Stories From the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers, Essay Example

Canto 4: 56-70 Situation: When Rinaldo is chasing Angelica, he is misled and winds up back in Charlemagne’s camp – where his leader orders him to sail to the British Isles. When Rinaldo reaches Scotland and hears of Ginevra’s plight (she has been falsely accused by Polinesso or Polynex of sleeping with a man outside of marriage), he reflects on the injustice of her condemnation and proposed execution: “Is a maiden to die, then, because she permitted her true love to discharge his passion in her loving arms? A curse on the man who imposed such a law, and a curse on the man who can suffer it! She who is without a heart deserves to die, not she who confers life upon her faithful lover./ Whether it be true or false that Guinevere received her lover, this is no concern of mine. Had she done so, I should blame her not at all, if she had only preserved her secret … She should incur no punishment for such an act, and … whoever devised these pernicious laws was unjust or downright mad: they should be repealed as evil, and new laws should be framed with greater wisdom. / …/ Why is the woman to be punished or blamed for doing with one or several men the very thing a man does with as many women as he will, and receives not punishment but praise for it? / This unequal law does obvious injustice to women, and … I hope to show how criminal it is that such a law should have survived so long!”

1. Why is Rinaldo so upset about Ginevra’s condemnation? Is his attitude proto-feminist, or is something else involved?  Dalinda narrates the story about Ginerva’s condemnation for slandering her rejected lover, Polinesso. Rinaldo is upset about this condemnation because she was falsely accused by Polinesso or Polynex for have sex with a man who she is not married to, which is why he liberates her. Rinaldo bemoans the fact that she was sentenced to death for having sexual relations with a man she truly loves. Women who lack the capacity to love should the ones who should die rather than those who convey their passions. Such an attitude towards sex out of wedlock is proto-feminist because it suggests that women should be able to express their passions and love without fear of retribution. He alludes to the double standard that women within western societies continue to face regarding sex, as men can have sex with as many female partners as they please within being condemned to death while women are rendered loose if they do the same. As such, it appears that Rinaldo firmly believes that women should be sexually liberated, an idea that is proto-feminist in nature.
2. What are the major themes of this episode and the excerpted passage in particular? The major themes of this episode is the place of women in western society and how the law legislates sex in an unfair manner. Feminism is thus a major theme in this episode and how there are feminist underpinnings in various writings.
3. Explain Rinaldo’s attitude toward the law being used to condemn Ginevra and to the question of law in general. Rinaldo conveys an adverse attitudes towards the law that condemns women to death if they have sex with a man out of marriage. In addition, this law is predicated on word of mouth, meaning if a man accuses a woman of have sex with another man out of marriage, there is no proof needed. As such, women are subject to being condemned to die merely if a scorned lover, friend, or relative accuses her of having sex out of wedlock. Such a law lacks legal merit in the eyes of Rinaldo because it is not right to legislate the private lives of women in such as an unfair manner.
4. When you think a law is wrong or unfair, what do you do? When one thinks a law is unfair or wrong, they should always protest a law or petition lawmakers to change the law. Usually, it is difficult for the efforts of just one citizen to ensure that a law is changed or amended. As such, people should rally many people who disagree with an unfair law to put pressure on lawmakers to ensure that a law actually gets changed.
5. Explain: “if she had only preserved her secret.” Had Ginevra not told others about her affair, she would have avoided incurring a condemnation to death. This statement is interesting because it changes the tenor of this passage by putting some of the blame on her for speaking about her sexual relations with others. This intimates that Ginerva was being a typical female by being a gossip, which is why she received such an unfortunate fate, While this quotation is proto-feminist, there is evidence that Rinaldo is not completely divorced from prevalent stereotypes about the nature of women.

Canto 6, 52-53; Canto 7, 16-17: Astolfo’s Warnings to Ruggiero and Ruggiero’s reaction Situation: Astolfo tries to warn Ruggiero of the danger involved in succumbing to Alcina’s charms, and Ruggiero indeed tries to avoid her. Once he is lured to her realm and sees the enchantress, however, Ruggiero begins to question Astolfo’s words. Astolfo tells Ruggiero: “A scepter shall be yours, from Alcina’s hand, and you shall reign, and you shall be the happiest of mortal men: but make no mistake – your time will soon come to be changed into a beast or a fountain, into wood or rock / I have gladly given you warning, not that I imagine it will be of any use to you.” [Ruggiero tries to avoid Alcina, but when he sees her, he dismisses Astolfo’s warnings:] “Little did it profit [Ruggiero] to have been warned by the myrtle of her evil, treacherous nature – it did not seem to him possible for deceit and perfidy to keep company with so charming a smile. / On the contrary, he preferred to believe that if she had changed Astolfo into a myrtle by the sandy shore, it was because he treated her with stark ingratitude, and so deserved his fate and worse. Everything he had been told about her he dismissed as false.”

