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Literary Transvaluation: From Vergilian Epic to Shakespearean Tragicomedy
375 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1984
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December 22, 2023
A study into how the values of the Aeneid were recreated in new cultural contexts by numerous writers and, eventually, reversed completely in Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra.
The foreground tragedy of the Aeneid is the hero's meeting and leave-taking of Dido, Queen of Carthage; his future lies in the founding of Rome: the individual is subjugated to society, passion and eros is subjugated to duty. Both the aftermath of the Trojan War and Virgil's lifetime were periods of great upheaval and historic change, the attitude and decisions of Aeneas are not to be taken as solutions but, rather, as an attitude to adopt - that of purified striving.
The influence of the Aeneid can be chartered in Augustine's Confessions, which remodels the mimesis onto an autobiographical and spiritual quest, Dante's concern with the salvation of the soul, and in Spenser, where epic impelled by tragedy becomes epic contained by romance.
The characters of Anthony and Cleopatra have more dimensions to them than mere historical figures, this book digs into the many mythical associations with Hercules and Isis; the tragic couple are intended to be much more than their own selves.
Shakespeare manages, then, to transvalue the motives for Anthony's suicide from stoic resignation to erotic embrace - Aeneas and Dido are reunited once more! - the human values of the late-Renaissance replace the classical.
The foreground tragedy of the Aeneid is the hero's meeting and leave-taking of Dido, Queen of Carthage; his future lies in the founding of Rome: the individual is subjugated to society, passion and eros is subjugated to duty. Both the aftermath of the Trojan War and Virgil's lifetime were periods of great upheaval and historic change, the attitude and decisions of Aeneas are not to be taken as solutions but, rather, as an attitude to adopt - that of purified striving.
The influence of the Aeneid can be chartered in Augustine's Confessions, which remodels the mimesis onto an autobiographical and spiritual quest, Dante's concern with the salvation of the soul, and in Spenser, where epic impelled by tragedy becomes epic contained by romance.
The characters of Anthony and Cleopatra have more dimensions to them than mere historical figures, this book digs into the many mythical associations with Hercules and Isis; the tragic couple are intended to be much more than their own selves.
Shakespeare manages, then, to transvalue the motives for Anthony's suicide from stoic resignation to erotic embrace - Aeneas and Dido are reunited once more! - the human values of the late-Renaissance replace the classical.
Displaying 1 of 1 review