Ofelia: The Moth in a Bottle

Leone Caetani had two families. In 1901 he married Vittoria Colonna. The Colonna family had been long-time enemies of the Caetani family. Leone and Vittoria’s marriage was arranged. It was a way to join these two powerful families together. It was a loveless marriage. However, divorce was not an option at that time in a Catholic country like Italy. Years later Leone met Ofelia Fabiani. They had a daughter, Sveva. Ofelia was a slim, beautiful woman who was much younger than Leone. As the daughter of a wealthy family, Ofelia was used to living a glamorous life in Paris and Rome. She enjoyed going to the theatre and opera, and she bought her clothes at fashionable stores. Not surprisingly, she felt out of place when she moved to the small farming community of Vernon. It was Leone’s decision to leave Italy. As head of the household, his wishes were obeyed. Leone felt life was safer for Sveva in Canada. But Ofelia would have been lonely. She was exiled from the life she was used to in Italy. She was a shy woman, and she made very few friends in Vernon. She could speak French, but not English, so she kept to herself. In a poem, Sveva referred to her mother as “a great moth self-caught in a bottle.” When Leone died, Ofelia was devastated. She never left the Pleasant Valley Road house again.