A Passion in Rome by Morley Callaghan

First published: 1961

Type of work: Symbolic realism

Time of work: The autumn of 1958, before and after the death of Pope Pius XII

Locale: Rome

Principal Characters:

• Sam Raymond, the protagonist, a Canadian-born newsmagazine photographer
• Anna Connel, (
• Carla Caneli, ), an American singer of Italian ancestry
• Francesca Winters, an Italian guide and translator, who is married to a British journalist
• Alberto Ruberto, an Italian film director, formerly Anna’s lover
• Joe Mosca, an Italo-American mobster
• Koster, an American reporter

The Novel

Sam Raymond, a photographer for the Weekly, a large American newsmagazine, is sent to Rome to cover the death of Pope Pius XII and the election of his successor. A “solidly built man of thirty-nine,” Sam is a successful professional who has a breezy, assured manner. Arriving in the city in September, some weeks before the Pope actually dies (he is expected to, imminently), the photographer learns that his colleague, Koster, with whom he is expected to work on the story, is not expected until later. Feeling alone and friendless in a strange city, and knowing little Italian, Sam is attracted to the mysterious Carla Caneli, a beautiful woman he encounters in the street outside his hotel. At first, he is drawn to her only physically, but as the days pass, she becomes the object of his passion. Thus, the plot follows a dual track: a romance set against the unfolding drama of a dying Pope and the emergence of a new Vicar of Christ. In the process of his narrative, Morley Callaghan seeks to illuminate the sacred and profane mysteries of life, and the ways in which they impinge upon each other.

The plot concentrates on the relationship of Sam and the woman he knows as Carla. Following their accidental meeting, Sam hires an Italian woman, Francesca Winters, as his guide, translator, and companion for the duration of his assignment. Through her, he meets Alberto Ruberto, a prominent film director, who was formerly Carla’s lover. Despite the warnings by Francesca and Alberto that she is an alcoholic, unpredictable, and possessed by “crazy fantasies,” Sam finds Carla sexually appealing. Together they explore the familiar landmarks of the ancient city: the religious shrines of the Vatican, the trendy shops and watering holes of the Via Veneto, and the moldering monuments of the Caesars. In previous excursions with Francesca, Sam had been bored with these sites; now, accompanied by Carla, his fascination with Rome is aroused, and he is surprised by her knowledge of its past. In one important episode, they visit the Colosseum by moonlight, in order to carry out a Roman ritual of feeding wild cats chunks of raw meat. The cries of the fierce animals as they leap out of the darkness to gorge themselves seem to Sam to represent “the world’s fear” and desire for satiation. Later, the metaphoric purpose of this scene is fulfilled as Callaghan describes the anxiety of the crowd attending the funeral rites for the old Pope, and the subsequent chorus of exultation which rises when the new Pope (John XXIII) appeases the spiritual hunger of his flock with his first appearance on the balcony above St. Peter’s Square.

As the story develops, Sam learns that his own father is dying, but the twin pressures of his attachment to Carla and the photographic assignment convince him not to return home immediately. The presence of the mobster, Joe Mosca, is another motive to stay, for Sam fears him not only as a rival but also as a threat to Carla’s safety: “The whole of Mosca’s life, and the life in a thousand dives and back alleys seemed to be washing over Carla, claiming her again.” For a while, she does fall under Mosca’s perverse influence as she struggles to revive her singing career. With Francesca’s aid, however, Sam arranges to showcase her musical talents in a proper setting, and with this success, Carla is finally able to leave the shadows of her demimondaine existence behind her. Reluctantly, but with a better understanding of her hard-won independence, Sam agrees with Carla’s decision to return to America without him.

The Characters

As the novel begins, Sam is portrayed as a lonely man, “waiting for something” to shake him out of an unwonted lethargy. His relationship with Carla, and the various states of passion he experiences because of her, are crucial to his redemption as a man.

Possessed of a healthy sexuality, Sam finds Carla to be a willing and seductive partner. Yet he succumbs to jealousy when she seems to treat him with the habitual Roman “indifference” to his deeper needs. His jealousy turns to altruism as he conceives of himself as her protector, her “master,” who shall rehabilitate her and lead her to self-respect. More and more, though, his generosity becomes paternalistic, resistant to the fact that Carla is capable of looking after herself. Their relationship fires his long-dormant ambition to return to his painting. While covering the religious ceremonies, Sam is impressed by Carla’s devoutness, and her feelings seem to parallel his own aesthetic outlook. Finally, like John Milton’s Samson Agonistes of 1671 (“And calm of mind, all passion spent”), Sam is released from his psychological or deal of attachment to Carla. While he is hardly complex, Sam is not a shallow character, and the reader can easily empathize with his situation.

Carla is more shadowily portrayed. The degradation of her early life, her subsequent climb to near stardom in the seedy purlieus of American show business, and the mutual humiliation of her affair with Alberto, may cause the reader to view her in a sentimental light. Under Sam’s caring concern, however, she casts off her vulgar and slang-ridden manners to mature into a confident, and compelling, figure. Clothing and bird imagery are used skillfully by the author to reveal changes in her, and Sam’s, character. She teaches Sam how to dress like a Roman, and he provides her with stylish frocks; together, then, they make an “elegant pair” as they promenade along the Via Veneto. Later, when each discards these clothes, Callaghan signals that they have outgrown the plumage in the gestation of new selves. Whereas she was once like a “bird or sea nymph tossed up on his beach, waiting for him to heal her,” the “canary”—she is a cabaret singer—eventually finds her way to freedom and heals her benefactor.

As for the novel’s minor characters, Francesca is a personable woman, whose friendship for Sam is genuine. Alberto and Joe provide contrasting examples of the men in Carla’s life, the one a disappointed lover and the other a vicious exploiter of her talent. Koster is used sparingly, but well, as a foil to Sam.

Critical Context

A Passion in Rome was published near the midpoint of Callaghan’s long career as a writer. It is reminiscent of his earlier works, Such Is My Beloved (1934) and The Loved and the Lost (1951), and of Our Lady of the Snows (1985); like them, it is a novel about the fascination of a lonely man for a fallen woman. Like them, too, the novel is cast in the author’s customary simple style and seeks to express what Callaghan has often referred to as the purpose of his art: the extraordinary dimension of experience, cloaked in the ordinary fabric of life.

Yet, when published, the novel was widely regarded as a failure. Some critics saw it as overwritten, lacking the firmness of structure which distinguishes the author’s best short stories and novellas. It could also be said that, for a novel of its scope, it is deficient in variety of characterization and in suspense. Its strength, however, lies in the subtle interweaving of symbolic meaning and realistic narrative.

Callaghan has, since the beginning of his career in the 1920’s, sought to be judged solely on artistic merit in the international arena. A Passion in Rome confirms his reputation as a serious writer, unafraid to explore an important theme in a popular format. Moreover, it is clear that he is one of the leading Canadian novelists of this century.

Bibliography

Conron, Brandon. Morley Callaghan, 1966.

Hoar, Victor. Morley Callaghan, 1969.

Staines, David, ed. The Callaghan Symposium, 1981.