Chapter 1, Part 1 Summary

This novel is the story of a middle-aged, Sicilian aristocrat caught in the middle of a political and personal revolution. As his influence and status are eroded in the wake of a working class rebellion, his sense of status and self-importance is eroded in the wake of his personal encounters with ambitious members of the working class, and with his own superficiality. As the narrative follows the aristocrat, known as the Prince, to the ultimate confrontation with the inevitable and universal process of change, it develops themes relating to the shallowness of religious faith and the futile power of money.

The first chapter is set in May of 1860.

"Introduction to the Prince", pp. 9-29. This chapter begins with a detailed description of the exquisitely-decorated room where the Prince and his family say their daily prayers. After the prayers are finished, the...