The Dwarf: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Dwarf: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the intricate personalities and motivations of key figures in a narrative centered around power, betrayal, and moral ambiguity. At the heart of the story is the Dwarf, a physically small yet formidable character who embodies treachery and violence, serving the unscrupulous Prince of an Italian state modeled after Cesare Borgia. The Dwarf's actions, driven by his admiration for the Prince's ruthless ambition, reveal a darkly Machiavellian world where loyalty is precarious, and love is absent.
The Prince himself is depicted as a cunning ruler willing to eliminate any threat to his power, including his own relationships, as seen in his treatment of his wife, Princess Teodora, who uses the Dwarf to communicate with her lover. Other significant figures include the artist Messer Bernardo, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, and the tragic figures of Angelica and Giovanni Montanza, whose doomed romance leads to devastating consequences. The tale also features supporting characters like the mercenary Boccarossa and the vengeful Ercole Montanza, who contribute to the narrative’s exploration of ambition and morality.
This character analysis provides a lens into the themes of love, betrayal, and the extreme measures individuals take in the pursuit of power, making it a compelling read for those interested in character studies within a historical fiction context.
The Dwarf: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Pär Lagerkvist
First published: Dvargen, 1944 (English translation, 1945)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Unnamed Italian city-states
Plot: Parable
Time: The early sixteenth century
The Dwarf, the narrator. He is twenty-six-inches tall but of good physical proportions, save for a slightly oversized head, and of exceptional strength. His wrinkled and beardless face, bristly red hair, and broad but low brow make him look older but less diabolical than he is. He is addressed once as Piccolino, but this instance may be a descriptive mode of address (it means “little fellow” in Italian) and not his actual name. His service to the Prince consists largely in doing the Prince's dirty work. His penchant is for treachery, violence, bloodshed, and evil. He is incapable of love, and he never laughs. In his admiration of the Prince's amoral pursuit of power, he personifies Machiavellianism. His own brutality is manifest in his killing of two dwarfs; beheading a kitten; poisoning a rival of the Prince, along with the rival's personal attendants and a courtier who loves the Princess; and causing the beheading of the young man loved by the Prince's daughter, who then, grief-stricken, drowns herself.
The Prince, the ruler of an Italian state. He is modeled on Cesare Borgia, Duke of Romagna and the exemplar for Niccolo Machiavelli in his book The Prince (1560). He is unscrupulous in his quest for power. He dispenses with the services of the Dwarf after the deaths of his daughter and wife. When the Dwarf refuses under torture to disclose the nature of his consultations with the Prince's wife, the Prince has him chained in a dungeon; the Dwarf is confident, however, that the Prince cannot be without his Dwarf for long.
Messer Bernardo, a painter, inventor, and scientist, identifiable as being based on Leonardo da Vinci. He paints a portrait of the Prince's wife that corresponds to da Vinci's “Mona Lisa” and previously painted a nattvard (Eucharist) in the refectory of the Franciscan monastery of Santa Croce, equivalent to da Vinci's “Last Supper” in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Princess Teodora, the Prince's wife. She uses the Dwarf as a means of exchanging letters with her lover, Don Ricardo, after whose death she turns to God and uses the Dwarf as her scourge. She is the one person the Dwarf would love, as he himself says, if he were capable of love; he remains devoted to her, in any case. The Prince shows his love for her as she grows ill and dies.
Don Ricardo, a courtier, friend, and fellow brothel-patron of the Prince, whom he cuckolds. When the Prince has the Dwarf serve poisoned wine to Lodovico Montanza and his attendants, the Dwarf, in excess of his instructions, takes it upon himself to poison Don Ricardo as well.
Angelica, the sweet, innocent daughter of the Prince. She loves Giovanni Montanza and commits suicide after his death. She is as incapable of evil as the Dwarf is incapable of love.
Giovanni Montanza, the son of Lodovico. The Prince, thanks to the Dwarf's information, finds him in bed with Angelica and beheads him on the spot. Subsequently, the Dwarf recalls his own earlier beheading of Angelica's pet kitten.
Boccarossa, a leader of mercenary soldiers who hires out first to the Prince and then to the enemies of the Prince. The Dwarf admires him.
Lodovico Montanza il Toro, an enemy of the Prince, evocative of the Milanese Ludovico Sforza il Moro. He and his retinue are murdered by poisoned wine at a banquet given by the Prince, ostensibly in celebration of a truce.
Ercole Montanza, the brother of Lodovico and uncle of Giovanni. He musters the followers of his murdered brother and, with the purchased help of Boccarossa and his mercenaries, seeks to defeat the Prince.
Fiammetta, the mistress of the Prince. She dies, along with many others, during the plague, which, in its severity, brings about the end of the fighting.