The Piazza

Herman Melville’s “The Piazza” unfolds as a complex exploration of the American experience. The narrative is steeped in a tension sparked by the juxtaposition of Appearance Versus Reality, captured through a dualistic interplay of vivid color against primal light or darkness. This dichotomy hints at the deeper unity and complexity of the story’s composition. The story’s dualistic arrangement of imagery underscores its thematic coherence and multifaceted nature.

Melville’s narrative also takes on a parodic tone, particularly in its treatment of Romanticism. The act of gazing at “sublime” landscapes is turned on its head, evolving from a source of awe to an element of self-parody in the sheer amount of descriptive reflections and internal monologues. This parodic tone is also shown in the narrator’s references. For example, it is present in his ironic admiration of Don Quixote, whom he deems the “sagest sage that ever lived” (Paragraph 28), despite Quixote’s own notorious misinterpretations of reality. This tone underscores the narrator’s internal restlessness, irritation, and sardonic irony.

Melville’s narrative in “The Piazza” incorporates a distinctive, form of dark humor, subverting traditional literary tropes such as the hero’s journey and the rescue of the damsel in distress.