Introduction

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the examination of the emotion of compassion neorealist artists articulate through their characters’ exchanges. It suggests compassion as an emotion that may be triggered to combine individuals and communities and investigates the implications that compassion achieves in supporting emotional intelligence, inspiring the development of Italian identity, and in redefining neorealism as a subject of exploration. The enquiries, stylistic models, and theories of emotions that this study addresses are intended to generate a deeper comprehension of neorealist depictions of the “anguish of a nation,” and the practices of compassion through which Italy is rebuilt and renovated.