Summary of the novel - The Gadfly · 1897
Even a very peculiar feature of Ethel Lilian Voynich's creativity is her exceptional interest in the life of other nations (many of her works take place in Italy, Russia, France, her people participate in all her books, along with the English people of other nations) - was a special form of her patriotism . While portraying people of other nations, a different mentality and traditions, she, like the great British revolutionary romantics Byron and Shelley, never forgot her homeland. Love for ordinary people in England, deep sympathy for their sorrows and adversities goes through all the work of Ethel Lilian Voynich.
Part one
Nineteen-year-old Arthur Burton spends much time with his confessor Lorenzo Montanelli, rector of the seminary. Arthur idolizes the padre (as he calls the Catholic priest). A year ago the mother of the young man died, Gladys. Now Arthur lives in Pisa with half-brothers.
The young man is very handsome: "Too everything was graceful in it, as if carved: long eyebrows arrows, thin lips, small hands, feet. When he sat quietly, he could be mistaken for a pretty girl dressed in a man's dress; but with flexible movements he resembled a tamed panther - albeit without claws. "
Arthur trusts his mentor with his secret: he became part of "Young Italy" and will fight for the freedom of this country with his comrades. Montanelli feels misfortune, but he can not dissuade the young man from this idea.
In the organization is Arthur's childhood friend Arthur - Jemma Warren, Jim, as Burton calls her.
Montanelli offer a bishopric, and he leaves for Rome for several months. In his absence, the young man confesses at the new rector about his love for the girl and jealousy for the one-party Bolle.
Soon Arthur is arrested. He spends time in the cell with hot prayers. During interrogations, he does not give out his comrades. Arthur is released, but from Jim he learns that the organization considers him guilty of Bolla's arrest. Realizing that the priest broke the secret of the confession, Arthur unconsciously confirms the betrayal. Jim awards him a slap in the face, and the young man does not have time to talk to her.
At home, his brother's wife makes a scandal and tells Arthur that his own father is Montanelli. A young man smashes a crucifix and writes a suicide note. He throws his hat into the river and illegally floats away to Buenos Aires.
Part two. Thirteen years later
1846 year. In Florence, members of the Mazzini party are discussing ways to combat power. Dr. Riccardo suggests asking for help from Gadfly - Felice Rivares, a political satirist. The sharp word of Rivares in pamphlets is what you need.
At the evening at the party Grassini, Gemma Bolla, the widow of Giovanni Bolla, for the first time sees the Gadfly. "He was swarthy, like a mulatto, and, despite the lameness, is as agile as a cat. All his appearance, he looked like a black jaguar. The forehead and the left cheek were disfigured by a long, crooked scar-apparently from a saber blow ... when he began to stammer, a nervous cramp twitched in his left side. " Gadfly is impudent and does not count with propriety: he appeared at Grassini with his mistress - dancer Zita Reni.
Cardinal Montanelli arrives in Florence. Gemma saw him for the last time immediately after Arthur's death. Then, as if petrified, the dignitary said to the girl: "Calm down, my child, you did not kill Arthur, but I. I deceived him and he found out about it. " That day the padre fell on the street in a fit. Signora Bolla again wants to see Montanelli and goes from Martini to the bridge, where the cardinal will go.
On this walk they meet the Gadfly. Gemma, in horror, recoils from Rivares: she saw Arthur in it.
Rivares is very sick. He suffers serious pain, members of the party take turns on duty at his bedside. Zita during illness, he does not admit to himself. Leaving him after duty, Martini encounters a dancer. Suddenly, she bursts out with reproaches: "I hate you all! .. He lets you sit next to him all night and give him medicine, and I dare not even look at him in the door-latch!" Martini is dumbfounded: "This woman loves him! "
Gadfly is on the mend. During Gemma's watch, he tells her how in South America he was beaten with a poker by a drunken sailor, about working in a circus as a freak, as he escaped from his home in his youth. Senora Bolla reveals his grief to him: through her fault, a man "who loved more than anyone else in the world" perished.
Gemma suffers from doubts: what if the Gadfly is Arthur? So many coincidences ... "And those blue eyes and those nervous fingers?" She tries to find out the truth, showing a portrait of the ten-year-old Arthur Ovod, but he does not betray himself.
Rivares is asking Signor Ball to use her connections to transfer weapons to the Papal States. She agrees.
Zita showered Rivares with reproaches: he never loved her. The man Felice loves more than anything else in the world - Cardinal Montanelli: "do you think I did not notice, with what glance did you see off his carriage?" And the Gadfly confirms this.
In Brisighella, he, disguised as a beggar, receives the necessary note from his accomplices. There, Rivares is able to talk with Montanelli. Seeing that the padre wound did not heal, he is ready to open to him, but, remembering his pain, stops. "Oh, if he could forgive! If only he could erase from the memory of the past - a drunken sailor, a sugar plantation, a wandering circus! What suffering you will compare with this. "
Returning, the Gadfly learns that Zita left with the camp and is going to marry the gypsy.
Part Three
The man who transported arms was arrested. The Gadfly decides to go to correct the situation. Before his departure, Gemma tries once again to gain recognition from him, but at this moment enters Martini.
In Brisighella, Rivares is arrested: in a shootout, the Gadfly lost his composure after seeing Montanelli. The colonel asks the cardinal for consent to a military court, but he wants to see the prisoner. At the meeting, the Gadfly insults the cardinal in every possible way.
Friends organize an escape for the Gadfly. But with him a new attack of the disease happens, and already being in the courtyard of the fortress, he loses consciousness. He is shackled and shackled. Despite the persuasion of the doctor, the colonel refuses Rivares in opium.
Gadfly asks for a meeting with Montanelli. He visits the prison. Knowing about the serious illness of the prisoner, the cardinal is horrified by the cruel treatment of him. The gadfly does not stand up and the padre opens. The dignitary realizes that his carino has not drowned. Arthur puts Montanelli before the choice: either he or a god. Cardinal leaves the cell. The Gadfly shouts after him: "I can not bear it! Radre, come back! Come back! "
The Cardinal gives consent to a military court. Soldiers who have time to love the Gadfly shoot by. Finally Rivares falls. At this moment, Montanelli appears in the courtyard. The last words of Arthur are addressed to the cardinal: "Radre ... is your God ... satisfied?"
Friends of the Gadfly learn about his execution.
During the festive service, Montanelli sees blood in everything: the rays of the sun, roses, red carpets. In his speech, he blames the parishioners for the death of his son, brought by the cardinal to the sacrifice for them, as the Lord offered as a sacrifice to Christ.
Gemma receives a letter from the Gadfly, written before the execution. It confirms that Felice Rivares is Arthur. "She lost him. I've lost it again! "Martini brings news of the death of Montanelli from a heart attack.