Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Rosalinda; ovvero, l’eredità d’oro di Eufue
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love Shakespeare, pastoral stories, and tales of love and disguise, and anyone curious about Elizabethan fiction, shepherds’ songs and sonnets.
Che cos’è questo libro
Rosalynde is a prose romance published in 1590 by Thomas Lodge. Lodge was a physician and writer, and he says he composed it at sea, on a voyage with a ship's captain. He built it on an older English tale about a younger brother who is cheated of his land. He dressed it in the ornate style of John Lyly's Euphues, which is why the full title names Euphues and a golden legacy, meaning the advice a father leaves his sons.
What do you get from it? A quick, lively tale of two brothers at war, a usurped king, and a princess who disguises herself as a boy and flees into the forest of Ardenne. You also get shepherds who sing of love, sonnets scattered through the prose, and a plot that Shakespeare later borrowed for As You Like It. Reading it shows you how that play was made. We begin with the old knight on his deathbed and the gift he leaves.
In questo riassunto
- 1A dying father divides his legacyFree
- 2Saladyne wrongs his youngest brother
- 3A wrestling match wins Rosader a lady
- 4Torismond banishes Rosalynde from court
- 5In Ardenne, shepherds sing and lovers suffer
- 6What the romance means and how it speaks
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A dying father divides his legacy
The story opens in France. Sir John of Bordeaux, an old knight, feels death coming and calls his three sons to his bed. They are Saladyne, Fernandyne and Rosader. Rosader is the youngest, and the father sees in him the best likeness of his own spirit.
Before he dies, Sir John gives them a long speech of advice. This is the golden legacy of the title. He tells them to honour virtue, to be careful in love, and to live in friendship with each other.
Then he divides his property. Saladyne, as the eldest, receives the family lands. Fernandyne, the middle son, gets a share too. Rosader, the youngest, is given a generous portion in land, more than his brothers might expect. It is a loving choice, but it plants the seed of trouble.
The scene sets the tone for the whole book. Lodge lets his characters speak at length and in balanced, patterned sentences. The father's words matter because every son will be tested against them. When you read on, listen for how often the brothers forget what they were told.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Rosalinda; ovvero, l’eredità d’oro di Eufue
What is Rosalynde by Thomas Lodge about?
It tells of a young knight, Rosader, cheated of his inheritance by his brother, and of Rosalynde, a banished princess who disguises herself as a boy. Both flee to the forest of Ardenne, where love and adventure follow.
Did Rosalynde inspire As You Like It?
Yes. Shakespeare based As You Like It on Lodge's romance. He kept the quarrelling brothers, the wrestling match, the exiled duke and the disguised heroine in the forest, and added figures such as Touchstone and Jaques.
What does Euphues' Golden Legacy mean?
Euphues is the name of the character in John Lyly's earlier prose works. Lodge says he took a tale left by Euphues, the golden legacy being a father's wise advice to his sons, which opens the story.
When was Rosalynde written and is it a true story?
Lodge published it in 1590. It is fiction, adapted from an older English tale of a wronged younger brother. The story is set in France and the forest of Ardenne.
Is Rosalynde hard to read?
The plot itself is simple and clear, and the poems break up the prose.