In a blog post about George Eliot's representation of fifteenth-century Florence in Romola (1862–63), Rohan Maitzen comments on parts of the novel that, she suggests, “induce giggles or worse” (“OLM”), including one she calls elsewhere a “truly terrible line of dialogue” (“Wherefore”). Her remarks resurrect, rephrase, and, for me, prompt a refocusing of a critique of this novel that has circulated since its publication:
My favorite cringe-worthy moment in Romola arises from just this unfortunate combination of archaism and translation: “Good-day, Messer Domenico,” says Nello the barber to an arriving customer; “You come as opportunely as cheese on macaroni.” Awful, isn't it? But it's also the perfect illustration of the difference between an uninteresting failure—one that is just bad, lazy writing—and a failure that deserves our interest, maybe even our respect, because it's in service of something worth trying. In this case, Nello's cheesy...
