHJ-jee-oh), Cosimo's brother, eight years old at the outset of the action. He narrates the tales of Cosimo's extraordinary life. Though at first regarded by Cosimo as weak because of his failure to resist their father, Biaggio is a close friend and confidant to Cosimo. Biaggio takes his brother food and supplies when needed and keeps Cosimo informed of events that Cosimo cannot observe. Throughout the narrative, Biaggio maintains an attitude of wonder and awe at his brother's exploits.
Violante (Viola) Ondariva (veeoh-LAHN-teh on-dah-REEvah), a neighbor to the Piovasco family and member of the rival Ondariva family, which has claim to some of the same lands as the Piovasco family. Approximately Cosimo's age, Viola is attractive, blonde, capricious, and independent. She meets Cosimo shortly after he enters the trees, when she is swinging in her garden and he greets her from a tree. She attracts Cosimo immediately with her teasing coyness and the fact that she is a member of the family his father has declared as sworn enemies. She occasionally assists a youthful gang of fruit thieves, who know her as Sinforosa, by alerting them to the location of ripe fruit and sending them an alarm when danger is near. At every chance, Cosimo attempts to impress her; according to Biaggio, this is partly to demonstrate to her his strong will. Later, after being widowed, Viola becomes Cosimo's lover.
Arminio Piovasco di Rondò (ahr-MEE-nee-oh), the Baron of Ombrosa and father of Cosimo, Biaggio, and Battista. A dreamer aspiring unrealistically to higher nobility, Arminio dresses in a powdered wig and formal French court attire, in the outdated style of Louis XIV. His response to the turbulence of his age is that of a reactionary, attempting to regain a lapsed dukedom. His otherwise harmless pretensions disgust Cosimo, whose first impulse to live in the trees is an act of rebellion against his father's authority. Arminio's principal reaction to his eldest son's rebellion is to become too embarrassed to go out or to face his friends among the nobility.
Corradino di Rondò (kohr-rah-DEE-noh), formerly Konradine von Kurtewitz and also called
the Generalessa, the wife of Arminio and mother of Cosimo, Biaggio, and Battista. She is called the Generalessa by her children because of her martial bearing and her preoccupation with military matters, which she learned from her father, a general who had commanded Empress Maria Theresa's troops and took his daughter with him from camp to camp. the Generalessa is domineering and strict but protective of her children. Like her husband, she is absentminded in rearing her children, so that her sons grow up left to their own devices, enjoying much freedom. With Cosimo, she is solicitous and caring. She is one of the first to accept Cosimo's decision to live in the trees.
Battista di Rondò (bah-TEES-tah), Cosimo and Biaggio's sister. Battista's countenance is compared by Biaggio to a rodent's; she has staring eyes, narrow teeth, yellowish skin, and starched hair. She became confined to her home, dressed as a nun, after she attacked the young son of a noble family visiting her father. Battista's main interest as a youth is cooking bizarre, revolting dishes, including rats'livers, pigs'tails, and porcupines. She is the cook of the infamous meal of snails that her brother Cosimo refuses to eat. Battista eventually marries the young count of Estomac, thus ensconcing herself in the self-aggrandizing aristocratic life that Cosimo has devoted himself to protesting.