Chapter 20 Summary

Just before describing Bellaggio, Mark Twain makes a quick jab at Italians by implying that the men are ugly and most of the women have mustaches. This comment might have been triggered by his first impression of Bellaggio, in which the entire list of excursionists are locked in a small room to be fumigated from the spread of cholera. Twain is highly indignant about this and complains that when they all got out of that tiny jail cell, they stunk.

The experience in Bellaggio is not a pleasant one overall for Twain. He cannot hide his disappointment in the initial reception of the travelers and the land itself. He compares the Como lake to Lake Tahoe and scoffs at any words of beauty toward the Italian basin.

Chapter 20 Analysis

This entry was written with a clear sense of disappointment and frustration. Twain even...