The Inevitable Process of Change

This is the novel's central theme, as defined by its central narrative line and in the life lived by its central character, the Prince. Exploration of this theme plays out in a number of ways, some on a larger scale than others. The first "small scale" process is the Prince's sometimes grudging, but ultimately inevitable, acceptance of the changes in his own body - his decreasing libido, his increasing weight, and, in the final chapters, the torrential rush of the departing life force. Other smaller scale processes can be found in the transformation of Angelica from beautiful but unsophisticated merchant's daughter to calculating social success, and in Concetta's transformation at the end of the narrative from embittered old woman to someone awakened to a new awareness of personal truth. All these changes play out within the larger, thematically resonant context of societal change, the...