The Baron in the Trees

The Baron in the Trees

by

Italo Calvino

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Battista Piovasco di Rondò Character Analysis

Cosimo and Biagio’s older sister. At the beginning of the novel, she’s the house nun and takes on much of the cooking. She became a nun after an incident with the Marquis della Mela, in which he supposedly raped her, but evidence instead points to the possibility that she was the aggressor. Though Biagio insists that Battista has all the qualities of a good cook, such as passion and creativity, she also has a sadistic streak that means her dishes are often an ordeal for those eating them. She enjoys creating dishes that may or may not taste good, but are sure to shock the family at dinner, such as pâté made with mouse liver, porcupine, and a snail dish in which the snails are arranged to look like swans. In general, Battista likes to keep the family on its toes by doing strange and unexpected things, such as hunting mice at night with a pistol and chewing her fingernails in a way guaranteed to attract attention. Her snails are the reason why Cosimo goes into the trees. Not long after Cosimo goes into the trees, Battista marries the young Count d’Estomac and, for the most part, exits the story. She briefly returns with her husband to live with Biagio during the French Revolution, bringing with her a model guillotine so she can regale people with tales of the executions in Paris.

Battista Piovasco di Rondò Quotes in The Baron in the Trees

The The Baron in the Trees quotes below are all either spoken by Battista Piovasco di Rondò or refer to Battista Piovasco di Rondò. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Education, Connectedness, and the Written Word Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Now, instead, as we dined with the family, childhood’s sad chapter of daily grievances took shape. Our father and our mother were always right in front of us; we had to use knives and forks for the chicken, and sit up straight, and keep elbows off the table—endless!—and then there was our odious sister Battista. A succession of scoldings, spiteful acts, punishments, obstinacies began, until the day Cosimo refused the snails and decided to separate his lot from ours.

Related Characters: Biagio Piovasco di Rondò (speaker), Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, Baron Arminio Piovasco di Rondò, Battista Piovasco di Rondò, The Generalessa
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
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Battista Piovasco di Rondò Quotes in The Baron in the Trees

The The Baron in the Trees quotes below are all either spoken by Battista Piovasco di Rondò or refer to Battista Piovasco di Rondò. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Education, Connectedness, and the Written Word Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Now, instead, as we dined with the family, childhood’s sad chapter of daily grievances took shape. Our father and our mother were always right in front of us; we had to use knives and forks for the chicken, and sit up straight, and keep elbows off the table—endless!—and then there was our odious sister Battista. A succession of scoldings, spiteful acts, punishments, obstinacies began, until the day Cosimo refused the snails and decided to separate his lot from ours.

Related Characters: Biagio Piovasco di Rondò (speaker), Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò, Baron Arminio Piovasco di Rondò, Battista Piovasco di Rondò, The Generalessa
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis: