"The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco: a summary. "The Name of the Rose": main characters, main events

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

Il nome della Rosa (“The Name of the Rose”) is a book that became the debut in the literary field of U. Eco, professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna. The novel was first published in 1980 in the original language (Italian). The author's next work, Foucault's Pendulum, was an equally successful bestseller and finally introduced the author to the world of great literature. But in this article we will retell a summary of the “Name of the Rose”. There are two versions of the origin of the novel's title. The historian Umberto Eco refers us to the era of the debate between nominalists and realists, who debated what would remain in the name of the rose if the flower itself disappeared. But also the title of the novel evokes an allusion to the love storyline. Having lost his beloved, the hero Adson cannot even cry over her name, because he does not know him.

Matryoshka novel

The work "The Name of the Rose" is very complex, multifaceted. From the very preface, the author confronts the reader with the possibility that everything he reads about in this book will turn out to be a historical fake. A certain translator in Prague in 1968 gets "Notes of Father Adson Melksky". This is a book in French, published in the middle of the nineteenth century. But it is also a paraphrase of a seventeenth-century Latin text, which in turn is an edition of a late fourteenth-century manuscript. The manuscript was created by a monk from Melk. Historical inquiries about the personality of the medieval note-writer, as well as the scribes of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, have yielded no results. Thus, the author of the novel filigree crosses out a summary from the reliable historical events of his work. "The Name of the Rose" is replete with documentary errors. And for this, the novel is criticized by academic historians. But what events do we need to know about in order to understand the intricacies of the plot?

Historical context in which the novel takes place (summary)

"The Name of the Rose" refers us to the month of November, one thousand three hundred and twenty-seven. At that time, ecclesiastical strife was shaking Western Europe. The papal curia is in the "Avignon captivity", under the heel of the French king. John Twenty-second is fighting on two fronts. On the one hand, he opposes the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis the Fourth of Bavaria, and on the other, he is fighting against his own servants of the Church. Francis of Assisi, who laidthe beginning of the monastic order of the Friars Minor, advocated absolute poverty. He called for giving up worldly riches in order to follow Christ. After the death of Francis, the papal curia, wallowing in luxury, decided to send his students and followers to the walls of the monasteries. This caused a split in the ranks of the members of the order. From it stood out the Franciscan spiritualists, who continued to stand on the positions of apostolic poverty. The pope declared them heretics, and persecution began. The emperor took advantage of this for his struggle for investiture, and supported the spiritualists. Thus, they become a significant political force. As a result, the parties entered into negotiations. The Franciscan delegation, supported by the emperor, and representatives of the Pope were to meet in an unnamed monastery on the borders of Savoy, Piedmont and Liguria. In this monastery, the main events of the novel unfold. Recall that the discussion about the poverty of Christ and His Church is only a screen behind which intense political intrigues are hidden.

Historical Detective

The erudite reader will surely catch the connection of Eco's novel with the stories of Conan Doyle. To do this, it is enough to know its summary. "The Name of the Rose" appears before us as Adson's most thorough notes. Here, an allusion is immediately born about Dr. Watson, who described in detail the investigations of his friend Sherlock Holmes. Of course, both heroes of the novel are monks. William of Baskerville, whose small homeland makes us remember the story of Conan Doyle about the sinister dogon the moors, appeared at the Benedictine monastery on behalf of the emperor to prepare a meeting of spiritualists with representatives of the papal curia. But as soon as he and the novice Adson of Melk approached the monastery, events began to unfold so rapidly that they relegated the issues of the dispute about the poverty of the apostles and the Church to the background. The novel takes place over the course of one week. The mysterious murders that follow one after the other keep the reader in suspense all the time. Wilhelm, a diplomat, a brilliant theologian and, as evidenced by his dialogue with Bernard Guy, a former inquisitor, volunteered to find the culprit for all these deaths. "The Name of the Rose" is a book that is a detective novel by genre.

How a diplomat becomes an investigator

In the Benedictine monastery, where the meeting of the two delegations was to take place, the Franciscan William of Baskerville and the novice Adson of Melk arrive a few days before the start of the dispute. In its course, the parties had to express their arguments regarding the poverty of the Church as the heir of Christ and discuss the possibility of the arrival of the general of spirituals Michael of Caesin in Avignon to the papal throne. But only when they approached the gates of the monastery, the main characters meet the monks who ran out in search of a runaway mare. Here Wilhelm surprises everyone with his “deductive method” (another Umberto Eco reference to Conan Doyle), describing the horse and indicating the location of the animal. The abbot of the monastery, Abbon, struck by the deep mind of the Franciscan, asks him to deal with the case of a strange death that happened inthe walls of the monastery. Adelma's body was found at the bottom of the cliff. It looked like he was thrown from the window of a tower hanging over the abyss, called Khramina. Abbon hints that he knows something about the circumstances of the death of the draftsman Adelma, but he is bound by a vow of secrecy of confession. But he gives Wilhelm the opportunity to investigate and interrogate all the monks in order to identify the killer.

