Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard is his only and most renowned novel, widely considered to be one of the greatest pieces of Italian literature ever written. It tells the story of the prince of Salina and his family as they struggle to keep up with the revolutionary changes taking place in their Sicilian homeland during the 19th century.
The novel begins in 1860, when Sicily is on the cusp of a period of great upheaval. As the country is about to be unified and come under the rule of piemonte, the old social order and values of the mountainous and rural provinces are starting to be challenged. The people of Sicily are angry and afraid of the forthcoming changes while being simultaneously eager and excited to explore the new opportunities it will bring. Prince Don Fabrizio, the patriarch of the Salina family, is concerned as he fears losing all of his rights, authority, and wealth.
The narrative of The Leopard follows the decline in fortunes of the prince and his family over the course of the coming years. It portrays their struggles to keep their cultural identity, traditions, and way of life intact in the face of sweeping social, political, and economic transformation. At the beginning of the novel, the prince is a powerful aristocrat with a vast estate; however, he and his relatives slowly but surely lose ground to the rising bourgeoisie during the unification process.
The Leopard is ultimately a story about the inevitability of change. Don Fabrizio’s nephew, Tancredi, is a perfect embodiment of the concept as he enthusiastically embraces new and modern ways of living and thinking. In contrast, the prince embodies all of the values of the traditional elite and strives to preserve their way of life despite the odds being against him.
Despite all of his noble efforts and valiant struggle, however, Don Fabrizio ultimately resigns himself to the fact that change is inevitable and cannot be resisted. In acceptance of this, he wisely gives his blessing to his beloved nephew Tancredi as he dons the uniform of the army of the unified Italy. The prince eventually leaves behind his estate never to return after facing insurmountable odds of trying to preserve the old order and its ways.
The Leopard’s lasting legacy is its universal message about the ever-present nature of change, and how it is often necessary to accept and embrace it in order to move forward. It is also a testament to Lampedusa’s remarkable skill as a writer. His masterful use of symbolism and metaphor make the novel a timeless classic that is still relevant today. Those who pick up The Leopard are guaranteed a roller coaster of emotions as they experience the prince's struggles and eventual acceptance of the changing times.
