The Romance of a Schoolmaster by Edmondo De Amicis

First published:Il romanzo d’un maestro, 1890 (English translation, 1892)

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Social criticism

Time of work: Nineteenth century

Locale: Italy

The Story:

The unexpected death of Emilio Ratti’s father plunged the family into poverty, and Emilio, at age seventeen, found it necessary to look for some way to make his own living. At his mother’s suggestion, and with financial help from a wealthy family named Goli, he entered a normal school located in the town where the Rattis resided. The young man felt a real call to the teaching profession; the love and sympathy he felt for his young brothers and sisters had given him an interest in the welfare and training of small children.

His mother’s death came on the day Emilio learned of his appointment to the normal school. As a result, he spent his first months there in relative solitude, reading and studying during the hours when he was not required to be in classes. His only friends were his roommates. One was Carlo Lerica, a thirty-year-old former corporal of grenadiers who had left the army to go into elementary teaching. The other was a quiet, compromising chap in his mid-twenties, Giovanni Labaccio. His only other friend was Professor Megari. Emilio believed that the professor had a genuine liking for him, even though he did not let it show among the other students.

When Emilio finished his course at the normal school, the professor admitted his sympathy for the young man and showed him a note written by Emilio’s mother on her deathbed, a note asking this faculty member to do what he could for her son. Professor Megari, thinking that the letter might inspire Emilio in his career, gave the letter to him.

Emilio’s first post was at an elementary school in Garasco, not far from the city of Turin, in the northern part of Italy. There the new teacher spent his first professional year, a year not without its tribulations. He inadvertently made an enemy of the local priest’s cook, a spiteful woman who did everything she could to harm his reputation with the parents of his pupils and with the local authorities, mostly because he refused to bow to her in the street. During that first year Emilio tried to keep discipline and order in his room and motivate his students by kindness and affection for them. He learned, however, that the rather brutal peasant youngsters took his attitude for weakness and disliked him for being so easygoing. At the annual inspection the school inspector for the province advised Emilio to keep his affection for his pupils but not to let it show, lest they continue to take advantage of him. Emilio was leaving Garasco at the end of the year, his position being only a temporary one, and he resolved to change his methods when he changed his location.

The following year Emilio taught at Piazzena, a small village on the plains. Inadvertently, he found himself regarded in the area as a member of the opposition to the political group in office, largely because he had secured his position through an influential gentleman of the neighborhood. The first year in Piazzena went by without any but the usual petty incidents of a schoolteacher’s existence, and at its end Emilio was congratulated by the provincial inspector. In the second year, however, the village was thrown into open war over the treatment of a young woman who taught girls in the elementary school. The local priest accused her of teaching the girls to go against the principles of the Church. When those charges failed to arouse her or the village, he accused her of immorality. Emilio, knowing how unjust the priest’s accusations were, was among those who sided with the young woman. After a long battle, in which the courts and the school authorities became involved, the teacher’s good name was vindicated and the priest was forced to pay her an indemnity and to apologize in print. The battle was enough to convince Emilio that he no longer wanted to remain in the community. He did not request to have his two-year contract renewed.

Emilio’s next post was in Altarana, situated in the Occidental Alps. There he ran into a new problem. Because the government decreed that all children should be sent to school, there was a good deal of resentment on the part of the peasants and their children. Although he tried to keep the children in attendance, Emilio fought a losing battle. Both the parents and youngsters preferred to have the children work in the fields.

Despite his difficulties, Emilio stayed in Altarana six years, hoping that by the end of that time his study and experience would enable him to get a post in the municipal school system in Turin. The pay was better in the city, and teaching was not completely subject to the whims of underhanded authorities who tried to keep money from the schools and to harass the teachers for not being friends to every faction and individual.

