MLR,96.I, 200I MLR,96.I, 200I even though it is not, to quote Dante,fetidaethorribilis at the end. Some discussionof Giraldi's Discorso and the Cinquecento reception of Aristotle would have proved helpful not only here but also in the introduction to Epizia(p. xxiv). As a mirrorof the times, Selene not only illustrateshow female rulersshould act, but also what the relationshipbetween Giraldi'sown experiences at the FerrareseCourt and the role of certain characters must have been. The Signoreand the scheming courtier (Giraldi's own creation) demonstrate that power is now wielded by new figures whom Castiglionehad not even envisagedin his ideal settingin Urbino only twenty or so yearsbefore. The reality-mirroringdidactic intent of Selene is also present in Epizia.Unlike the first tragedy, however, it does not deal with a mature-aged regal female ruler, as traditionwould normally have decreed. Giraldi'stheatricalexperimentation is the means through which he explores the issues concerning those who ruthlessly exercise power and frequentlyresortto torture. Giraldi'sEpiziacan thus be read as a statementin the socio-academic debate of the period. The technical natureof the judicial matters treated therein would also explain why Giraldi decided never to stagethe play in Ferraraor even have it publiclyread. Of specialinterestis Horme's emphasis on the possible influence of this play, together with Giraldi's novelle, Ecatommiti (summarized in the appendix), on Shakespeare'sMeasure for Measure. Horne includes useful stage direction notes to indicate how the play might have been acted out, not to mention illuminating comments to explain the marriage of the rapevictim to her rapist. Horne places the comedy, GliEudaimoni, in its full literary context with a good discussionof its antecedent models, its contemporaryrivalsand itsposition among them. The ensuing discussionof Giraldi'spolite theory of comedy allowsthe reader to understand this position more fully. The editor also considerably clarifies an otherwise confusing array of double identities, name changing and agnitions derivingfromthe underlyingTerentianand Plautineinspiration. In all, thisis a solid contributionto Cinquecento studies. UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH RODNEY LOKAJ Naturalismoe verismo. By PIERLUIGI PELLINI. Florence: La Nuova Italia. 1998. 175 PP. I5,000 lire. PierluigiPellini here attempts the firstsystematiccomparison of FrenchNaturalist and Italianverista narrativesinceMario Pomilio'spioneeringDalnaturalismo alverismo (Naples: Liguori, I962). Where Pomilio, however, concentrated on programmatic and theoretical writings, Pellini follows the most innovative recent scholars of European Naturalismin defining both Naturalistand verista poetics on the basis of narrative practice. Applying the insights of Yves Chevrel, David Baguley, Sylvie Thorel-Cailleteau, and Philippe Hamon, Pellinichallenges Italian criticaltradition in assertingthe formaland ideological modernityof Naturalism. He firstquestions the Naturalists'reputationfor explanatoryself-confidenceand rigid determination. For Pellini, they posit no unitary theory of man and society: Positivist mistrust of systems restricts their research to 'immediate causes'. Consequently , represented reality fragments into a 'determinism of details'. The aspiration to descriptive totality is equally undermined by the rejection of the 'novelistic', of plot, and of the self-willed hero of Realism. Narrative is circular, centrifugal,fractured;passiveprotagonistsserve descriptionratherthan vice-versa. Near autonomous descriptivepassagespresentnot objectivedata but a bewildering sensory bombardment. The principle of impersonality contributes further to a even though it is not, to quote Dante,fetidaethorribilis at the end. Some discussionof Giraldi's Discorso and the Cinquecento reception of Aristotle would have proved helpful not only here but also in the introduction to Epizia(p. xxiv). As a mirrorof the times, Selene not only illustrateshow female rulersshould act, but also what the relationshipbetween Giraldi'sown experiences at the FerrareseCourt and the role of certain characters must have been. The Signoreand the scheming courtier (Giraldi's own creation) demonstrate that power is now wielded by new figures whom Castiglionehad not even envisagedin his ideal settingin Urbino only twenty or so yearsbefore. The reality-mirroringdidactic intent of Selene is also present in Epizia.Unlike the first tragedy, however, it does not deal with a mature-aged regal female ruler, as traditionwould normally have decreed. Giraldi'stheatricalexperimentation is the means through which he explores the issues concerning those who ruthlessly exercise power and frequentlyresortto torture. Giraldi'sEpiziacan thus be read as a statementin the socio-academic debate of the period. The technical natureof the judicial matters treated therein would also explain why Giraldi decided never to stagethe play in Ferraraor even have it publiclyread. Of specialinterestis Horme...