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The Orphan-Hero in Italian Renaissance Epic

Abstract

“The Orphan-Hero in Italian Renaissance Epic” investigates a commonplace present in epic poetry from antiquity to the Renaissance: the orphan-hero, a protagonist who grows up without the guidance of biological parents. The study traces this figure from its origins to the early modern period, beginning with classical epic in the introduction and focusing on 16th- and early 17th- century Italian poems in the body of the dissertation, namely Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (1532), Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata (1581), Tullia d’Aragona’s Il Meschino (1560), Moderata Fonte’s Floridoro (1581), Margherita Sarrocchi’s Scanderbeide (1623), and Lucrezia Marinella’s L’Enrico (1635). Through analysis of these works, I address the following critical questions: 1) What links orphanhood and heroism? 2) Why might poets deem this tradition worthy of continuation? 3) Do modifications to the orphan-hero by different Renaissance authors reveal or emphasize shifts in thinking during the period? In particular, to what extent do the female authors fashion their orphan-heroes to fit an early modern feminist purpose? I propose that the vulnerability inherent in the parentless state is significant to the subsequent development of heroic qualities in Renaissance epic heroes. Authors of epic choose orphanhood for their heroes not only to continue with tradition, which is all-important for the genre, but also to give certain heroes distinctive upbringings and acknowledge the social circumstances of contemporary orphans. I postulate that the prevalence of the orphan-hero in Renaissance epic speaks to a general anxiety about familial legitimacy during the period, a relevant issue in epic given its emphasis on genealogy and family dynasties. Lastly, using a comparative approach between the orphan-heroes of the two canonical male poets under consideration and those of their four lesser-known female counterparts, I elucidate how the female authors envision an alternative role for contemporary women, both inside and outside the family. The female authors modify their characters to give more agency, skill, and independence to women than were supplied by the canonical poets. For the female epic hero, as for the Renaissance female author, proving one’s legitimacy is more difficult and therefore even more crucial.

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