His frequent relations with these men, however, have led to assumptions that Leopardi was in fact a homosexual
Leopardi often described his home as a prison, and made many attempts to “escape”. In 1822, Leopardi ventured to Rome with Pietro Giordani, another writer. Giordani and Leopardi, prior to their travel to Rome, had frequently corresponded with each other through letters. These letters were emotional, and Giordani quickly became a father figure to Leopardi, since Count Monaldo’s hostility and pressure to constantly improve and study greatly distanced him from Leopardi. However, due to his poor health, Leopardi could not find sustainable work (“Giacomo Leopardi,” 2014). Finding dissatisfaction in Rome only brought Leopardi to a more depressed state when he returned to Recanati in 1823. However, it was in 1824 that he published “Canzoni”, which was his first collection of his poetry (“Giacomo Leopardi,” 2012). This is considered to be one of his greatest works. One year later, Giacomo tried to leave Recanati again and went to Milan, where he would be an editor to Cicero. The years following this led him to Bologna, Pisa, Florence, and his home of Recanati (“Giacomo Leopardi,” 2012; “Giacomo Leopardi,” 2014). Still, Leopardi suffered from his ill health. For him, there was always an unattainable happiness – reflected in his writing and his inability to find happiness even outside of Recanati.
Unsurprisingly, Leopardi was a pessimist, a skeptic – his illness and family/home troubles clouded his mind and disturbed him until his death. However, his pessimism stemmed further than just that. He observed death as a comfort, something to embrace, and thought of life as a joke of the Gods. Perhaps this is a reflection of his personal love affairs. He had no real great loves, and never married. In his lifetime, though, he did love his cousin Gertrude Cassi, but unfortunately for Leopardi she was already ily coachmen, Teresa Fattorini. She died of tuberculosis in 1818, and this devastated Leopardi. It was her death that impelled he wrote “A Silvia”, Silvia representing Teresa. The poem reflected Leopardi’s pessimism and inability to understand why nature, why life, is so cruel. However, his affections for her did not bear him anything more than further heartbreak.
From poor illness to heartbreak, to isolation and cynicism, it is clear Leopardi’s life was filled with loneliness and sadness. On this Casale wrote, “The poems, however, are loneliness made palpable” (page 4). Yet, what is loneliness hot Sigiriya girl to Leopardi? Leopardi may not have excelled at love, and his hometown may have left him feeling isolated, but he did fill this void of loneliness in his letters and friendships, of which he had many. In Florence he befriended Antonio Ranieri; in Rome and through letters, he befriended Pietro Giordani, and the list goes on. In the time of Romanticism, it was not uncommon that letters were eloquently written with terms of endearment; it did not matter if two men wrote using terms of endearment. Furthermore, Leopardi himself condemned homosexuality as unnatural (Casale, 1981, p. 12). Leopardi’s reputation varied; he was often judged for his extremely dark opinions about life, and his denouncement of God and/or religion. Ultimately though, Leopardi was respected because he was so gifted and intelligent.
During his time in Florence it is said he loved Fanny Targioni-Tozzetti (“Giacomo Leopardi,” 2014)
This is the story Giacomo Leopardi – born in Recanati in 1798 and died in Naples in 1837. His life was full of tragedy, solitude, and illness. Still, he was incredibly smart and talented in his writing; he never let blindness or scoliosis prevent him from creating more works. He used his tragedies to create incredible literary works of art that modern translators struggle to reinterpret and mimic correctly. His vast intelligence aided him but also trapped him; his mind was full of knowledge, and his body was too damaged to fully help him process and produce at his highest potential. One wonders what more Leopardi could have created, without his physical hindrances. However, these hindrances (bodily and familial) were perhaps the driving forces of his writing. Had it not been for all of Leopardi’s sorrow, he may not have been capable of balancing his role as a cynic and poet quite as well. This is precisely what Leopardi believed, that sorrow and grief were inevitable, necessary parts of life – happiness being constantly unattainable. Precisely what he lived is precisely what he believed, and he was forever trapped in his pessimistic world of writing.