Author(s): Alberto Moravia

FICTION

Contempt is a picture, frighteningly in its familiarity, of how, in an irremediable instant, love can turn to hate. Molteni, aspirant man of letters, has taken a job screenwriting to support his beautiful wife Emilia. Frustrated by his work, he becomes convinced that she despises him, and relentlessly interrogating her about the true nature of her feelings, he makes his deepest fear (or secret desire) come true. Contempt is an unflinching examination of desperation and self-deception in the emotional vacuum of modern consumer society.