Michael Curtotti's Author Website

"No lines sector off the sky so high above, though all the nations of the Earth be bound about with borders."

  • Books and Interviews
  • About
  • Latest Articles
  • poetry
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Books and Interviews
  • About
  • Latest Articles
  • poetry
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Home
  • About
  • Books and Interviews
  • Poetry
  • Italian Stories
    • Italian Art
    • Italian Food
    • Faith and Religion in Italy
      • Paganism
      • Judaism
      • Christianity
        • Arianism
        • Catholicism
      • Islam
    • Gender in Italy
    • Italy – History
      • Italian Neolithic
      • Italy Bronze Age
      • Italy during the Roman Empire
      • Italy – Early Middle Ages (550 – 1000)
      • Italy – Late Middle Ages (1000-1400)
      • Italy – Napoleonic and Restoration (1799 – 1850s)
      • Italy – Renaissance (1400 – 1700)
      • Italy – Enlightenment (1700-1800)
      • Italy Risorgimento (1840s – 1900)
      • Italy Modern (1900 onwards)
    • Italian Identity
    • Italian Languages
    • Italian Literature
      • Early Vernacular
      • 14th Century
      • Renaissance Humanism
      • Verismo
    • Italian Peoples
      • Gothic Italy
      • Neolithic Farmers
      • Normans of Italy
    • Italian Regions
      • Abruzzo
      • Basilicata
      • Campania
      • Emilia-Romagna
      • Friuli-Venezia Giulia
      • Lazio
      • Liguria
      • Lombardia
      • Marche
      • Puglia
      • Molise
      • Piemonte
      • Sardinia
      • Sicily
      • Tuscany
      • Umbria
      • Valle d’Aosta
      • Veneto
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Articles
    • 200th anniversary articles
      • Bahá’u’lláh’s Life
      • Principles of Bahá’u’lláh
        • The Oneness of Humanity
        • Oneness of Religion
        • Independent Investigation of Truth
        • Abolition of Prejudice
        • Equality of Men and Women
        • Harmony of Science and Religion
        • World Peace
        • World Language
        • Abolition of Extremes of Wealth and Poverty
        • Universal Education
        • Materially and Spiritually Balanced Civilization
      • Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings
      • Life of the Spirit
      • Lives Inspired
      • Specific Teachings
      • Visions of the Future
    • Movie Reviews
    • Foreignness
    • Gender Equality
    • Human Rights
    • Human Rights Forebears
    • Human Rights Practice
    • Immigration
    • Migrant Workers
    • Peace
    • Refugees
    • Racism
    • Slavery
  • The Dragon the Witch and the Daughters by Luigi Capuana (English Edition)

    From a master of Italian verismo comes a classic short story of the genre, but with a twist. As characters come into conflict with each other, and “the Dragon” with himself, Capuana weaves together the grimness of real life with threads of subtle fairytale. For the first time translated into English by Michael Curtotti, The Dragon the Witch and the Daughters, transports us into the life of a nineteenth century village. Don Paolo Drago, “dragon by name, dragon by nature,” appears to dominate this world, yet he barely controls his own thoughts and feelings. Despite himself, he is drawn into the destiny of two orphans. Yet tragedy stalks the life of Don Paolo.…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Laura Terracina: For Who is Enemy to Woman

    May 27, 2019
    Lacedonia - haystacks in distance. Frank Cancian image

    Lacedonia – Frank Cancian’s Pictures of a Disappearing World

    April 14, 2020

    Dante’s New Love Life: the Vita Nuova

    April 15, 2019
  • Alessandro Manzoni and the Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi)

    Alessandro Manzoni is a talented story teller and a perceptive observer of character. His novel, the Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) has been celebrated as a gem of Italian literature ever since its publication. It is readily available as a physical, ebook or audiobook (see below) and several movie and serial versions have been made. The novel’s main characters, Renzo and Lucia are in love and they are to be married. Yet achieving this happy and unexceptional outcome turns out to be far from easy in Lombardy of the 1600s in which the historical novel is set. Manzoni wrote his book in the early 1800s, two hundred years later, so we see a more…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Italian Stories: From the Godfather to the Fortunate Pilgrim

    August 21, 2018

    Dante Alighieri in a Wide Brown Land*

    March 25, 2020
    Federick II Al Kamil Jerusalem

    Muslim Lucera and the Holy Roman Emperor

    February 18, 2019
  • Il Drago by Luigi Capuana Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon

    In this seventh instalment of Luigi Capuana’s Il Drago, in translation, we continue to follow the story of Don Paolo, Giovanna and Lisa and we learn Don Paolo’s fears. Il Drago Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon by Luigi Capuana, translation Michael Curtotti He had put them to bed and then proceeded to bed himself, after first checking on the donkey. And (so that the children would not be exhausted) he had re-washed the pots and pans himself. But he could not sleep. In his mind he was before the judge; ruminating on what he would say to him. He spoke aloud, almost as if the judge stood before him;…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Matteo Bandello’s Forgotten Tale of the Tragic Lovers Romeo and Juliet

    March 9, 2023
    tomato in italy

    The Tomato Conquers Italy

    October 15, 2018

    Shakespeare in Love: A Case of Cultural Appropriation?

    December 18, 2022
  • The Resurrection of Don Paolo: Il Drago Part 5

    In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children’s old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo’s long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago are accessible at the end of this article. The Resurrection of Don Paolo Within two days the house was unrecognizable. In one room, two made up beds could be seen, one next to the other. The Old Dragon had put them together, assisted by the two girls, who had entertained…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Francesco Hayez painting - The Marriage of Romeo and Juliet 1830

    An Interview with Dr Francesco Ricatti: Matteo Bandello’s Romeo and Juliet

    September 1, 2023

    Italy’s Rapunzel, Cinderella and other Italian Fairy Tales

    September 16, 2019

    Matteo Bandello’s Forgotten Tale of the Tragic Lovers Romeo and Juliet

    March 9, 2023
  • Don Paolo: the Making and Unmaking of a Dragon (Il Drago Part 3)

    In this third instalment of Il Drago by Luigi Capuana we learn how Don Paolo became “Dragone”. Who is this fearsome old man who chased the children away when they begged in the streets? And took them in, in what all said was a miracle?  And how was it that the Dragone was unmade? The Making and Unmaking of Don Paolo Dragone by Luigi Capuana (translation: Michael Curtotti) It had been years and years that the Dragon had lived alone in his tenement, doing all for himself. Two large rooms on the ground floor, and four smoky rooms on the first floor. For one person it would have been more than ample,…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Shakespeare in Love: A Case of Cultural Appropriation?

    December 18, 2022

    Il Drago and Luigi Capuana’s search for redemption

    September 17, 2018

    The Divine Comedy begins: Lost and on the Road to Hell

    June 10, 2019
  • Il Drago and Luigi Capuana’s search for redemption

    Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children’s story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a “might have been” of Luigi Capuana’s life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina Sansone is central, although whether she is portrayed in the story is debatable. She is a love of much Luigi Capuana’s life. He met her at age 37 and she was an unmarried partner for the next twenty years. She is almost entirely invisible, while he is a noted Italian…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    gender and the divine

    Gender and the Divine World

    September 1, 2017

    Laura Terracina: For Who is Enemy to Woman

    May 27, 2019
    Students and teachers of Tarbiyat Girls school - gender equality

    Women and Men Have Been and Will Always Be Equal

    April 26, 2017
Copyright © 2025 Michael Curtotti. This is a publication of Aldila Press.
Ashe Theme by WP Royal.