Act 1, Part 1 Summary

The story of this play focuses on the way the relationships of an unconventional family are examined and criticized by the nosy and judgmental citizens of a small town. Its themes examine questions relating to definitive truth, the relationship between truth and perception and the reliability of self-knowledge.

The first act is set in the drawing room of Agazzi's home. Laudisi listens with increasing impatience as Amalia and Dina tell him with increasing intensity and insistence how strange the situation in which they find themselves has become. A subordinate of Agazzi's, who is also a subordinate of the Prefect (a chief justice or sheriff), has rented an apartment in their building for his mother-in-law. The woman refused to allow them into her home when they paid a call. Laudisi asks whether that's a good enough reason for them to lodge a...