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film is/was viewed, the goal orientation or telos of the narrative in terms of Fabrizio's and
Agostino's aspirations, and also those of Cesare and Gina, is frustrated or at least
compromised. As Grodal argues, humans recognize and engage with well defined, goal-
oriented actions whether activated in screen fiction or enacted in real life (Grodal, 1997: 118).
hi Before the Revolution, the socio-political structure of Italian society as described in the
film thwarts the hopes and desires of both male and female characters.
Cognitive and affective functions of literary references
The pessimism pervading the film is also elegiac and poetic; there are conspicuous references
to literary works and these engage the viewer's cognitive faculties in deciphering their
significance in the film text. Emotionally, these references enhance the sense of melancholy
and nostalgia that the film is constructed to elicit; but intellectually they also bring
gratification through the identification of the sources by viewers with such expertise. The
recital of La religione del mio tempo implies the emergence of Fabrizio's social conscience
and his desire to change the socio-political situation, whereas Gina's disenchantment over the
possibility of creating a better future through politics is articulated as she mocks Cesare and
Fabrizio's projects for a new social order by reading aloud Oscar Wilde's famous aphorism,
'The only person who has more illusions than a dreamer is a man of action', and by narrating
an apologue in the style of Hesse's Siddhartha. Puck's poignant farewell to his estate
symbolizes the sombre return to a reality in which all higher hopes have vanished.
Stylistically it echoes the lyricism of Lucia's forced farewell to Lake Como - her native
region - in Manzoni's / promessi sposi. The fact that the character's name references
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is arguably motivated by an intention to evoke
the spirit's idyllic forest life and create a stark contrast with the socio-economic constraints
faced by his namesake in the film. The stylization and multi-faceted significance of Puck's
address (both to the land and to the essence of his life as it ebbs away) possess an affective
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