Lateness And Motifs In Edward Said's On Late Style

According to Said this can also be seen in the contrast between Don Fabrizio and his nephew Tancredi, who can be viewed as representatives of the old and the new Sicilian orders. The rationale in which Lampedusa wrote this novel is one that fascinated Said. In On Late Style Said quotes Lampedusa’s English biographer who believed that the novel was written because Lampedusa believed himself to be the last of his kind. He described Lampedusa as

Said’s study of the Leopard, both the novel and the 1963 film provides the reader with an opportunity to understand the theory of lateness through popular culture, and Said’s knowledge of Lampedusa’s scholarly pursuits adds to the readers understanding of the mind set in which Lampedusa wrote his masterpiece. However this exploration of the works, when you consider Said’s preoccupation with the finality of Lampedusa and Visconti’s oeuvre takes away from the historical accuracy of both the novel and the film. While history changes in the background of the novel, it is historical discussion that dominates the main story. Don Fabrizio is always discussing the current affairs of the time he is based in. He and the other characters are preoccupied with the post unification of Italy, the failures of the Risorgimento, the problem with the modernisation and democratisation of the southern peninsula, and the changing class divisions that they were facing. Lampedusa judges his history, as well as his present if Said’s autobiographical theory is to be believed, negatively. The idea that “things must change to stay the same” the popular but misquoted line is crucial to the historical aspect of the novel. Lampedusa explores the Sicilian apathy, one king is replaced with