Love

Corelli's Mandolin is at heart a love story. It contains a thread of romantic love, like that between Pelagia and Corelli, but other characters are also motivated by other forms of love.

The romantic love between Antonio Corelli and Pelagia develops as a classic "forbidden love" story. They are theoretically enemies on opposite sides of warring countries, but in their relatively peaceful surroundings love begins to grow. Although they personally overlook their different backgrounds, they understand that the external circumstances make their partnership socially unacceptable. Pelagia would be cast out from her society for marrying an enemy Italian, and Corelli could not expect to be made welcome on the island permanently. In the end, a misunderstanding keeps them apart for most of their lives. Theirs is a tragic love.

The author also explores the paternal love of Dr. Iannis for his daughter. He has treated her more like...