Responsabilità e risposta nei «Promessi sposi» e nella «Storia della colonna infame»

Manzoni rarely uses the word "responsibility" in the early drafts of his works, preferring terms like "guilty" or "culprits" to denote the legal-moral connotation of the act. The term, not of Italian origin, spread in the modern age concurrently with the decline of the Ancien Régime and the emergence of the modern individual. Although the word is not common in his vocabulary before 1850, the concept of responsibility is central to his works. Manzoni explores responsibility through questions that push characters and readers to confront free will and the consequences of their choices, as highlighted in Gertrude's drama and the story of Guglielmo Piazza. The author-historian takes on the responsibility of restoring the truth and also analyzing the "grey area" of guilt