Content Warning: The source material uses cultural and antisemitic slurs, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes from the source text.

Amerigo, an Italian prince living in London, thinks about his home country. When he considers London, he feels as though “the truth of the ancient state” continues in England rather than Rome (3). Amerigo is set to marry Maggie Verver, the daughter of Adam Verver, a wealthy American widower who travels the world collecting fantastical objects to exhibit in his museum. Speaking to Amerigo, Maggie compares her family to pirates: They have treasure hidden in many places, she says, and carry around only a small portion of their wealth. She compares the Italian prince to a museum piece, taking him back to her hometown to show off. Amerigo asks Maggie to reassure him that he is not a hypocrite, marrying Maggie for her family’s wealth. Maggie assures him that he is not.

Amerigo’s Italian family is traveling from Italy to attend the wedding. The family’s sordid history and dissolution of wealth involves a “wicked pope,” though this seems to only add a dash of romance. Maggie’s only family is her father. She does not plan on inviting many friends to the wedding.