Ariosto Today: Contemporary Perspectives

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto has long been regarded as one of the
masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. In this collection of 12
essays, Ariosto’s most celebrated work is explored from a variety of
perspectives: philosophical, in terms of landscape, as theatre, and as
lyric poetry, to name a few. In discussing the different levels of
Orlando, the scholar-contributors bring to Ariosto’s work an
understanding that was previously the domain of scholars of Italian
studies or the Renaissance.

Although the collection requires an acquaintance with Ariosto’s work,
the writing in most cases is accessible. Each essay includes endnotes
and a bibliography. The contributors are mainly from Italian
universities, but there are some from the United States and Canada. The
book’s introduction provides background on Ariosto’s life and times
that sets the stage for the essays that follow. Ariosto Today is a
welcome and exciting addition to Italian Renaissance scholarship.