The Piazza

In Herman Melville’s “The Piazza,” the themes of isolation and alienation are intricately interwoven into the narrative, highlighting the nuanced complexities of solitude and its impact on human perception and experience through a parodic lens of American Romanticism. The journey of the narrator and the life of Marianna offer a profound exploration of both sought and involuntary isolation and the limitations of one’s own experiences.

The narrator’s decision to isolate himself is deeply influenced by his immersion in romantic literature. His creation of the piazza and his journey to discover the seemingly mystical spot on Mount Greylock are driven by a desire for the transcendental, a key element of Romantic ideology. This romanticized perspective leads him to view the mountain as an almost mythical entity, likening it to Charlemagne: “weather permitting, they crown him every sunrise and sunset” (Paragraph 5). In choosing the location of the piazza, the narrator surrounds himself with an ideal landscape that he then gives personality and depth. The narrator’s voluntary isolation, an isolation on his own terms and with his own comforts, is one that romanticizes solitude without the broader examination of what solitude might mean for others.