Ludovico Ariosto: biography, works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Ludovico Ariosto was a popular playwright and poet who lived in Italy during the Renaissance. His most famous work is the poem "Furious Roland", which had a great influence on the development of modern literature in Europe.

Writer's biography

Ludovico Ariosto was born in 1474. He was born in a small Italian town called Reggio nel Emilia. His father was a lawyer, but his son chose a creative profession. From childhood, the young man did not find himself addicted to jurisprudence, devoting his education to the study of classical literature.

Ludovico Ariosto had a real talent for this. He well mastered the dimensions and forms of Roman poetry, successfully wrote poems in Latin on any topic. One of them was dedicated to the marriage of Duke Alphonse I with Lucrezia Borgia. After that, the court began to respect and appreciate the young poet. In 1503, Ludovico Ariosto began to serve with Cardinal Hippolyte d'Este, who was the brother of that same Duke Alfonso I. Ariosto organized all kinds of festivities at the court, thishe also turned out brilliantly.

Private life

There are many interesting pages in the biography of Ludovico Ariosto. In 1522 he was appointed governor of Garfagnana. Leaving this position, he settled with his beloved Alessandra Benucci in a small house with a vegetable garden and a garden. They lived in it until their death.

Alessandra was 7 years younger than her husband, she came from a family of we althy Florentine merchants. Marriage with Ariosto was the second in her life, before that she was married to Titus di Leonardo Strozzi, who was the cousin of the popular Renaissance poet Titus Vespasian Strozzi.

Relationship with Ariosto

Alessandra gave birth to her husband six children, in 1513 she began a relationship with Ariosto, which for a long time remained secret to most of those around her. In 1515, her husband died, but even then the lovers did not advertise their passion. The marriage between Ludovico and Alessandra was concluded only in 1528, but it was also officially secret. According to the most common version of historians and researchers, this was done so that Alessandra could retain the rights to her first husband's inheritance. Ariosto maintained this secret, never once naming his beloved in his writings.

Creative legacy

The art of Ludovico Ariosto is rich and varied. He worked on his most famous work for almost a quarter of a century. This is the poem "Furious Roland". Ludovico Ariosto started working on it in 1507 andfinished only in 1532.

The plot of this work is based on the Carolingian epic, it is an imperial and royal dynasty that ruled in the state of the Franks. After it broke up, the Carolingians were seen in the West and East Frankish kingdoms, in Italy and in some other small states. The dynasty lasted from 751 to 987. In the poem, one can clearly trace the author's desire to adopt the romantic style of the novels about the Knights of the Round Table, which were very popular at that time.

Furious Roland plot

In this work, Ludovico Ariosto turns to the classic plots of French chivalric romances, as well as Italian folk tales. And this is not at all accidental. For the first time, the predecessor of the hero of our article named Matteo Maria Boiardo managed to combine the exploits of the knights of King Arthur and the adventures of the brave paladins of Charlemagne. He did this in a similarly titled poem, Orlando in Love.

Boyardo worked on the creation of this poem for about ten years - from 1483 to 1494. But it remained unfinished until the end due to the death of the author. Ariosto decides to continue many of the storylines of "Orlando in Love" already in his poem. At the same time, it should be noted that they are very stereotypical and typical of Italian folk poems, which can be attributed to the Breton or Carolingian cycles.

Heroes of the poem

At the center of the narrative in "Furious Roland" are threeepisode. This is the invasion of France by the Moors, the madness of Roland himself and the romantic relationship that arises between Bradamante and Ruggerio. These three main parts of the work are accompanied by a large number of secondary episodes, and together they make up a complete picture, thanks to which one can appreciate the poet's talent.

The heroes of the poem are true adventurers who fight the Saracens, as well as mythical monsters and giants. There are enough lyrical motifs in the work, most of the heroes are noble, remain faithful to their beloved until the end of their lives, perform feats in their honor.

Orlando himself is madly in love with Angelica, by the way, this is a feature of many heroes of medieval novels. I immediately remember Tristan, who is crazy about Isolde, the passion experienced by the famous Lancelot.

Features of the work

The plots and characters seem traditional only at first glance, because in the poem they take on a new reading. The author manages to create a harmonious synthesis, which is characteristic of the style and aesthetics of the era of the High Renaissance. Although Ariosto uses well-known motives and plots of medieval novels, they find a new reading in him. The poet categorically refuses to moralize, while ironically, creating a truly heroic-comic poem.

