Abstract

Annie Vivanti published her book "Naja Tripudians" in Italian in 1920. At this time the English press was circulating news which astonished the general public and caused such widespread panic that parliament was forced to introduce legislation concerning the sale and consumption of drugs as well as child prostitution related to white slavery. An explicit condemnation of these social and political issues is evident in much of Vivanti's work, from newspaper articles to this very novel set in post-war England. In this essay I will analyse the reality of these events in English society throughout the Great War and their shift into the realm of fiction in Annie Vivanti's novel.