Adultery and hysteria in the nineteenth-century novel : the case of Gabriele D'Annunzio

This monograph proposes a re-reading of D'Annunzio's female characters in five selected novels -Il Piacere, L'Innocente, Il Trionfo della Morte, Le Vergini delle Rocce and Il Fuoco- as a case study to examine how hysteria, adultery and female stereotypes enable both a reflection and critique of these socio-scientific beliefs of the period, exposing a covert criticism of Post-unified Italy