Ariosto is as free as possible with the composition of his work, the storylines either intertwine with each other, or develop in parallel. At the same time, they start mirroringreflect each other. The result is a unity that has features of proportionality more characteristic of the Renaissance.

Meaning of "Furious Roland"

Based on the material of a medieval chivalric novel, Ariosto accepts its genre rules, but not its ideology. His heroes have fresh renaissance features, sincere human feelings - this is earthly love, the joy of feeling life, strong will, which is the key to victory in any dramatic situations.

Researchers say that Ariosto's poem contains the so-called "golden octaves", thanks to which he makes a huge contribution to the formation of the literary Italian language. In the 16th century, the poem "Furious Roland" went through many reprints and as a result became available to any literate reader.

The Chest Comedy

Practically all the works of Ludovico Ariosto were very popular with contemporary readers. For a long time, he practically officially served as court comedian in Ferrara. It was there that he wrote his comedies, which became the basis of his literary heritage.

"Comedy of the Chest" by Ludovico Ariosto is considered the first "learned" comedy written in Italy. Its action takes place on an island called Metellino in ancient times. In poetic form, it tells about the youth Erophilo, who gives the order to his slaves to go to Filostrato. At the same time, he strongly swears at Nebbyu,who refuses to leave the house.

It turns out that the reason for this is that the pimp Lucrano, who lives next door, has two lovely girls, one of whom Erophilo fell in love with. The merchant set a high price for pandering, intending to make good money on this deal. But Erophilo does not have the opportunity to freely dispose of money, as he is completely dependent on his father.

Erofilo takes advantage of the opportunity when his father leaves for a short time, escorts all the slaves out of the house and puts his hand in his father's property, intending to blame everything just on Nebbyu. This is the beginning of Ariosto's hilarious comedy that many readers have come to love.

When a young man in love and his friend, who is interested in the second girl, meets with them, they begin to reproach them for being generous only with sighs and vows, while they themselves do nothing to rescue them. Boys blame stingy parents.

At this time, the trafficker of girls thinks how to get as much money for them as possible. However, a ship appears, which is going to leave for Syria one of these days. Lucrano agrees with the captain to let him on board along with all his property and relatives. Only after that Erophilo decides to fork out.

After that, the servants of young people come to the fore in the comedy - these are Fulcio and Volpino. The latter came up with a plan - he proposes to Erophilo to steal a small chest from his father's room, which is decorated with gold. Volpino's friend will disguise himself as a merchant and present this thing asbail for Eulalia. And when the guards appear, and Lucrano begins to deny it, no one will believe him, because they want about 50 ducats for the beauty, while the chest will cost no less than a thousand. Everyone will decide that Lucrano simply stole it himself, and they will send him to prison. Erophilo does not hesitate for long, but nevertheless agrees to this plan.

Trappolo is dressed as a merchant and sent with a chest to Lucrano. He turns everything very quickly, but then the events, unexpectedly for most of the comedy characters, begin to develop in a completely different scenario.

Changed

The comedy The Changelings by Ludovico Ariosto tells about life in Italy during the Renaissance. In the play, one can trace a clear anti-ascetic orientation, as well as a daring irreverence for religion and cheerfulness, which pervades the entire work. For the first time this comedy saw the light in 1519. It was staged at the court of Pope Leo X, who was distinguished by liberalism, so he allowed to stage works in which it was allowed to speak unflatteringly about religion.

Features of creativity

In most of the works of the hero of our article, one can distinguish common features. Ariosto strives to look for the source of comedy in the surrounding reality, recognizably creates images of real people who meet on his way, vividly draws how they are seized by a passion for carnal pleasures and banal gain.

This can be seen not only in the comedies already listed, but also, for example, in "The Warlock" by Ludovico Ariosto. Only the Duke of Ferrara himself remains beyond criticism, withwhose courtyard the poet serves. As a result, it was here that the Renaissance comedy was actually born back in the 80s of the 15th century, so that Ariosto fell on fertile ground. Most of the performances were dedicated to the carnival holidays, which took place more than one day. The performances were large-scale and colorful, the audience most often remained delighted.