'Eufimia': An Italian Renaissance Tragedy by G. B. Giraldi , Philip Horne (review)

Abstract

MLRy 100.2, 2005 521 output. Milburn's analysis is thorough and convincing: via a study of the distribution ofnon-Petrarchan lexical items through his corpus, she is able to draw original conclu? sions about the relationship between lexis, genre, and imitation in Tansillo's poetry. Milburn concludes her book with a chapter dedicated to one of the key elements of Tansillo's thematics, the topos of jealousy. She traces the process by which this theme?hitherto considered to be inappropriate forserious verse because of its generic associations with a low comic register?comes to prominence in the Southern lyric. As jealousy becomes an increasingly important motif in ltalian literature, a coherent iconography for its representation is demanded, and this chapter follows its develop? ment through Boccaccio, Lorenzo de' Medici, and Sannazaro, to Tansillo himself. Tansillo's formulation is then shown to have been adopted as the imitative model for subsequent treatments of the topos in the Cinque and Seicento. The book also contains useful appendices of primary sources, comprising Alcune stanze del pianto di San Pietro'; three letters from Tansillo to Benedetto Varchi; and a bibliography of jealousy texts, in which are transcribed all texts discussed not available in modern editions. A particularly helpful inclusion is the detailed index. All in all, this book is an exemplary study, and a major contribution to the literature on Tansillo and the sixteenth-century Neapolitan Petrarchists. University of Edinburgh Guyda Armstrong 'Eufimia': An Italian Renaissance Tragedy. By G. B. Giraldi. Ed., with introduction, notes, and glossary, by Philip Horne. (Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 21) Lewiston: Mellen. 2003. ?69.95. xiv + 25opp. ISBN 0-7734-6833-1. The writings of Giambattista Giraldi Cinthio (1504-73) have in recent decades in? creasingly attracted attention for their range and innovative approach, qualities evi? dent also in his theatrical production. Though predominantly famous for his first Senecan tragedy (Orbecche, 1541), Giraldi is also recognized for his pioneering experiments with various 'mixed' genres, and especially the tragedia di lietofine. Eufimia is one of six tragedies of this kind. Hitherto only available in a posthumous publica? tion of 1583, the play now appears for the firsttime in a modern critical edition, the fifthof Giraldi's plays to be edited by Philip Horne for the Edwin Mellen press. As in Horne's previous editions, the Italian text is presented clearly and accurately, with only discrete and scrupulously indicated interventions. The editor's considerable ex? perience in the field clearly informs the detailed notes, which, as well as explaining literary allusions and complex linguistic features (supplemented by a glossary of archaic words), guide the reader through the plot structure, contextual factors, and, where relevant, performance-related issues. The edition begins with three introductory chapters (after the useful foreword by John Woodhouse), which function almost as discrete essays. Largely expanding on ideas raised in previous studies, these examine key features ofEufimia in relation to the intellectual and social context of mid-sixteenth-century Ferrara, and particularly the Estense court forwhich Eufimia was composed. The firstchapter connects the play's heavy-handed representation of the vice of ingratitude to a notorious quarrel (c. 1554) involving Giraldi and a formerstudent ofhis (G. B. Pigna), in which both men accused each other of plagiarizing their ideas on chivalric romances. (It might be added that literary disputes were commonplace throughout the century, and that Giraldi was in? volved in others as well.) Discussion ofthe complex circumstances ofthis dispute leads to furtherhypotheses for dating the play's possible composition and performance. Developing the theme of romances, the second chapter explores the implications of introducing a notable chivalric element into Eufimia, taking into account the impact of 522 Reviews Ariosto's Orlando furioso in Ferrara and theatrical tastes at the court from 1559. This section also makes valuable observations about Giraldi's moral and didactic attitude towards literature generally, which resisted the prevailing view that its purpose was purely 'recreational'. Here, as elsewhere, it would have been helpful to have provided more background information on the contemporary ltalian literary scene (especially on the growing interest in Aristotelian criticism) for the less specialized reader. Like other plays by Giraldi, the plot of Eufimia?the tale of a villainous...