Gadfly summary by chapter. Gadfly. Voynich Ethel Lillian. Arthur's family secret

Italy, 30s of the 19th century. Arthur Burton is still very young, he is only 19 years old, he does not yet have any real life experience. The young man devotes a lot of time to communicating with his confessor Lorenzo Montanelli, trusting him in everything and considering him to be perhaps the best of people. In addition, Arthur sees Montanelli as his only friend, because his mother Gladys passed away about a year ago, and his half-brothers, who are much older than the young man, always treated him coldly and indifferently.

The guy informs the priest that he joined a revolutionary organization called "Young Italy", from now on he, like his comrades, intends to devote his life to the struggle for the freedom and happiness of his homeland. Montanelli anticipates that this activity may lead Arthur to real trouble in the future, but he does not know how to dissuade the ward from his plans, because young Burton is firmly convinced of the correctness and nobility of his goals.

Arthur's old friend Gemma, to whom the young man is not indifferent, also joins the same organization. Burton's confessor goes to Rome for some time, having received the title of bishop, and Arthur himself tells another clergyman in confession that he is in love with Gemma and is jealous of a party comrade by the name of Ball, who is also courting this girl.

Soon Arthur is under arrest. During interrogations, the guy keeps steadfastly, not betraying his comrades in the organization, but after his release, he finds out that he is the one who is accused of betraying Bolle. The young man understands with horror that the priest has allowed himself to betray the confession of the confessor. Burton receives a slap from Gemma, who believed that he really committed a betrayal, Arthur does not have time to explain to the girl how everything really happened. Upon arrival home, his brother's wife Julie, losing her temper, tells the young man that in reality Montanelli is his own father. Deeply shocked and disappointed in the person closest to him, Arthur sails illegally to South America, hiding on the ship, leaving a note about his intention to drown himself.

13 years have passed since these events. Members of a revolutionary organization in Florence decide to recruit a certain Felice Rivares, nicknamed the Gadfly, who is successful in political satire and is known for his sharp, merciless language. Gemma Bolla, who over the years became the wife and then widow of a member of Bolla's party, first sees this man at one of the social evenings, paying attention to his limp, a long scar on his face and some stuttering. Montanelli, who managed to become a cardinal, also arrives in the same city.

Gemma and a high-ranking minister of the church are connected by a tragedy experienced earlier. More than ten years ago, the girl, like everyone else, considered Arthur drowned and blamed herself for his death, but Montanelli claimed that the young man committed suicide because of his many years of lies that became known to Arthur. Nevertheless, the woman continues throughout all these years to mercilessly reproach herself for what happened.

During further communication with the Gadfly, Gemma accidentally recognizes in this man the beloved of youth, and this discovery horrifies her. Shortly thereafter, Rivares begins to have fits of severe pain, and his party comrades are forced to take turns by his side, trying to alleviate the unbearable suffering. At the same time, the Gadfly forbids his mistress, the gypsy Zita, at least to enter his room, which is very painful for a woman, because she sincerely loves Felice.

When the Gadfly becomes a little easier, he tells Gemma a little about how terrible, full of hunger and humiliation his existence on the South American continent was. A certain sailor severely beat him with a poker, Rivares was forced to work as a clown in a traveling circus, regularly being subjected not only to insults and bullying, but also to beatings. According to him, in his youth he committed a very rash act, leaving his home. At the same time, Gemma does not hide her feelings about the death of a loved one through her fault, the woman speaks frankly about how she continues to suffer daily because of what happened in her younger years.

Signora Bolla suspects that in fact her allegedly deceased childhood friend Arthur is now the Gadfly, but she is not completely sure of this, and Rivares keeps impenetrable and does not give himself away even when looking at the portrait of little Burton at the age of ten. At the same time, Gadfly and Gemma decide to organize the transportation of the necessary for revolutionary activity weapons to the Papal States.

The dancer Zita reproaches Rivares with the fact that he does not love her at all, and only Cardinal Montanelli is truly dear to him, and the Gadfly does not deny her rightness. By coincidence, a revolutionary in the guise of a beggar is talking to his real father, he sees that his spiritual wound has not healed. He has a desire to open up to Montanelli and confess everything to him, but the Gadfly restrains himself, realizing that he will still never be able to forget his monstrous past in South America and forgive the cardinal.

After some time, Rivares is forced to leave for Brisigella to replace a comrade who was under arrest. At the sight of Montanelli, he loses his vigilance, and he is also captured. The cardinal insists on a meeting with this prisoner, but the Gadfly at the meeting is not only defiant, but also frankly rude, without ceasing to offend the clergyman.

