The story is set in 18th century Italy and follows two noble brothers, Cosimo and Biagio. After a dispute over eating snails, the 12-year-old Cosimo climbs a tree and decides to live there permanently. He becomes self-sufficient living in the trees. The story incorporates magical realism as Cosimo's decision to live in the trees full-time is presented as normal within the world of the story.
2. Set in Liguria near the French Riviera, the two brothers, twelve-year
old Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo and eight year old Biagio, belong to a
noble 18th century family whose estate is located in the vast forest
landscapes of Ombrosa.
4. The Baron in the Trees
• In a rebellious fit after refusing to eat a dinner of
snails prepared by Battista, his sadistic sister,
Cosimo climbs up a tree and decides never to
come down again.
• He has had enough: enough of family and
decorum, his proper role as a future Baron, and
of everything on the ground.
• Initially helped by Biagio, Cosimo eventually
becomes self-sufficient as he creates a life for
himself amongst the trees.
5. Baron Arminio Piovasco di Rondo
• Cosimo and Biagio’s father.
• Unfashionable, boring man because his life was
dominated by conflicting ideas.
• Set his heart on regaining the lapsed title of Duke
of Ombrosa. Only thought of genealogies and
successions and family rivalries and alliances with
grandees near and far.
• “Life at our home was like a constant dress
rehearsal for an appearance at court…”(Calvino
5).
6. Baroness Corradina di Rondo
aka the Generalessa
• Mother
• Used brusque military manners at the dinner table and no
one found fault with her.
• Held her sons not to etiquette, but to discipline.
• Was taken around by her father, a widower, when he
commanded the Empress Maria Theresa’s troops.
• After marrying the Baron, she spent days in her room doing
lace and embroidery to vent her warrior’s urge.
-Usually designs of geographical maps or
cannons
• Still living in the times of war with her artillery, dreaming of
a career for her boys in any army.
7. Abbe Fauchelefleur
• Family tutor
• Dry, wrinkled old man, with a reputation as a
Jansenist (denies free will and maintains
human nature is corrupt and Christ died for
elect, not all humanity).
• Not a traditional tutor. Often would stare off
into space, weary, bored, and would tire easily
of things.
8. Cavalier Avvocato Enea Silvio Carrega
• Lawyer, administrator and waterworks
supervisor of the Baron’s estates, and the
children’s uncle and illegitimate brother of
their father.
• Has a deceitful side.
9. Battista
• Sister, and “nun of the house”
• Has staring eyes, narrow teeth set in a yellow
rodent’s face.
• Rebellious and lonely soul.
• Confined to house and dressed as a nun after
incident with the Marchesino della Mela.
• Evil schemes found expressions in cooking
(Calvino 9).
10. Biagio
• Younger brother of Cosimo
• Tries to help brother when first goes into the
trees.
• Somewhat of a “goody-goody.” Ate snails
because he couldn’t bear the punishment.
11. Walnut Tree Mulberry Tree Carob Tree
Holm Oak Tree
Olive Tree Peach Tree Cherry Tree
Fig Tree Plum Tree
12. Magical Realism
• Magical elements blend with the real world
• Magical realism is a story that takes place in
an ordinary setting (this excludes futuristic
space colonies, lost ancient cities et
al.), incorporating spiritual elements
(ghosts, spirits, angels, heavens, etc...) where
extraordinary or even impossible things are
viewed as normal and thus, nobody really
bothers to explain why such things happen.
13. Magical Realism Con’t
• In magical realism, the setting for a story is realistic, but
elements of the fantastic or irrational are suddenly or
steadily introduced.
Examples:
-a horse in an otherwise realistic setting begins to talk
-an average, everyday South American village receives
a visit from a man with wings
-the corpse of a beautiful, eight-foot man washes up
on a beach
• Stories in this genre are NOT set in an entirely imaginary
landscape or world. The effect is a sort of warping or
defamiliarizing of everyday reality.
15. Examples of Magical Realism in
Modern Day Film and Television
• Groundhog Day: Bill Murry gets trapped in a
weird time loop, for which no explanation is ever
offered
• Liar Liar
• Stranger Than Fiction
• Pan’s Labyrinth
• Big Fish
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Lost
• How I Met Your Mother??