Temple

Abbon allowed the investigator to examine all corners of the monastery, except for the library. She occupied the third, top floor of the Temple, a gigantic tower. The library had the glory of the largest book depository in Europe. It was built like a labyrinth. Only the librarian Malachi and his assistant Berengar had access to it. The second floor of the Khramina was occupied by a scriptorium, where scribes and illustrators worked, one of whom was the late Adelm. After conducting a deductive analysis, Wilhelm came to the conclusion that no one killed the draftsman, but he himself jumped off the high monastery wall, and his body was transferred by a landslide under the walls of Khramina. But this is not the end of the novel and its summary. "The Name of the Rose" keeps the reader in constant suspense. Another body was found the next morning. It was difficult to call it suicide: the body of an adherent of the teachings of Aristotle, Venantius, was sticking out of a barrel of pig blood (Christmas was approaching, and the monks were slaughtering cattle to make sausages). The victim also worked in the scriptorium. And this made Wilhelm pay more attention to the mysterious library. The mystery of the labyrinth began to interest him after the rebuff of Malachi. Hesingle-handedly decided whether to provide the book to the monk who requested it, referring to the fact that the vault contains many heretical and pagan manuscripts.

Scriptorium

Not being allowed into the library, which will become the center of the intrigue of the narrative of the novel "The Name of the Rose", the characters Wilhelm and Adson spend a lot of time on the second floor of the Temple. While talking with the young scribe Benzius, the investigator learns that in the scriptorium, two parties are silently but nevertheless fiercely confronting each other. Young monks are always ready to laugh, while older monks consider fun an unacceptable sin. The leader of this party is the blind monk Jorge, reputed to be a saintly righteous man. He is overwhelmed with eschatological expectations of the coming of the Antichrist and the end of time. But the draftsman Adelm so skillfully portrayed the funny beasts of the bestiary that his comrades could not help laughing. Benzius let slip that two days before the death of the illustrator, the silent confrontation in the scriptorium turned into a verbal skirmish. It was about the permissibility of depicting the funny in theological texts. Umberto Eco uses this discussion to lift the veil of secrecy: the library holds a book that can decide the dispute in favor of the champions of fun. Berenger let slip about the existence of a work that was associated with the words "the limit of Africa."

Deaths connected by one logical thread

"The Name of the Rose" is a postmodern novel. The author in the form of William of Baskerville subtly parodies Sherlock Holmes. But, unlike the London detective, the mediev althe investigator does not keep up with events. He cannot prevent the crime, and murders follow one after another. And in this we see a hint of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". But all these murders, one way or another, are connected with the mysterious book. Wilhelm learns the details of Adelma's suicide. Berengar lured him into a sodomite connection, promising in return some service that he could perform as an assistant librarian. But the draftsman could not bear the weight of his sin and ran to confess. And since the adamant Jorge was the confessor, Adelm could not relieve his soul, and in despair took his own life. It was not possible to interrogate Berengar: he disappeared. Feeling that all the events in the scriptorium are connected with the book, Wilhelm and Adson enter Khramina at night, using the underground passage, which they learned about by spying on the assistant librarian. But the library turned out to be a complex labyrinth. The heroes barely found a way out of it, having experienced the action of all sorts of traps: mirrors, lamps with mind-stupefying oil, etc. The missing Berengar was found dead in the bath. The monastery doctor Severin shows Wilhelm strange black marks on the fingers and tongue of the deceased. The same were found earlier in Venantius. Severin also said that he had lost a vial of a very poisonous substance.

Big politics

With the arrival of two delegations to the monastery, in parallel with the detective story, the "political" plot line of the book "The Name of the Rose" begins to develop. The novel is full of historical flaws. So, inquisitor Bernard Guy, arriving on a diplomatic mission, beginsto investigate not heretical errors, but criminal offenses - murders within the walls of the monastery. The author of the novel plunges the reader into the vicissitudes of theological disputes. Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Adson enter the library for the second time and study the plan of the labyrinth. They also find the "limit of Africa" - a tightly locked secret room. Meanwhile, Bernard Guy is investigating the murders using methods unusual for himself, judging by historical sources. He arrests and accuses the doctor's assistant, the former Dolchinian B altazar, and a beggar girl who came to the monastery to trade her body for scraps from the refectory of witchcraft. The scholarly dispute between the representatives of the curia and the spiritualists turns into a trivial fight. But the author of the novel once again takes the reader away from the plane of theology into the exciting detective genre.