The comrades are trying to arrange an escape for Rivarez. But due to a new attack of his illness, he loses consciousness in the courtyard of the prison, and the head of the fortress does not allow him to be given an anesthetic, despite the insistent requests of the local doctor. Montanelli again comes to the Gadfly, seeing his condition and the conditions in which the revolutionary is kept, the cardinal comes to sincere horror and indignation. It is at this moment that the son nevertheless tells him about who he really is. Rivarez insists that Montanelli choose either him or Jesus, but the clergyman, unable to reject God and religion, leaves the cell in deep despair.

Montanelli is forced to agree to the verdict of a military court, and Gadfly is placed in the courtyard in front of the soldiers. True, they try to shoot past, because they are not indifferent to this courageous man, until the last trying to joke, despite the torment he experiences. But at last he dies in front of his father.

Companions Rivarez in the party learn about his heroic death. During the service, the cardinal blames everyone for the death of his son, at which point he almost loses his mind from immeasurable grief. Gemma receives a letter from the Gadfly, written by him on the eve of the execution, and realizes that again, and now she has completely lost Arthur. At this point, her longtime friend and party mate Martini informs her that Montanelli has passed away, having suffered a ruptured heart.

Burton Arthur - a student of Anglo-Italian origin, a member of the Italian national liberation movement "Young Italy". Betrayed by a confessor who violated the secrecy of confession, he turns out to be the unwitting culprit in the arrest of his colleague in business and at the same time a rival in love. Having lost the love of the girl Gemma, who considers him a traitor, having become disillusioned with religion, and to top it all off, having learned that his real father is the elder friend and patron of the canon (later Cardinal) Montanelli, A., having faked his death, goes to South America. Returning 13 years later to Italy as a stern and outwardly disfigured Rivares, a revolutionary and pamphleteer, writing his anti-church articles under the pseudonym "Gadfly", he eventually ends up in prison after an armed incident. He agrees to accept help in escaping from the cardinal, who recognized him as his son, only at the cost of the latter's renunciation of dignity and religion, which he is unable to do. The gadfly is shot, and Montanelli dies after a passionate and half-mad sermon in which, depicting the suffering of God the Father, who gave Christ to be crucified, he mourns himself and his own son. The hero V. repeats the path of many young people from the novels of the 19th century, who disappeared from life after a tragic incident, seemingly forever, but returned unrecognized and under a different name in order to restore justice and pay tribute to the enemies. The most striking example of this kind is Edmond Dantes - Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. But similar characters can be found in Dickens. The effective contrast of the hero's image in the past and in his secondary appearance is characteristic (often, as in Dickens, the identity of both is revealed only at the end). A. at the beginning of the novel is an exalted romantic youth, immersed in the elements of Catholicism and experiencing a crisis of faith, the Gadfly of his main part is also romantic hero, but already a disappointed lonely cynic and atheist, who has only one of his revolutionary deeds left in his life and an old love cherished in the depths of his soul. The motif of "lost illusions", very characteristic of the "history of young man» XIX century, is also present here. Gadfly A. made primarily disappointment in the values of religion. The worldview revolution in Voynich's novel is based on specific private facts relating to specific ministers of the church, one of whom violated the secrecy of confession, and the other - the vow of celibacy. The last of these facts is associated with a characteristic melodramatic device rooted in folklore - the disclosure of the secret of kinship, which occurs twice: in the first part A. learns about his sonship, in the third part A. learns his son in Gadfly Montanelli.

To South America. Returning 13 years later to Italy as a stern and outwardly disfigured Rivares, a revolutionary and pamphleteer, writing his anti-church articles under the pseudonym "Gadfly", he eventually ends up in prison after an armed incident.

He agrees to accept help in escaping from the cardinal, who recognized him as his son, only at the cost of the latter's renunciation of dignity and religion, which he is unable to do. The gadfly is shot, and Montanelli dies after a passionate and half-mad sermon in which, depicting the suffering of God the Father, who gave Christ to be crucified, he mourns himself and his own son. Hero

V. repeats the path of many young people from the novels of the 19th century, who disappeared from life after a tragic incident, seemingly forever, but returned unrecognized and under a different name in order to restore justice and pay tribute to the enemies.

The most striking example of this kind is Edmond Dantes - Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. But similar characters can be found in Dickens. The effective contrast of the hero's image in the past and in his secondary appearance is characteristic (often, as in Dickens, the identity of both is revealed only at the end). A. at the beginning of the novel is an exalted romantic youth, immersed in the elements of Catholicism and experiencing a crisis of faith, the Gadfly of his main part is also a romantic hero, but already a disappointed lonely cynic and atheist, who has only one of his revolutionary deeds left in his life and is cherished in depth soul old love. The “disillusioned” motif, very characteristic of the “history of a young man” of the 19th century, is also present here. Gadfly A. made primarily disappointment in the values of religion.

