ABSTRACT
Throughout the nineteenth century, during the Golden Age of Polar exploration, a number of expeditions were conducted to the Artic area. Primarily the United Kingdom and the United States set out on these travels, in an attempt to discover the Northwest Passage and to reach the North Pole. On the international scene, Italy was economically weak, but nonetheless aspired to a leading position. Although it was not a colonial power yet, it started to take part in the "scramble for Africa," as well as other parts of the world. In this atmosphere, at the dawn of the twentieth century, it seems that few Italian women chose the “extreme North” for their journeys. Although these women usually represented a wealthy, educated, international upper class, they all “carried the luggage,” as they were the subordinate members of a rigid patriarchal culture. Cappelli’s travel is rich in new and unusual relationships.