Faustina Galli, a new teacher for girls, arrived in Altarana. She had been chosen by one of the village officials because of her beauty, and the man who chose her hoped to have an affair with her. When she proved to be impervious to his solicitations or his threats, Emilio, impressed with her virtue and beauty, fell in love with her. Faustina, however, had the responsibility of a crippled father to look after, and she therefore rejected his attentions. Disappointed and despairing of getting ahead in his profession, Emilio turned to liquor. He almost lost his post, but his old friend and adviser, Professor Megari, interceded in his behalf and also showed him the folly of his drinking.

In his last year at Altarana, Emilio learned what had happened to his roommates at the normal school. The former corporal of grenadiers, Carlo Lerica, had encountered many difficulties, but Giovanni Labaccio had made a name for himself by insinuating himself into everyone’s graces. He finally married a rich woman older than he and retired from teaching. After his retirement he turned against the profession from which he had risen and accused the teachers of thinking only of money, rather than their professional responsibilities.

Emilio’s next village post was in Camina, where he spent two more years. There he had numerous small adventures and the usual troubles with the local authorities and parents, but he was learning to put up with them as one of the conditions of his profession. From there he went to Bossolano, where he spent his final year as a teacher in a village school. At the end of that year he felt that he had served his apprenticeship and had put in enough study to compete successfully for a post in Turin. He took the examinations in the city, along with more than two hundred other candidates. He was successful, as was his old classmate, Carlo Lerica. Not only did they pass the examination, but they also were appointed immediately to posts. To add to his joy, Emilio discovered that Faustina Galli was also teaching in Turin. He learned from her that her father had died, and she gave him reason to hope that she was at last ready to return his love.

Critical Evaluation:

Edmondo De Amicis was known primarily as a prose stylist; he was famous for his books of travel and for his ability to picture a landscape with words. Despite his great popularity at the end of the nineteenth century, his reputation has now all but disappeared. His later works were written under the influence of Emile Zola; his powers of observation were particularly suited to the naturalistic style. The plots of his novels were loosely constructed, and THE ROMANCE OF A SCHOOLMASTER is no exception; its plot is little more than a slender thread connecting a number of scenes in the schoolmaster’s life. The book is written in a somber style, unlike the buoyant mood of his early works. De Amicis did not investigate the historic causes of the conditions he exposed; he simply showed what they were, attempting to paint the situation so as to call public attention to the evils that he felt must be changed.

The class structure in the schoolmaster’s town is mercilessly shown, as is the lack of concern among the population for genuine education or culture. Individuals who cling precariously to bits of social status are shown to be the cruelest to those below them on the social scale. Nearly everyone, it seems, can manage to feel superior to the poor schoolmaster. The title is more ironic than not; neither the style of the work nor the story of Ratti’s existence suggests anything noble or romantic about his life.

The inner motives of De Amicis’ characters are sometimes obscure; he possesses more interest in accurately portraying the milieu than in analyzing why people act as they do. There is a minimum of dramatic power in the novel; the scenes are artfully multiplied until the reader is almost overwhelmed by the depressing picture of the pitiful schoolmaster’s existence. The descriptions of lower class life and the social conditions are written with earnestness and conviction. The novel has definite historical interest, and its author will continue to hold a minor place in European literature.

THE ROMANCE OF A SCHOOLMASTER was a product of the author’s later years, when he was convinced that socialism offered the only palliative for his country’s ills. The novel is also a timeless study of the vicissitudes of the teacher in the elementary school, the type of teacher recruited from a shallow culture and the lower classes. In the novel, the teacher’s hardships, his low pay, his pettifogging enemies, the lack of social position, and his lack of a cultural background are all vividly drawn. When the novel appeared in Italy, it was bitterly criticized because of the author’s attacks on the system and officials of the Department of Public Instruction.

Principal Characters:

• Emilio Ratti, a young schoolmaster
• Professor Megari, his adviser and friend
• Faustina Galli, a young schoolteacher whom Ratti loves
• Giovanni Labaccio, a schoolteacher and Ratti’s friend
• Carlo Lerica, another friend and a teacher