Playing with Gender: The Comedies of Goldoni by Maggie Günsberg (review)

Abstract

216 Reviews attribution to Ariosto is at best unproven, and suggesting a more likely authorship by Tebaldeo. Stefano Carrai surveys Ariosto's use of classical Latin sources in the lyrics, alongside a series of Petrarchan citations. Massimo Malinverni takes the capitolo 'O piu che '1 giorno luminosa notte' as the starting point for a detailed investigation of the theme of the 'luminous night' from Propertius to Ariosto, with special reference to its fortunes during the Quattrocento. Giorgio Dilemmi provides a detailed reading of the proemial sonnet of Vr and goes on to discuss the theme of the lover's sighs in Ariosto and its sources. Maria Cristina Cabani analyses the relationship of the Rime with Orlando furioso, noting the large number of parallels, both textual and thematic. Giovanna Rabitti discusses the 1546 editioprinceps ofthe Rime, and the manipulation of the textual sequence by the editor Iacopo Coppa. Cristina Zampese suggests a series of relatively unexplored sources for the Rime, notably the Latin verse of Pontano and Tito Vespasiano Strozzi, and the vernacular lyrics of Boiardo and Bembo. Finally, Silvia Longhi examines the importance of imagery relating to horses, real and mythical, in Ariosto's poetry. The studies included here are of interest to scholars of Ariosto and of Renaissance verse in general, and provide convincing evidence forthe literary and historical value ofworks often considered subordinate to Orlando furioso. The very differentperspec? tives adopted in the two sections of the book (innovative and diverse for the Satire, more traditional and text-based for the Rime) reflectthe very differenttextual status ofthe two works. Whereas scholars approaching the Satire benefit from the existence of a well-established text, textual and chronological uncertainties continue to hinder studies of the Rime. It is to be hoped that the considerable interest shown in Ariosto's Rime by the contributors to this volume will encourage the production of a definitive critical edition of this important work. Rome Erika Milburn Playing withGender: The Comedies ofGoldoni. By Maggie Gunsberg. Leeds: North? ern Universities Press. 2001. viii + 274pp. ?38. ISBN 1-902653-24-6. Maggie Giinsberg's book is a significant addition to Goldoni studies and to feminist literary criticism. In an extensive discussion touching on a wide range of plays, Gunsberg considers Goldoni's portrayal ofthe relationships between men and women and the social conventions that shape them, as well as his depiction of social class and the multiplicity of ways in which gender and class intersect. The book concludes with an examination of the role of theatre in portraying all of these interactions. Gunsberg provides a key to her approach in the introduction, in which she dismisses realism by defining it as a mimesis 'which purports to reflect social reality while in fact reinforcing the status quo of power relations, and therewith the immobilization of forces of resistance and change' (pp. 1-2). She invokes the dual thrust of theatre and carnival (pp. 2-3), which challenge and strengthen the dominant social paradigm. The emphasis throughout the book is on the latter,however, with no discussion ofthe opportunity to effectsubstantive social change that both afford(ed) or of the works of scholars such as Victor Turner who show how that opportunity increased over time and how non-hegemonic social groups and individuals took advantage of it. Chapters II and III establish Giinsberg's preference forGoldoni's moralizingconservatism from among his varied tendencies. Gunsberg emphasizes that his contract with Medebach calling for numerous comedies and his attendance at all rehearsals had the effect'for the moral content of the plays [. . .] that the dramatist was ensured a greater degree of control over the character on stage, without the risk of immorality rearing its head during improvisation' (p. 20). (Of course, the writing out of the plays MLR, 99.1, 2004 217 precludes all attitudes other than the author's from rearing their heads during improvisation .) Missing is a discussion of the historical pressures then acting on Goldoni, whose innovations enlarging the roles ofwomen and the underclasses, acknowledging their value, and challenging the false notion of a virtuous aristocracy had brought a hostile reaction from critics, audiences, and the authorities. Their calls for a more conventional morality met largely with his...