Marriage

Throughout The Marriage Portrait, O’Farrell thematically examines marriage. In “Venison Baked in Wine” Lucrezia remembers begging her father to dissolve her engagement to Alfonso. Cosimo had promised her to the Duke of Ferrara, and at fifteen years old, “Lucrezia was expected to leave and go to Ferrara, a place she had never been, with a man she did not know” (44). The author enacts the scene in Cosimo’s study to illustrate the contractual history of marriage. The protagonist pleads with her father because she is considered his property, to be married off for political alliance. As a woman, Lucrezia has no agency in the union and used as a tool for men like her father to further their dynasties.

Later, the author continues to inspect marriage when Lucrezia and Alfonso are at Stellata. She is afraid that he chose the remote estate for their trip...