SOURCE: "Nedda," in Giovanni Verga, Yale University Press, 1931, pp. 38-45.

In the following excerpt, Bergin studies the themes, characters, and technique of "Nedda, " demonstrating that it is the first example of Verga's more accomplished, mature style.

Placed demurely and inconspicuously in the middle of the romanzi giovenili, flanked, as it were, by the exotic Tigre Reale and the passionate Eros, the story "Nedda," containing the germ of the author's later and more famous tales, made its unassuming appearance. The year is 1874, seven years before / Malavoglia; but many of the characteristics destined to make of the latter volume a rallying ground for the veristi and a point of attack for their opponents are already present in "Nedda."

When we, who have the good fortune to be able to view his work in retrospection, consider the results that Verga eventually achieved in this new style, it is rather amusing to...