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Eufimia
| Author: | Giraldi, G. B. | |
| Year: | 2003 | |
| Pages: | 284 | |
| ISBN: | 0-7734-6833-1 978-0-7734-6833-7 | |
| Price: | $199.95 | |
Among Giraldi’s later plays not published since the 16th century is Eufimia, which the playwright adapted for the stage from one of his own short stories, in a new style. It combines lavish stage spectacle with a plot incorporating romantic episodes based on the poems of chivalry and resembling some of the stock ingredients of the modern Western: flight, pursuit, rescue, combat and duel. The volumes includes explanatory notes on the text and a glossary of archaic words and word-forms. The first part of the Introduction places Giraldi’s tragedy in the context of the dispute with his literary rival, Giambattista Pigna, correcting in the process some persistent misunderstandings about the chronology of events. The second part discusses the innovative aspects of the tragedy and its place in the evolution of Giraldi’s compositions for the stage
Reviews
“Philip Horne’s edition of Eufimia follows the pattern of his four earlier editions of Giraldi’s drama for Edwin Mellen Press, and it maintains their very high standards. The Introduction is an important and innovative study of three aspects of the play. The first part offers a very well-documented discussion of the dispute with Pigna and, in this context, of the problematic dating of the play. The second part draws parallels between Giraldi and Ariosto in their description of duels and convincingly interprets the play as, among other things, a tribute to the Orlando furioso. The third part, on the extraordinarily long-suffering eponymous heroine, will be of interest in the context of the history of the portrayal, within medieval and Renaissance culture, of females as submissive to male authority or as independent individuals. The volume represents the first critical edition of the play. The source text, that of the posthumous 1583 edition, has been edited very carefully: emendations have been made intelligently and judiciously….The notes to the text will be found very helpful by a wide range of readers….. they also comment lucidly and economically on the dramatic action and on Giraldi’s use of poetic resources… and they helpfully shed light on the classical references in the text. A particularly praiseworthy feature of both the Introduction and the notes is the standard of the translations from Italian and Latin into English, which succeed in being both accurate and imaginative. Philip Horne’s edition will serve the needs of modern scholars excellently.” – Brian Richardson, University of Leeds
“The glossary at the end of each work proves invaluable, especially for the Latinisms and basic morphology no longer found in modern Italian. The notes afford a modern English translation of the more difficult expressions and turns of phrase, together with illuminating points of syntax and grammar. The editions thus become small handbooks, useful for teachers and students alike, of sixteenth-century language usage in a small but significant northern Italian court. . . .” – Modern Language Review (reviewing earlier volumes in the Giraldi series)
“The glossary at the end of each work proves invaluable, especially for the Latinisms and basic morphology no longer found in modern Italian. The notes afford a modern English translation of the more difficult expressions and turns of phrase, together with illuminating points of syntax and grammar. The editions thus become small handbooks, useful for teachers and students alike, of sixteenth-century language usage in a small but significant northern Italian court. . . .” – Modern Language Review (reviewing earlier volumes in the Giraldi series)