Caratteristiche e simbologie di due storie d'amore: un'analisi della dimensione amorosa ne Il Paziente Inglese di Michael Ondaatje

My final dissertation is the outcome of an analysis of the dimension of love in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, the novel which established the Sri Lankan born Canadian novelist worldwide in 1992, becoming the homonymous award-winning film directed by Anthony Minghella in 1996. This work is divided into three chapters and a final conclusion: the first chapter constitutes the preamble of my research work, which aims to outline the figure of Michael Ondaatje, his troubled youth and the “trauma of dislocation," how he fell in love with literature, how he became interested in writing and how he meant to gather prose and poetry in his books. It is also of great relevance the part dedicated to the plot of The English Patient with a quick look at the main characters, suggesting also a parallelism between the author and the protagonist of the story. The closing of the chapter focuses on the famous film rendition, analysing in particular the common features and the main differences between novel and film. The second chapter is the cornerstone of my dissertation: the analysis of the two love stories, the first set in the past while the second one in the present. I have decided to open my discussion on the extramarital passionate love story of the novel, the one concerning the 'English' patient (or Almàsy) and Katharine, the wife of a desert explorer who collaborates with Almàsy during a mapping expedition. I have developed my discourse mainly through how their lives were before they met, how their feelings changed them, how their affair is characterised and what the consequences are in the end. As far as the second paragraph is concerned, the two protagonists are Hana and Kip, the nurse who takes care of the 'English patient' and a sapper who finds himself in the same abandoned hospital as Hana and whose job is to defuse bombs. While this second love story slides in the background in the film directed by Anthony Minghella, Ondaatje has written enough about it: even if their love is not as overwhelming as Almàsy and Katharine's, their tenderness is reassuring and they find comfort in each other's arms, especially because they fall in love during the war. However, here too I have focused my point on the main features of their relationship, on the most important changes that arise from their love and on what happens in the end. The third and last chapter, which precedes the conclusion of my work, starts with a discussion on the settings of the action. Here, I have analysed the role of the desert and the abandoned Villa in the novel and how the two love stories integrate into them. In other words, I have focused my attention on specific features of the locales and how those peculiarities recur in the characters and their love affairs, making them one with the setting itself. As we proceed further, the second paragraph deals with the “symbologies of love”. This is split into four subparagraphs: firstly, I have analysed the literary links in the novel, which are basically about adulterous love affairs, and about the ball as a moment of seduction. Secondly, I have shared some thoughts about the role of music in bringing people closer and making them fall in love. Together with this, my dissertation closes with a brief observation about the presence of mirrors in both love stories, stressing why they are meaningful for the characters.