Die Geschwister von Neapel

Geschwister von Neapel, Die, a novel by F. Werfel, published in 1931. Don Pascarella, a widower of Naples, rules tyrannically over his six children, three boys and three girls, ranging in age from the early teens to the late twenties. His insistence on a narrow and rigid pattern of life is not intentionally cruel, but stems from the overpowering influence of his personality upon his family. The young people are cowed by his fierce outbreaks of rage and his withering sarcasm, and spellbound by his performance of the aria ‘O monumento! Regia e bolgia dogale!’ from Ponchielli's La Gioconda, an event which takes place on Sunday evenings, provided he is in humour.

The story, set in the 1920s, portrays the irruption of the outer world into this hermetically closed circle. Two of his children go to a ball without permission, and so enter into contacts outside the family. Pascarella himself is obliged to allow the world to change his routine when he is swindled by his partner and has to slave night and day to keep the creditors at bay. In order to help their father, the three sons decide to emigrate. He opposes their plan, but they refuse to be diverted and leave for Brazil, where Lauro dies, probably by his own hand; the other two brothers fail in their attempts to make money. Their youngest sister, Iride, dies after a lingering illness. Grazia, the second daughter, becomes engaged to an Englishman, who does all that he can to help Pascarella financially, but is unwelcome none the less. The eldest, Annunziata, enters a convent. The final blow is Pascarella's arrest by Fascisti on suspicion of conspiracy. He is released after six days with apologies, but the stain, to his mind, cannot be erased. When the family is gathered together, he attempts once more to sing ‘O monumento!’, but this time breaks down when a string of the dead Lauro's cello snaps. This final sound marks the end of an epoch: ‘Das Zeitalter des Gesanges und Gesetzes ist nun zu Ende! Welches Zeitalter aber hat begonnen?’