Music in filigree

The rich production by Guendalina Lipparini Roti (b. Terni, 1862; d. Pisa, 1914), who signed her works under the pseudonym Regina di Luanto, has only recently received critical attention. The author of short stories, novels, and plays, she became the interpreter of a fierce condemnation of the high society she was part of, first in Rome and then in Tuscany. Central to her literary efforts was an interest in the corruption of habits and in women’s new roles in society. Despite the innovative and courageous message, such themes, treated with modern audacity, did not spare her from the strong criticism of her contemporaries. The profiles of women that emerge from her pages are particularly strong and unprejudiced, but more or less overt acts of violence always underlie their attitudes. It is not only physical but also psychological violence, the aggression that comes from male disregard and contempt, which become detonators of extreme situations. A ‘soundtrack’ often serves as a backdrop to these stories: between the lines of her writings, an allusive music skilfully draws a picture of the environment, which is realistic but also finely rich in semantic references. This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ .