Death
Fabrizio doesn’t take the fact that he has to die well, he doesn’t understand why it is necessary and somehow believes himself above death. However, as his life slowly spirals down, he welcomes it as he realizes that death might be a peaceful event for him. The book is also about the death of a whole social class, their royal family as well as a country, which are all things that have to be dealt with in the story.
Love
A big part of the story focuses on the love story between Fabrizio’s nephew and his girlfriend. They fall in love with each other in a way Fabrizio never has experiences himself. This might be because they are very different people, whereas Fabrizio thinks of himself as better than the people around him, whilst his nephew understands that he isn’t better than the people around him because of his status nor class.
Social Status
Everything Fabrizio’s life is built upon is the status that he has as royalty, which is given to him because of his family. This also lets him be very stuck-up, believing that he is better than everyone else. This is what changes in the book: Fabrizio and his family lose their titles as royalty as Italy takes over their country. This is the obvious main theme in the book.