The worldview revolution in Voynich's novel is based on specific private facts relating to specific ministers of the church, one of whom violated the secrecy of confession, and the other - the vow of celibacy. The last of these facts is associated with a characteristic melodramatic device rooted in folklore - the disclosure of the secret of kinship, which occurs twice: in the first part A. learns about his sonship, in the third part A. learns his son in Gadfly Montanelli.

"Gadfly"- a revolutionary romantic novel, the work of an English, later American writer best known to the Russian-speaking reader Ethel Lilian Voynich. First published in 1897 in the USA.

Summary of "The Gadfly" by chapter

"Gadfly" Voynich summary chapter by chapter should only be if you do not have enough time to read the story in full. "Gadfly" in abbreviation will not be able to convey all the small details from the life of the heroes, will not immerse you in the atmosphere of that time. "The Gadfly" summary is presented below, and is read in 5 minutes.

Burton Arthur - a student of Anglo-Italian origin, a member of the Italian national liberation movement "Young Italy". Betrayed by a confessor who violated the secrecy of confession, he turns out to be the unwitting culprit in the arrest of his colleague in the case and at the same time a rival in love. Having lost the love of the girl Gemma, who considers him a traitor, having become disillusioned with religion, and to top it all off, having learned that his real father is the elder friend and patron of the canon (later Cardinal) Montanelli, A., having faked his death, goes to South America. Returning 13 years later to Italy as a stern and outwardly disfigured Rivares, a revolutionary and pamphleteer, writing his anti-church articles under the pseudonym "Gadfly", he eventually ends up in prison after an armed incident. He agrees to accept help in escaping from the cardinal, who recognized him as his son, only at the cost of the latter's renunciation of dignity and religion, which he is unable to do. The gadfly is shot, and Montanelli dies after a passionate and half-mad sermon in which, depicting the suffering of God the Father, who gave Christ to be crucified, he mourns himself and his own son. The hero V. repeats the path of many young people from the novels of the 19th century, who disappeared from life after a tragic incident, seemingly forever, but returned unrecognized and under a different name in order to restore justice and pay tribute to the enemies. The most striking example of this kind is Edmond Dantes - Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. But similar characters can be found in Dickens. The effective contrast of the hero's image in the past and in his secondary appearance is characteristic (often, as in Dickens, the identity of both is revealed only at the end). A. at the beginning of the novel is an exalted romantic youth, immersed in the elements of Catholicism and experiencing a crisis of faith, the Gadfly of his main part is also a romantic hero, but already a disappointed lonely cynic and atheist, who has only one of his revolutionary deeds left in his life and is cherished in depth soul old love. The “disillusioned” motif, very characteristic of the “history of a young man” of the 19th century, is also present here. Gadfly A. made primarily disappointment in the values of religion. The worldview revolution in Voynich's novel is based on specific private facts relating to specific ministers of the church, one of whom violated the secrecy of confession, and the other - the vow of celibacy. The last of these facts is associated with a characteristic melodramatic device rooted in folklore - the disclosure of the secret of kinship, which occurs twice: in the first part, A. , in the third part of his son, A. recognizes Montanelli in the Gadfly.

The main characters of "The Gadfly" Voynich

Gadfly (Arthur Burton, Felice Rivares)- revolutionary, main character novel
Lorenzo Montanelli- Cardinal, Arthur's real father
Gemma or Jennifer Warren (after Signor Ball's marriage)- beloved Arthur (Gadfly)
James Burton- Arthur's half-brother
Julie Burton- wife of James Burton
Giovanni Bolla- love rival, comrade of Arthur, future husband of Gemma
Cesare Martini- love rival, comrade Gadfly
Riccardo- professor, doctor
Grassini- comrade Gadfly
Galli- comrade Gadfly
Zita Reni- gypsy dancer, Gadfly's mistress
Colonel Ferrari- Commander of the garrison in Brisigella
Other heroes

Main characters

The characters of the "Gadfly" caused a lot of controversy among researchers. This was especially true for the main character. Polish literary scholars believed that the leader of the social revolutionary Polish party was his prototype. Russian readers and literary figures immediately saw in him the features of Russian revolutionaries.

The writer E.L. Voynich later said that only one character from the novel had a prototype. This is Gemma, whose image was written off from a close friend of the writer.

Gadfly or Arthur - the main thing actor, revolutionary.

Lorenzo Montanelli is a priest, Arthur's real father.

