Late-Victorian Experiences with Italian Legislation: Stories of Sex, Madness and Social Commitment

Given their love for Italy, which often represented for them a second home country, it was not unusual for late-Victorian writers and intellectuals to have direct experiences with Italian laws. The article presents four “case studies” of late-Victorian authors living in Italy and analyses their reactions to such diverse issues as homosexuality, madness and artistic heritage in relation to the Italian law system and by providing a comparative perspective with English legislation. The contribution also considers these authors’ narratives of their responses to Italian laws in both published and private writings that cover a variety of genres and evidence cultural differences and conflicts, though not always in an expected way.