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Podcast: Opening Lines
Episode: The Betrothed - Episode 2
Description: John Yorke explores a work that every Italian will know – I Promessi Sposi by Alessandro Manzoni, known in English as The Betrothed. In this the second of two episodes, John looks at the context for the story told by Manzoni in The Betrothed. Written in the early 19th century, and set in the 17th century, at a time before Italy became a unified country, Manzoni deliberately used a historical period to comment on the political situation of his time. When he was writing, the Italian peninsula was under Austrian rule, and to criticise those in charge meant a...