Gemma is the beloved of the protagonist.

Giovanni Bolla - Arthur's friend, his rival. Deceased husband of Gemma.

Zita Reni - Gadfly's mistress, a gypsy.

Arthur's family secret

The young man confesses to Lorenzo Montanelli that he is a member of the Young Italy society. Arthur tells him that he will fight for justice, freedom. Lorenzo tries to dissuade him from participating in revolutionary plans, but in vain.

Together with the young man in "Young Italy" is his friend from childhood, Gemma Warren. Montanelli goes to Rome for a while. While he was gone, the young man in confession confesses to the new spiritual person his love for Cem and that he is jealous of her friend Bolle.

Arthur is arrested, in prison the young man prays fervently. During interrogations, the young man does not disclose the names of party members. He is released, Jem tells him that he is considered guilty of the fact that Bollu was arrested. Arthur guesses that the new priest has violated the secrecy of confession. Thus, he accidentally confirms the assumptions of party members. The girl gives him a slap in the face, Arthur does not have time to explain to her.

The brother's wife is outraged by what happened. And in a fit of anger reveals to Arthur the secret of his birth. His real father is Lorenzo Montanelli. The young man is horrified by this confession. He writes a suicide note, throws his hat into the river, and secretly leaves Italy.

After 13 years

For the first time, a meeting with the Gadfly takes place at an evening hosted by Grassini, Gemma Bolla, the widow of Giovanni Bolla. Rivares gives the impression of a daring person who is not accustomed to reckon with decency. His face is disfigured by a scar on his left cheek, when he spoke, he began to stutter a little. The gadfly shocked everyone by appearing at this evening in the company of his mistress Zita Reni.

Meanwhile, Montanelli appears in Florence. Gemma had only seen him once since Arthur's death. Lorenzo was crushed with grief that day. He told the girl that it was because of him that the young man died, because he hid the truth from him. Gemma wanted to meet him again. Therefore, she, along with Martini, goes to where the cardinal will pass.

Gadfly is Arthur?

The gadfly begins to recover. He tells Gemma about himself. In turn, she tells Rivarez about her grief: she believes that because of her, the person she loved died, and who was dearer to her than anyone in the world. Signor Ball is tormented by doubts: she thinks that the Gadfly is Arthur. But Rivares does not give himself away.

He asks Gemma to help him with the delivery of weapons to the Papal States. She gives him her consent. Zita says he knows who he loves the most - Cardinal Montanelli. Rivarez does not deny this. He manages to talk to Lorenzo in the form of a beggar. He realizes that the cardinal is still suffering. The gadfly wanted to tell him everything, but then he remembers everything that he had to endure. Returning home, Rivares learns that his mistress has left with the camp and is going to marry a gypsy.

Tragedy of Rivares

In the "Gadfly" by Voynich, in the third part, the personality of the main character is revealed and the culmination of the main storyline. Take under arrest a man involved in the transport of weapons. Rivares goes to Brisigella to help him. Gemma again fails to prove that the Gadfly is Arthur.

Gadfly is arrested: a man lost control of himself when he sees a cardinal during a shootout. You need permission from the cardinal to hold a court martial. During a meeting with Rivarez, he insults Montanelli.

The revolutionaries help him escape, but during the escape, the Gadfly loses consciousness. He is shackled, despite his condition. He asks to see the cardinal. During their meeting, the Gadfly tells Montanelli that he is Arthur. A man puts his father before a choice: either he or religion. The cardinal leaves him.

Lorenzo agrees to a military court. Rivares is sentenced to be shot. The soldiers developed warm feelings for him and fired past him. But Arthur still dies. His last words were addressed to the cardinal, who came to be shot.

Friends learned about the death of the Gadfly. Gemma is brought a note telling her that Rivarez tells her that she was not wrong and that he is Arthur. Martini informs her that Cardinal Montanelli has died of a heart attack.

"The Gadfly" Voynich touches not only on the theme of the revolution, but also on the difficulties in human relationships. Therefore, it should be considered more than just a revolutionary work.

Popularity of the novel

The work was very popular in England. In Russia, it was first published in 1896, when the first congress of the Democratic Party was held. Later, "Gadfly" became widely known in the USSR and the USA. The struggle for democracy impressed the revolutionaries of these countries.

Screen versions of "The Gadfly"

Three films were made based on the work. In 1985, a rock musical was staged. Also based on the novel, ballet performances were made in 1982 and 1987, which confirm the popularity of the book.

It was a brief analysis of the work "The Gadfly". This novel is not only about the ideals of the revolution, but also about how difficult it is for a person to make a choice. This work is also about how the priority of human values can change throughout life.