Love and perception in Natalia Ginzburg’s È stato così

Abstract

This essay examines Natalia Ginzburg’s novella, È stato così, and the role that distorted perception plays in the demise of the protagonist’s marriage. The analysis of the narrative takes into consideration two of Ginzburg’s postwar essays, ‘Human Relationships’ and ‘The Little Virtues.’ Ginzburg’s works are contextualized within a broader conversation amongst existentialists (namely, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Buber, and José Ortega y Gasset) about interpersonal perception within romantic love. Indebted to scholars who have noted certain parallels between Ginzburg and Sartrian existentialism, this essay affirms and elaborates upon these similarities and then introduces Buber and Ortega y Gasset into the discussion. While Sartre offers an explanation as to why distorted perception occurs so often in amorous relationships, Buber and Ortega y Gasset offer alternate models in which lovers choose to alter their perception of the beloved. Reading È stato così in light of Buber and Ortega y Gasset allows the reader to more readily recognize a constructive layer embedded in this novella. This subtext of the novella is consistent with Ginzburg’s essays in which she argues that human relationships are a problem to be solved, not renounced or avoided.