«This marriage is not to be done, neither tomorrow nor ever»
The historical novel written by Alessandro Manzoni is set in Lombardia in the countryside and later in Milan between 1628 and 1630.
The protagonists are the young Renzo Tramaglino and Lucia Mondella, who are in love, willing and determined to get married.
Don Abbondio is the parish priest who is supposed to perform the wedding, which is annulled after he receives threats from the Bravi, dodgy men in the service of the villainous Don Rodrigo.
The evil lord Don Rodrigo had set his sights on Lucia, trying in every way to prevent the marriage. Don Abbondio, a fearful and cowardly man, is afraid to rebel and a few days before the wedding, he begins to invent excuses with the two young people and Lucia's mother, Agnese so as not to celebrate the wedding.
The woman then seeks help from Fra Cristoforo, her spiritual guide and, at the same time, advises Renzo to go to Lecco to see the lawyer Azzeccagarbugli, to help him find a solution. Meanwhile, Fra Cristoforo goes to Don Rodrigo's castle in an attempt to make him change his mind but without any success.
At this point, Renzo and Lucia make a last attempt, a surprise wedding, which miserably fails with Don Rodrigo's attempt to kidnap the young woman.
Fra Cristoforo then organizes the escape of the two lovers, who are forced to separate: Renzo will go to Milan, while Lucia, with her mother Agnese, will be welcomed in a convent in Monza, under the protection of Gertrude, known to all as the Nun of Monza.
Once in Milan, Renzo becomes involved in popular uprisings and it is during one of these that he is wanted as one of the leaders of the rebels.
Don Rodrigo, on the other hand, continues to try to kidnap Lucia, giving the task to a mysterious and obscure man of the time, the Unnamed.
Through one of his men, the Nibbio, and with the complicity of the ambiguous Nun of Monza, Lucia is kidnapped and taken to the Unnamed's castle.
The woman, so suffering and so faithful, manages to move the soul of the Unnamed who, after spending a tormented night, terrified by death, undergoes a catholic conversion and frees her.
Meanwhile, an epidemic of the plague has broken out in Milan, infecting some of the characters, including Lucia herself, Fra Cristoforo, and Don Rodrigo, who will be taken to the Lazaretto, a sort of isolated hospital outside the walls of Milan, intended for the shelter of the plague-stricken.
After a series of adventures, Renzo also reaches the Lazaretto. Now close to death, Don Rodrigo asks forgiveness from the couple of lovers and Father Cristoforo releases the vow of chastity that Lucia had taken at the moment of her abduction.
After the bad period of the plague, when it is over, Renzo and Lucia can finally begin a life together.