1. What themes are present in this passage? There are various themes that are involved in this passage with regards to identity and transformation with regards to Alcina culling her powers in order to create on this island a paradise so that she can entice and seduce the knights. There is also a theme of gender because of how Astolfo describes the nature of Alcina as both evil and treacherous.
2. Compare and contrast the transformation(s) here to the metamorphoses in Poliziano. In Poliziano, it seems that the metamorphosis presented creates an image of society that is based on biological imperatives although quite distinct. Here, the transformation is grounded more in environmental imperatives.
3. What truths of human psychology are revealed in this passage? Even though Ruggiero is warned by Astolfo about Alcina’s charms, he nonetheless succumbs to her charms because he believes that Ruggiero did not treat her well which is why he was punished. As such, this passage evinces a human psychology rooted in the fact that if one mistreats someone who has magical powers to transform others, then he or she will receive a poor fate rather than believing that female spirits are intrinsically nefarious. People’s fates are thus a product of people’s actions rather then befalling them.
4. What is the symbolism of being changed into a “beast or a fountain, into wood or rock”? This symbolism suggests that the paradise of the island is an allusion because Alcina will transform the knights into something negative and strip them of their agency. These symbols are used in order to urge Ruggiero of the dangers that are posed by him engaging with Alcina and tempting fate, as rocks and wood cannot be changed and are inanimate objects.
5. Canto 7, 48-56: Ruggiero in Alcina’s Realm Situation: Ruggiero succumbs to Alcina’s charms and embarks on a life of sensuality, indolence, and sloth. To rescue him and help fulfill her own prophecy, the sorceress Melissa magically disguises herself as Atlas and chides Ruggiero for wasting his education on such worthless activities. “A glittering, richly jeweled necklace fastened round his neck and hung to his chest, while his two arms, hitherto so virile, were now each clasped by a lustrous bangle. Each ear was pierced by a fine gold ring from which a fat pearl hung, such as no Arabian or Indian ever boasted. / His curly locks were saturated in perfumes, the most precious and aromatic that exist. His every gesture was mincing, as though he were accustomed to waiting on ladies in Valencia. All about him was sickly, all but his name; the rest was but corruption and decay. Thus was Ruggiero discovered, thus changed from his true self by sorcery. / The enchantress, then, presented herself to Ruggiero in Atlas’ likeness, with Atlas’ grave, venerable face … / ‘Are these then the fruits,’ she exclaimed, ‘for which I have toiled so long? / Early I fed you on the marrow of bears and lions: I accustomed you as a child to strangle snakes in grottoes and wild ravines, to disarm the clawing panthers and tigers … was all this schooling to no better purpose than to make you play Adonis … to Alcina’?”
6. What themes are present in this passage? The theme of fate and identity are also evident in this passage and the decay of humanity as a result of hubris. Ruggiero realized the power of sorcery when his life was transformed in a negative way as a result of Alcina’s charm. Interestingly, the deception of Melissa’s sorcery is able to save him from living such an abominable life of indolence. The hubris of Ruggiero led him into a situation he was warned against. As such, human fate is the result one’s decisions made despite warnings therein, although it is able for people to change. Finally, the theme of education is alluded to with regards to Melissa’s chastizing Ruggiero for his hubris.
7. The narrator condemns sorcery (l. 7), yet Ruggiero is rescued by the deceit of a sorceress? How might we make sense of this contradiction? This contradiction suggests that sorcery can be used for both good and evil purposes, as the narrator both condemns sorcery yet it is sorcery that rescues Ruggiero. This contradiction is proffered in order to make a point to Ruggiero about the nature of sorcery and sorcerists use it to manipulate the lives of people. Sorceresses are deceptive, and despite the fact that sorcery is condemned, a sorceress saves Ruggiero through deception. Thus, sorcery and the sorceress are both limned as negative due to their ability to alter the fate of humans in both positive and negative ways as a result of their deceptive and kniving nature.
8. Compare and contrast the description of the “old” and “new” Ruggiero. What points is Melissa making? Melissa describes the old Ruggiero in a very negative manner as someone who is lazy, indolent, and sensual. As a knight, Ruggiero is held to higher standards who is supposed to use his education to better society. He was foolish enough to succumb to the charms of Alcina because he refused to listen to the admonitions of others. Melissa is able to rescue Ruggiero through deception by feigning to be Atlas in order to force him to look at his old self and transform. Ruggiero’s new self is supposed to be able to conquer beasts and be humble to nature rather than evince such hubris and narcissism.
9. How does the entire episode relate to the theme of education? The theme of education figures in this episode through the central message that Melissa articulates regarding the old self and new self of Ruggiero. She molded him to be a knight who was strong enough to conquer nature. Education manifests as fate to a degree in this passage.

Works Cited

Hunt, Leigh. Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers. London: Chapman and Hall, 2000. Print.