Deferring or killing: the death in the duels of “Orlando Furioso”

Abstract

In a literary genre such as the chivalric romance, in which the practice of the arms is the noblest manifestation of the virtus of a knight, a big part of the narration consists in a series of duels. The Furioso appears radically different from the Innamorato from its very beginning. In Boiardo’s work, as early as the first book, duels culminate with the combat between Orlando and Agricane, ending with the death of the pagan hero; instead, Ariosto’s poem is based on the frequent deployment of narrative deferral. The essay aims to demonstrate that, in the first part of the Furioso, the duels are treated as martial games rather than fierce battles, and that in its second part the poem darkens progressing to its bitter end.