The Cloven Viscount

The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino is a short novel that follows the Viscount Medardo after a battle wound cleaves him into two men--one evil and one good.  On returning from the war, both of Medardo's halves navigate the politics of the village differently, and both fall in love with the same peasant girl. Einaudi published the fantasy in 1952, and William Collins published an English translation by Archibald Colquhoun ten years later.

As the story opens, the narrator's uncle, the Viscount Medardo of Teralba, is riding with his squire, Kurt. The pair is riding across the plain of Bohemia to a Christian camp where they will join the fight against the Turks. Kurt explains the scenes that they come upon. Storks are heading for the battle because they've taken to feeding on the bodies of the dead, having no other sustenance available in the drought-ravaged region. Typical scavenger birds like vultures and crows aren't around because they've been consuming the flesh of plague victims and have died. The plague victims, too, are littered on the ground around them.

Medardo and Kurt come upon fields of dead horses. They ride through battlegrounds full of severed fingers, and Kurt explains that living men cut away the rings of the dead men.



The pair passes the pavilion of the army's courtesans. The young Viscount turns to look at the women, and Kurt warns that they are rife with lice, ticks, scorpions, and lizards.

Men in the ranks are cooking their rations of turnips and water on their guns and cannons. Artillerymen are sieving the dirt to reuse the gunpowder from the battlefield.

Kurt and the Viscount meet with the Emperor, who is in his tent studying battle plans. The Emperor immediately makes Medardo a lieutenant.



The next morning, the battle begins. Medardo is inexperienced but determined. When a Turk guts his horse, Medardo is forced to continue the fight on foot. Kurt is wounded shortly after. Medardo jumps in front of a cannon, hoping to kill the men operating it, and takes a cannonball to the chest.

Medardo's injury leaves him torn into two pieces. One half of the Viscount is taken to the hospital. This half, known as Gramo, has only one eye and half of a nose and mouth. He is remarkably alive.

The other half of the Viscount, Buono, is also alive. Some hermits discover him among a pile of casualties. He begins a long journey home to Terralba, where he takes up residence in the forest.



Gramo represents the bad part of Medardo, and Buono represents the good. Gramo begins wearing a black mantle to cover his deformity. He lives in Medardo's castle and spends his time inflicting pain on those around him. He doles out death sentences for small crimes and takes pleasure rending animals and plants in two.  He seeks to control the villagers, and his frightening behavior eventually leads to the death of Medardo's father.

Buono focuses on medicine and healing. He spends much of his time reversing the actions of Gramo. For example, when Gramo shoots at swallows with a crossbow, Buono doctors the birds, making splints for them or repairing their wings with wax. Neither of Medardo's halves is well-liked in the community, as one is cruel and the other makes the villagers uncomfortable with his selflessness.

Both Gramo and Buono become interested in the peasant girl Pamela. Pamela's parents are intent on her marrying Gramo, but Pamela prefers Buono. On the date that Pamela and Gramo are to marry, Gramo is late, and Buono shows up in his stead.  Gramo arrives after Pamela and Buono have exchanged vows. Gramo is enraged and challenges Buono to a duel. During the duel, both of Medardo's halves are gravely injured. A ship's doctor from England, Dr. Trelawney, is able to save Medardo by sewing the two halves together and making him whole again. He lives happily ever after with his wife, Pamela.



The novel is often thought to be a statement on the nature of good and evil, namely how too much of either isn't necessarily a good thing. The villagers are put off by both halves of Medardo, and only when he is a mixture of both good and evil is he able to rejoin conventional society.

The novel is best known for its inclusion in Calvino's book Our Ancestors, a "heraldic trilogy." The trilogy also contained The Baron in the Tree and The Nonexistent Knight. The Baron in the Tree is about a young boy who creates his own kingdom in a tree, and The Nonexistent Knight follows a perfect, chivalrous knight who is nothing more than a suit of armor. Each story in the trilogy takes place in medieval times, and explores themes of identity and perception using a story structure reminiscent of classic fairy tales.