Set in a time of multiple crises, the backdrop of The Betrothed is the end of feudalism, the decline of the aristocracy, and foreign invasions. The novel explores topics that are not just Italian or even European, but universal: the antipathy between the countryside and the city; the shift to a capitalist, industrialist society; rebellion and revolution; corruption on every possible level; and the startling goodness of the most unexpected individuals of every social class. The novel presents corrupt thugs and self-serving clerics on all social levels. It encompasses a love story, a betrothal, a local history, and a first-rate exploration of political and economic notions of the early-modern period through the tale of a devoted, engaged couple kept away from each other by a preposterous number of obstacles. The book is grounded in European history as well as literature, even though historical fiction was just becoming an established genre in Manzoni's time.