Memory in Passion

                                         The Function of Memory in Tarchetti's "Passion"




            For Georgio, his memories are a source of happiness and despair.  Tarchetti engages the reader in an on-going contemplation of the function of memory in "Passion" first and foremost by the novel's structure.  Much like Foscolo's "Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis," Tarchetti's "Passion" is written in a form that directly connects the protagonist's psyche with the reader.  In this way, each of Georgio's "chapters" serve as a contemplation of the past. Georgio admits to struggling with writing his memories, and ultimately, it is "for fear of forgetting them" that he reflects upon them (5).  His mistake is "endowing [his] memories with the duration of [his] existence: Georgio allows memory to overpower the reality of the present so that his life becomes consumed by "the religion of [his] memories (5,6). Within this greater context of the function of memory as it applies to the structure of the novel, memory is to Georgio what illusion is to Jacopo: a source of self-deception.  Once he realizes that Clara is becoming distant, Georgio comforts himself with memories of her.  Though this may not be seen detrimental at first, it becomes more extreme as the novel progresses because with the progression of time comes the extension of memory, or the "gradual erosion of existence" (5).  In other words, to Georgio, a obsession with memory is the neglect of reality.  It becomes evident that Georgio's tenancy to "link" objects, places, scents, and events to memories is growing, thus increasing the probability of him being overcome by them.  Georgio is troubled by the thought of Fosca so he comforts himself with the memory of Clara.  He combats the future with the past, neglecting the present.  His conflict with memory is an issue of time, which he loses sight of while being pulled further and further into the love triangle consisting of him, Fosca, and Clara.  When Georgio admits that Clara's "presence would have been less pleasant that her memory," he is affirming his preference of memory over reality, just as Jacopo preferred illusion to reality (47).