Despite these positive steps, Sicilian society as a whole remained deeply entrenched in its old ways well into the first decades of the century. Birthright and land ownership had always been the visible cornerstones of prestige, and the pursuit of the latter along with solidifying social barriers continued to be the chief preoccupation of civili families, few of whom emigrated. It is within this historic context that one may understand why Sicilians of Maria Messina’s day, and particularly those of her own struggling class, set great store on outward appearances. In provincial towns, cut off from the social life of urban centers and lacking both a vibrant economy and well-educated citizenry, one’s public persona—how one dressed, the venues one frequented, the company one kept, and the relationships one established—was the ultimate barometer of respectability. Most important, the respect one commanded greatly enhanced opportunities to further one’s interesse, or prospects for one’s family’s future (Bell 1979, 77–78).

Maintaining an appropriate level of respectability was a contest of self-preservation in Sicily’s petit bourgeoisie, a class that included clerks, bureaucrats, teachers, clerics and professionals, many of whom lacked the earning capital to solidify their economic position (Briggs 1978, 16).2 In a bad year, a small proprietor’s land might not produce, a vineyard could be lost to creditors, and debt could rapidly accumulate, making outward appearances difficult to maintain. Any hint of a progressive slide into poverty threatened to erase the respectability a family had painstakingly earned, and its members were acutely aware of possible social consequences. The stigma of poverty and its inevitable association with the lower classes was the driving force behind Sicilians’ obsession with appearances, even in the face of devastating misfortune. Families with little more than their dignity intact thus struggled to hide growing economic hardship behind the outer trappings of respectability.3

Historically, Sicilian women of all classes were important to this mercurial economic equation, and they suffered disproportionately the consequences of financial hardship. Respectability was quantifiable for Sicilians, and a well-brought up daughter—her conduct, her sobriety, her modesty, her readiness for marriage—were principle indicators of a family’s honor. Not surprisingly, parents diligently monitored their daughters’ movements in the public sphere, cognizant that any chance encounter with a member of the opposite sex cast suspicion on a daughter’s behavior and ultimately compromised her worth. Even the daughter of a modest farmer rarely ventured out unaccompanied, and surveillance was more extreme among the middle class. Young women of the basso popolo, (lower class) who worked in the service of others, were more vulnerable to unsolicited advances, and their honor more easily compromised, since the exigencies of their daily lives brought them into frequent contact with men.