Murder Weapon

While Wilhelm was watching the fight, Severin came. He said that he had found a strange book in his infirmary. Naturally, this is the one that Berengar took out of the library, since his body was found in a bath near the hospital. But Wilhelm cannot leave, and after a while everyone is shocked by the news of the doctor's death. Severin's skull was broken, and the cellarer Remigius was captured at the scene of the crime. He claims to have found the doctor already dead. But Benzius, a very quick-witted young monk, told Wilhelm that he ran to the infirmary first, and then followed the incoming. He is sure that the librarian Malachi was here and hiding somewhere, and then mingled with the crowd. Realizing that the killer of the doctor had not yet managed to take out the book brought hereBerengar, Wilhelm looks through all the notebooks in the infirmary. But he overlooks the fact that several texts of manuscripts can be bound into one volume. Therefore, the more perceptive Benzius gets the book. The novel "The Name of the Rose" is not in vain called by readers' reviews very multifaceted. The plot again brings the reader into the plane of big politics. It turns out that Bernard Guy arrived at the monastery with the secret goal of disrupting the negotiations. To do this, he took advantage of the murders that befell the monastery. He accuses the former Dolchinian of the crimes, arguing that B althazar shares the heretical views of spiritualists. Thus, they all share some of the blame.

Solving the mystery of a mysterious book and a string of murders

Benzius gave the volume to Malachi without even opening it, as he was offered the post of assistant librarian. And it saved his life. Because the pages of the book were soaked in poison. Malachi also felt its effect - he died in convulsions right during the mass. His tongue and fingertips were black. But then Abbon calls Wilhelm to him and firmly announces that he must leave the monastery the next morning. The abbot is sure that the reason for the murders was the settling of scores between the sodomites. But the Franciscan friar-investigator is not going to give up. After all, he had already come close to solving the riddle. He figured out the key that opens the room "The Limit of Africa". And on the sixth night of their stay in the monastery, Wilhelm and Adson again enter the library. "The Name of the Rose" is a novel by Umberto Eco, the narrative of which either flows slowly, like a calm river, or develops rapidly, like a thriller. ATBlind Jorge is already waiting for the uninvited guests in a secret room. In his hands is the same book - the lost single copy of Aristotle's On Laughter, the second part of Poetics. This “grey eminence”, who kept everyone, including the abbot, in subjection, while still being sighted, soaked the pages of the book he hated with poison so that no one could read it. Aristotle enjoyed great reverence among theologians in the Middle Ages. Jorge was afraid that if laughter was confirmed by such an authority, then the whole system of his values, which he considered the only Christian ones, would collapse. For this, he lured the abbot into a stone trap and broke the mechanism that unlocked the door. The blind monk offers Wilhelm to read the book. But having learned that he knows the secret of the sheets soaked in poison, he begins to absorb the sheets himself. Wilhelm tries to take the book away from the old man, but he runs away, being perfectly oriented in the labyrinth. And when they overtake him, he pulls out the lamp and throws it into the rows of books. The spilled oil immediately covers the parchments with fire. Wilhelm and Adson miraculously escape the fire. The flame from the Temple is transferred to other buildings. Three days later, only smoking ruins remain on the site of the richest monastery.

Is there a moral in a postmodern essay?

Humor, allusions and references to other works of literature, a detective story superimposed on the historical context of the early fourteenth century - these are not all the "chips" that entices the reader with "The Name of the Rose". An analysis of this work allows us to judge that a deep meaning is hidden behind the apparent entertainment. chiefthe protagonist is not William of Canterbury at all, and even more so not the modest author of Adson's notes. It is the Word that some try to bring out and others to stifle. The problem of inner freedom is raised by the author and rethought again. A kaleidoscope of quotes from famous works on the pages of the novel makes the erudite reader smile more than once. But along with witty syllogisms, we also encounter a more important problem. This is the idea of tolerance, the ability to respect the universal world of another person. The issue of freedom of speech, the truth that should be "proclaimed from the rooftops" is opposed to the presentation of one's rightness as the last resort, attempts to impose one's point of view not by persuasion, but by force. In a time when the atrocities of ISIS proclaim European values as unacceptable heresy, this novel seems even more relevant.

"Notes on the margins of "The Name of the Rose""

After its release, the novel became a bestseller in a matter of months. Readers simply flooded the author of The Name of the Rose with letters asking about the book. Therefore, in one thousand nine hundred and eighty-three, U. Eco let the curious into his “creative laboratory”. "Notes in the margins of The Name of the Rose" are witty and entertaining. In them, the best-selling author reveals the secrets of a successful novel. Six years after the release of the novel, The Name of the Rose was filmed. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud used famous actors in the filming. Sean Connery skillfully played the role of William of Baskerville. A young but very talented actor Christian Slater reincarnated as Adson. The film hada great success at the box office, justified the money invested in it and won numerous awards at film competitions. But Eco himself was very dissatisfied with such a film adaptation. He believed that the screenwriter greatly simplified his work, making it a product of popular culture. Since then, he has turned down all directors who asked for the opportunity to film his works.