King Torrismondo

by Torquato Tasso, Maria Pastore Passaro (Translator), Anthony Oldcorn (Introduction)

This tranlation of Torquato Tasso's ll re Torrismondo , the first to be made directly from the Italian into English, is intended to help those students and scholars who do not command the language of the original text. This translation provides readers with a wider range of the Italian tragedy as a genre; it also allows readers to acquire a deeper awareness of the entire spectrum of the Italian Renaissance in its final brilliance. Tasso's King Torrismondo provides an example of Neo-Aristotelian dramatic theory of the second half of the fifteenth century. It incorporates into the dramatic genre elements of the epic lyric poem. Tasso's langugae can also be studied as an example of "imitation" of Virgil, Dante, Petrach, and Tasso's own epic. Finally, Tasso's Torrismondo affords us an opportunity of comparative analysis of French, English, and Spanish literature in the development of tragedy as a European genre.

Genres: Classics

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1587

About the author

Torquato Tasso (11 March 1544 – 25 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) (1580), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem. He died a few days before he was due to be crowned as the king of poets by the Pope. Until the beginning of the 19th century, Tasso remained one of the most widely read poets in Europe.

Reviews

[Davide Cotardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tragedia a lungo sottovalutata per via delle lungaggini retoriche che gravano sull'opera, ma in realtà si tratta della migliore tragedia italiana del Cinquecento, nonché di un'opera complessa e stratificata, con molteplici livelli di lettura e che introduce (quasi contemporaneamente a Shakespeare in Inghilterra) il dissidio interiore dei protagonisti, Torrismondo e Alvida, che per ragioni simili e differenti vedono le loro certezze sgretolarsi e i loro dubbi e paure realizzarsi in una incapacità d'azione che conduce alla catastrofe.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago, I read Tasso’s Aminta and I enjoyed it quite a bit – enough that I wanted to read his other play, King Torrismondo, as soon as possible. Well, it ended up taking a decade to find an affordable copy of Tasso’s tragedy, and after all that waiting it was rather disappointing.

It’s modeled on the Greek tragedies, particularly Oedipus the King. But it lacks the energy and verve that drives Sophocles’ play relentlessly to its bitter and tragic end. Torrismondo’s and Alvida’s deaths happen rather suddenly. And the incestuous secret is awkwardly blurted out. The build up to these climaxes seems haphazard, and the play goes on too long after their deaths.

(My suggestion to all playwrights: Avoid any Oedipus-like stories. You will only fail in comparison to Sophocles’ masterpiece. It is a rock on which no ship can land without destroying itself.)

Tasso's tragedy was obviously the model for the French tragedies of Corneille and Racine. It displays the same stiff, recitative quality. It also reminds me of Seneca with his set pieces.

This is a good edition, however, and I enjoyed the translation. Tasso was a great poet. And this edition provides the Italian on the facing page and ample introductions and notes to help create a context for the work.

The work, itself, however, is not that good.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

SOGNI "PSICOLOGICI"

Ho preso in considerazione il "Re Torrismondo" di Tasso e la "Sofonisba" di Gian Giorgio Trissino per il primo capitolo della mia tesi triennale, data la natura di sogno "psicologico" posseduta dalle visioni che le protagoniste Alvida e Sofonisba narrano in apertura delle rispettive vicende. Più dell'intreccio in sé, comunque, ad appassionarmi è stato il confronto tra le due opere, riguardo al quale ho potuto reperire una quantità sconfinata di studi e saggi critici estremamente interessanti.
Delle due tragedie ho preferito quella di Tasso in quanto, essendo più coinvolgente dell'altra, mi ha permesso di includere anche diversi spunti personali, approfondendo per esempio le fantasie di altri personaggi femminili quali Rosmonda e la Regina madre. Viceversa, ispirandomi all'analisi freudiana della visione onirica di Alvida, ne ho tentata una mia personale su quella di Sofonisba.

***

Prima dei lavori di Trissino e Tasso, lessi anche "La Reina di Scotia" di Federico della Valle, semplicemente perché la mia relatrice ricordava che ci fosse anche qui un sogno premonitore. Fortunatamente, la delusione di non aver trovato quello che cercavo è stata bilanciata dal fascino che questa vicenda storica ha da sempre esercitato su di me.

[Benedetta Bersano]

ci ho capito meno che nelle altre 😀 sarà l’esame a finire me o io a finire l'esame? stay tuned