Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto is considered by some as the greatest
epic poet of the 16th century. He has been called the “Italian Homer”
and is recognized as a great influence on the works of William Shakespeare.
Ariosto was born on September 8, 1474 to Nicoli and Daria Ariosto.
Nicoli was the governor of Reggio, which probably influenced his son’s
choice of career. At an early age, Ariosto began to study law.
Thus began his career in politics. From 1503 to 1517 he served at
the court of the Cardinal Ippolito d’Estes as a courtier, ambassador, and
administrator. In 1518 it is rumored that he fell out of the Cardinal’s
favor, so he sought employment with the Cardinal’s brother, the Duke Alfonso
of Ferrara. Ariosto made Ferrara his home for the remainder of his
life. He moved on to govern the district of Garfagnana from 1522-1525.
His greatest achievement while governing Garfagnana was riding it of the
robber bands that had infested the area. Around 1530 he married his
mistress and love of his life, Alessandra Benucci. He died at Ferrara
on June 6, 1533.
Despite
his long service in politics, Ariosto’s true passion was poetry.
He dedicated over 20 years of his life to studying the works of Greek and
Latin authors. Ariosto wrote satires, drama, and epics in the ancient
form. The Latin influence can be best seen in his satiric works,
which were written for the entertainment of the Cardinal. Ariosto
was one of the earliest in a long chain of artists, poets, and writers
who took inspiration from the Greek and Roman classics. For Ariosto
poetry was more than just an art, it was an obsession, he spent many years
revising and rewriting his poetry to achieve the perfect literal form.
His son states, “He (Ariosto) was never satisfied with his verses, that
he kept changing them again and again, and for this reason never remembered
them (Chroche pg. 31).” His masterpiece, Orlando Furioso,
took over 30 years to create a final draft. Orlando Furioso
(The Mad Roland, Roland Enraged, The Crazy Orlando, etc.) is Ariosto’s
most recognized work. The poem is a continuation of Orlando Innamorato
(Orlando in Love), written by Matteo Maria Boiardo. It is considered
by some as the greatest literary work of the entire 16th century.
He began to write the poem in 1503 and the first written copy wasn’t published
until 1516.
Orlando Furioso is set during in the court
of Charlemagne during a fictional siege of Paris conducted by the Moors.
The hero, Orlando, falls in love with the beautiful Angela, who is promised
to the bravest of Charlemagne’s knights. However, she does not return
his love and runs away. During her flight, she meets a wounded Moor,
Medro, and falls in love with him. Upon hearing of this, Orlando
goes mad and travels across France, Spain, and Africa slaughtering everything
in his path, terrorizing and killing the innocent. Astolfo travels
to the moon (the place of all things lost on earth) and finds the Wisdom
of Orlando. He returns to the earth, bringing Orlando’s rationality,
and calms the enraged Orlando. Other side plots include a romance
between the knight Ruggiero and Bradamante. This side plot is meant
to be a tribute to Ariosto’s one time Patron, the Cardinal Ippolito d’Estes.
Ruggerio is the legendary founder of the house of d’Estes.
Orlando Furioso is a relevant chivalric work
because it follows the same framework as other works of its time.
C.S. Lewis attempts to categorize a medieval epic poem by giving it the
following constraint: “In the foreground we have fantastic adventure, in
the middle distance daily life, in the background is venerable legend with
a core of momentous historical truth (Griffin pg. 49).” In C.S. Lewis’s
definition, Orlando Furioso fits this mold perfectly. The
story contains an incredulous tale of Orlando and his peers committing
extraordinary acts of bravery and strength in battle. The daily life
is set in a hypothetical setting of the Moors invading France. This
setting is chosen more to comment on Ariosto’s day than that of Charlemagne.
The Moorish invasion is a metaphor for the disintegrating Catholic world
and a sense of chaos felt in Italy during the time of Reformation.
The final qualifier is “ . . . venerable legend with a core of momentous
historical truth.” This is provided through the use of the
character Orlando (Roland) as the main character. Charlemagne and
his most famous knight Roland are some of the most recognized figures of
Medieval history, and their defeat by the Saracens in Spain provide a historical
vehicle for which Ariosto to create his metaphor.
Another
reason that Orlando Furioso qualifies as a relevant chivalric work
is that the poem touches on many of the same themes of other works.
The most obvious would be the theme of love as an uncontrollable force.
Just as Tristan has no power over his love for Isolde, Orlando likewise
has no control over his passion for Angelica. Once again we see those
enchanted by love defying social conventions and creating their own code
of morality. Orlando breaks the Code of Chivalry by taking the lives
of the innocent, and justifying it by madness over love. Another
persistent theme is the idea of magical weapons and talismans to add an
element of fantasy to the poem. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
we have the Green Garter which is supposed to make Sir Gawain invulnerable.
In a similar fashion, we have invisibility rings, magic shields, and enchanted
swords that aid the knights on their quests. Another parallel between
Orlando
Furioso and other medieval works of literature is the appearance of
superhuman opponents that the hero must face. One example is the
Green Knight from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In that
story, the Green Knight is an oversized green titan who survives having
his head chopped off. Orlando Furioso has similar types of
characters, but with more of a classical Greek and Latin flare. One
of the monsters is Proteus, a medieval Minotaur who lives off of the flesh
of women. Angelica is supposed to be sacrificed to Proteus, but escapes
with the help of the invisibility ring. The Hippogriff is another
example of one of the abnormalities that might constitute an element of
“fantastic adventure” that is found in the poem. The Hippogriff is
a winged ass, similar to Pegasus of Greek lore. These kinds of elements
add to both the interest and fantasy found in many other medieval works.
Sources
“Ariosto, Ludovico.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 1998.
Microsoft Corporation.
Croche, Benedetto. Ariosto, Shakespeare, and Cornielle. New York: Henry,
Holt, and Company, 1920.
Griffin, Robert. Ludovico Ariosto. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc.,
1994.
“Italian Literature of the 15th and 16th Centuries.” Italy1.com.
http://italy1.com/literature/itali15_16.htm.
“Ludovico Ariosto.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. 6 November 1998.
http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/01712b.htm.