ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 positions Neera within the nineteenth-century literary canon as a verist writer. Her trilogy of novels Teresa (1886), Lydia (1887) and L’indomani (1889) provides a close analysis of women’s condition in turn-of-the-century Italian society by presenting stories of hysteria, neurosis and suicide brought on by experiences of spinsterhood, unfulfilled love and marital dissatisfaction. This chapter examines Teresa in the context of verismo and in relation to the works of other verist writers to demonstrate that she was one of a select group of Italian writers in the years 1870–90 to attempt a renewal of Italian literature by incorporating verist poetics into their narrative production. In the years surrounding the publication of Teresa, letter exchanges between Neera and other verist writers, such as Luigi Capuana, Giovanni Verga and Federico De Roberto, position her as an active participant in contemporary literary debates on verismo. Her exchange of ideas on verismo and implementation of those ideas in her literary production make Neera an important point of reference for this literary movement, a role that is often overlooked today.
