Bitter Honeymoon by Alberto Moravia

First published: "Luna di miele, sole di fiele," 1952 (English translation, 1956)

Type of plot: Psychological

Time of work: An August during the early 1950's

Locale: Anacapri, Italy

Principal Characters:

• Giacomo, the bridegroom
• Simona, his wife, a member of the Communist Party
• Livio, a work associate of Simona, also a communist

The Story

Giacomo found the first night of his honeymoon unsatisfactory. His wife had complained that she was tired and still suffering from the effects of the boat trip to Capri and had put him off. Now, on this second day of their marriage, she is as much a virgin as she was before. The thought of his failure to accomplish this prime marital responsibility preys on Giacomo's mind, as he and his wife, Simona, are walking along a path winding through a field on the heights of Anacapri. He looks around at this place that he has selected for his honeymoon with a jaundiced eye. Several months before, when he was here last, the air was clear and the fields were fresh with flowers; now the weather is sultry and oppressive, the fields have turned to dust.

He walks several paces behind her, reflecting on their relationship, a love match "based rather on the will to love than on genuine feeling." Giacomo, however, is convinced that his wife views him with physical repulsion and that she regrets being married. He would like to take possession of her with one, single, piercing glance, a technique that has served him well with other women, but he realizes his chances are not good. He tries to figure out what he had found in her that was so physically attractive. Her legs are long and skinny, and chaste, shiny, and cold; her breasts droop and seem like extraneous and burdensome weights.

When she complains that she is being made to walk ahead, Giacomo goes on ahead, brushing her breast with his elbow as he walks past her "to test his own desire." The path winds around the summit of Monte Solaro; it goes through stretches of vineyards before descending sharply toward the sea. His wife complains, "Have we far to go? It's so hot. . . . I wish we could go home." Giacomo promises that soon they will have a swim, and to pass the time, he gets her to recite some poetry. She chooses the third canto from Dante's Inferno. They pass a villa that once belonged to Axle Munthe, a very fashionable doctor practicing in Rome at the turn of the century. Giacomo tells his wife a story about one of Munthe's famous treatments. A woman came to him with all sorts of imaginary ailments. Munthe responded by telling her to look out the window; when her back was turned, he gave her a swift kick in the rear. Simona remarks that that is the way she should be treated because she is slightly crazy for having acted the way she did last night. She says that she was neither tired nor seasick but simply afraid, "afraid of the whole idea." She allows that she will have to grow accustomed to the idea, and remarks, "Tonight I'll be yours."

The promise is insufficient to cure Giacomo's doubts about her and about his own virility. He decides that her aloofness has something to do with her political beliefs. She is a communist, while he is "too much of an individualist." In fact, he has no interest in politics whatsoever, and the only thing that bothers him is "the fact that his wife did have such an interest." He taunts her by saying that if the communists ever came to power, she would inform against him. She tells him not to worry about something that does not exist. The fact that she did not categorically deny his charge confirms Giacomo's suspicions and makes him angry. He continues to blame her for how he feels.

They continue their walk, now going down the slope toward the water. Giacomo watches her run ahead of him and wonders what could be the importance of a political party when compared to the act of love. "And he was sure that in the moment he possessed Simona he would drive out of her every allegiance except that of love for him." Nevertheless, his jealousy of the party continues. They reach a small inlet, but their continued togetherness is prevented by the presence of one of Simona's young Communist Party associates, Livio, to whom Giacomo takes an instant dislike. Giacomo cannot tolerate the nonchalant way Livio and his wife talk with each other. It is not so much what they say, mostly small talk about various party workers and vacations, but the note of complicity with which it is said, the "tone of voice of two monks or two nuns meeting one another." He senses that Simona will escape him through her party connections, but he does not want to show his annoyance and explains his scowl to her as a result of the heat.

The two honeymooners soon go off toward the shelter of some rocks to change their clothes for a swim. The sight of Simona's naked body prompts him to suggest that they make love "right here and now," but she puts him off, again promising that tonight things will be different. They put on their swimming suits and go back to the basin to take a swim. Livio is still there, now sunning himself. Livio springs into action, suggesting that Simona race him over to a distant rock. They dive into the water and swim off. Giacomo does the same, but he is no match for their athleticism; as he struggles out of the water near a rock on which they are sitting, Livio suggests that they race back. Giacomo tries to restrain his anger as he follows.

When all three are together again, Simona serves lunch, which she shares with Livio. The conversation about party associations continues. Although Livio's observations are commonplace, Giacomo notices that his wife seems to like them. After they have eaten, Simona decides to take a sunbath, but she refuses to allow Livio to rest his head on her lap. Now Giacomo senses that she is beginning to pay some attention to him, however, and his spirits soar. Once more he believes that there is "a possibility of love between them." At his suggestion, she accompanies him on a stroll among the rocks. They go to a more private beach to sunbathe and she allows him to rest his head on her lap. He sleeps for about an hour. When he wakes up, the sky is dark and they have to hurry back to their villa before the rain starts. Livio is gone.

Before they arrive home, it starts to thunder. Simona confesses that lightning scares her to death. She runs on ahead, feeling safe only when she is inside and the door is shut. She immediately goes to the bedroom. He delays joining her, drinking a glass of white wine before he enters the bedroom. Now he goes to his wife, removes her dressing gown, and orders her into bed. He then takes off his own clothes and lies down next to her. He tries to arouse her with soft caresses, but these produce a strong desire to possess her, which he impulsively tries to do. His vigorous approach prompts a strong refusal on her part. He tries to prevail by force, but she fends him off. Finally, after a somewhat prolonged tussle, he loses his patience and gets up. He goes to the bathroom and cuts his finger with a razor blade. Returning to the bedroom, he smears blood from his wound on the sheets and announces to her that she is no longer a virgin. He shows her the bloodstained linen as evidence. She seems unsure, but when she sees his cut finger, she knows he is lying.

Giacomo goes into a rage. You will be a virgin forever, he shouts. He accuses her of always being hostile, of being closer to Livio than to him; he repeats that, if the party came to power, she would inform on him. These charges reduce her to tears; she sobs that she would rather die than inform on him. Still distraught, she gets up from the bed and goes over to the window. As she looks outside, the sky is suddenly illuminated with a flash of lightning, followed by the metallic-sounding crash of the thunderbolt. Simona returns to the bed, frightened, and throws herself into her husband's arms. While she is still weeping, he has sex with her. He feels his accomplishment is somehow comparable to the power of the sun. Later, though, he decides that nothing really was settled, but he is satisfied that she had said she would kill herself for him. That will do for the time being.