Bradamante et Fleurdépine. L’amour impossible du Roland furieux (1532)
The Italian Renaissance epic Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto describes various illicit passions. One of them is the unfortunate love of Princess Fleurdépine for the woman warrior Bradamante. While male homosexual relations seem to be possible in the Ariostean epic, love between women is d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Genre, Sexualité et Société
2009-12-01
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| Series: | Genre, Sexualité et Société |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/gss/1273 |
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| Summary: | The Italian Renaissance epic Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto describes various illicit passions. One of them is the unfortunate love of Princess Fleurdépine for the woman warrior Bradamante. While male homosexual relations seem to be possible in the Ariostean epic, love between women is described as non-existent. With the appearance of Ricciardetto, Bradamante’s brother, the plot changes unexpectedly. Ricciardetto pretends to be Bradamante, having had a sex-change thanks to a magic intervention. Nevertheless, the return to heteronormativity is not a successful one. Ricciardetto’s ruse besmirches his relationship with Fleurdépine and he is sentenced to death, once their secret love-affaire is revealed. The Ariostean epic describes lesbianism as a péché muet, a silent sin that has no right to exist. At the same time, the multiple facets of Bradamante’s, Ricciardetto’s, and Fleurdépine’s sex and gender give way to a second interpretation of this episode. |
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| ISSN: | 2104-3736 |