di "The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen" - Mary Annette Beauchamp
"The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen" is a novel written by the English author Elizabeth Von Arnim and published in 1904.
Elizabeth, a young aristocrat, goes on vacation to Rugen, an island in the Baltic Sea, accompanied by the trusted waitress Gertrud and the coachman (whose name is August). This trip, in fact, would help her get away from her "monotonous daily life".
But the journey will be solitary only in a first part: in the frame of a beautiful landscape, the protagonist meets Charlotte - her feminine cousin - and Charlotte’s husband, a couple of mother and son, people that the protagonist considers tedious.
Charlotte and Elizabeth have two different conception of life and various approaches to the independence: Charlotte trusts in female emancipation, instead, for Elizabeth, the most important things are family and stability.
The style is brilliant and is characterized by the wise use of an effective sense of humor.
The description of interpersonal relationships through dialogues between characters is acute, accurate, ironic, and witty.
The novel presents itself as a kind of diary or travel guide: it is a daily account narrating through the eyes of the stubborn protagonist, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth, in fact, describes the beauty of the places she visits, but also the brutality.
