"Cavalleria rusticana" (Italian for 'Rustic Chivalry') is a short story by the Sicilian Giovanni Verga, published in a collection entitled Novelle rusticane in 1883 and presented in dramatic form as a one-act tragedy at Turin in 1884. Pietro Mascagni made this prose play the basis of the verse-libretto of his one-act opera, Cavalleria rusticana (1890).^[1]

Characters

• Turiddù Macca
• Lola
• Alfio
• Santuzza

Plot

The scene is a Sicilian village and the time is Easter Day at the hour of mass. Turiddu Macca, a young peasant, son of a widowed mother, was in love with the coquette, Lola. On his return from military service, he found her married to Alfio, a carter. Out of pique, he paid his addresses to Santuzza, who fell desperately in love with him and on receiving his promise of marriage admitted him to her chamber. Lola, annoyed that Turiddu should love anyone else, ensnares him again, and her husband's frequent absences enable them to meet at her house. Meanwhile, Santuzza finds herself about to become a mother. During the time of mass on Easter morning she rebukes Turiddu for his infidelity and begs him to return to her; but he refuses roughly, and Santuzza then reveals to Alfio, who has just returned from a journey, the relations of his wife, Lola, and Turiddu. Alfio finds Turiddu drinking in the village square after church and challenges him to a duel—a challenge which is sealed by the peasants' custom of embracing and biting the ear. They go out quietly and word comes almost immediately that Turiddu is slain.^[1]

Appraisal

Helen Rex Keller writes, "The story both in its narrative and its dramatic form presents in lively colors the fierce passions and primitive customs of the Sicilian peasantry."^[1]