The Cloven Viscount

Medardo of Terralba serves as the central protagonist whose literal bisection by a cannonball creates the novella’s primary conflict and thematic exploration. Initially presented as a young man “in his first youth, the age in which confused feelings, not yet sifted, all rush into good and bad” (2), Medardo embodies natural human complexity before his violent division. His character functions as both the catalyst for the story’s events and the ultimate embodiment of Calvino’s argument for The Necessity of Moral Complexity for Human Wholeness.

The Bad ’Un represents the dangerous extremes of unchecked evil impulses. His actions demonstrate systematic cruelty through calculated violence, arson, and psychological manipulation. He establishes elaborate execution devices, condemns innocents to death, and derives pleasure from halving objects in nature, creating a pattern of destruction that mirrors his own incompleteness. His courtship of Pamela reveals the sterile nature of his emotions, as he coldly declares, “I have decided to fall in love with you” (56), treating human connection as another mechanism for domination. The Bad ’Un’s characterization illustrates how moral extremism creates not strength but a hollow, destructive force that ultimately consumes itself.