The Leopard Themes

Pro-tip: If someone asks you what The Leopard is about, just tell them that it's about an old aristocratic Sicilian family losing all of its class status in a modern, democratic Italy. Period. The...

When Tancredi gets engaged to Angelica (a commoner), it brings up a whole bunch of issues for Fabrizio and his family. That's not to say that anyone in The Leopard is especially against the marriag...

In many ways, The Leopard is a story about grim death—not just the death of an individual, but the death of an entire social class. As he watches the Sicilian aristocracy fade away, Prince Fabriz...

It makes total sense that The Leopard's Prince Fabrizio would feel dissatisfied. His social class is collapsing and he's worried he won't have any legacy to leave behind when he dies. Plus he's liv...

When you're an aristocrat who comes from hundreds of years of noble families, you're bound to have a little pride. What's so interesting about The Leopard is how several wealthy, noble characters n...

In the world of the prim and proper 19th-century aristocracy, you wouldn't expect sex to be a huge part of daily life. But the fact is that sex is pretty much everywhere in The Leopard, from the de...

Inertia is one of the themes that make The Leopard such an interesting novel. Yes, the main point of the story is the end of the Salina family and the Sicilian aristocracy in general. But the fact...

In 19th-century Italy, Roman Catholicism decided just about every part of everyday life, from the eating of meat to the saying of grace at dinnertime. Father Pirrone is the main spokesperson for th...