Leopardi reached this final point of his reflection about the human condition in the years 1822–1824, and in 1824 he conceived the "Operette morali", which collected and elaborated in a dramatic and ironic expression of the philosophical research developed in the Zibaldone.

The extensive knowledge of a great number of works, both philosophical and scientific, is the basis for the humorous and frivolous erudition that Leopardi ironically flaunted.

As Mario Fubini observed, in the Operette one finds some myths-concepts: happiness, pleasure, love, hope, and nature, which are also central themes in the Canti.

The themes revolve around the philosophical ideas of the author: the relationship of mankind with History and Nature, the comparison with the valours of the past and the degenerated situation of the present, illusions, glory and boredom.

One of the most famous dialogues is the Dialogo della Natura e di un Islandese, in which the author expresses his main philosophical ideas, through the imaginary meeting, "in the heart of Africa", between a simple man coming from Iceland and a giant, beautiful and terrible woman, Nature, who has been chasing and oppressing him everywhere.

In the earlier poems Bruto minore and Ultimo canto di Saffo, suicide is presented, instead, as the action of a great soul rejecting cowardice and bleakness of life.

Later, however, Tristan ironically expresses admiration for the new times and for the optimistic faith in a better future, but he ends up proudly affirming his refusal of all illusions, and by courageously facing "tutte le conseguenze di una filosofia dolorosa, ma vera (all the consequences of an agonizing but true philosophy)".