Vittorio Alfieri
Department of French & Italian
Student-Faculty Forum Series
Saul and SaÜl: A comparison between
Alfieri and Nadal
by
Beatrice Arduini
Friday, February 10, 2006
3:30-4:30 pm
Ballantine Hall 148
Many authors have attempted to review the character of the first king who reigned over the people of Israel by using the account of Saul’s life and death in 1 Samuel as a point of departure. Scholars have focused on aspects of Saul’s reign through various approaches, from the historical and archaeological, to the source-critical and discourse-critical. Poets have remodeled elements of the tale of Saul in their own creative work. It is perhaps a testament to the creative genius in the story itself that it allows for such a plethora of interpretation, inspiration and speculation.
This presentation will involve a substantial investigation into the story as viewed by the poetic eye in the works of Augustine Nadal and Vittorio Alfieri who have offered different accounts of their engagement with biblical narrative. Alfieri began work on Saul in March 1782 and although in order to write this tragedy he immersed himself in the biblical narrative, as he declared in his autobiography, it was not the Bible alone that influenced the Italian poet. The importance for Alfieri of Augustine Nadal’s Saül (1705) must be stressed, particularly with regard to an intertextual approach to Alfieri’s drama. Certainly in comparison with Alfieri, Nadal’s Saül appears to have more plot twists, and his drama absorbs more of the biblical thematic material. On the other hand in terms of characterization, Alfieri in particular allows Saul more range for warmth of sentiment and features him as a noble man, but also one who succumbs to jealousy and paranoia, a fatal flaw.
Beatrice Arduini is a doctoral student in the Italian program of the Department of French & Italian. She completed a degree in Italian literature at the University of Milan in 2002 and earned her MA degree at IU in 2005. Discussion and refreshments to follow.
If you have a disability and need assistance, accommodations can be made to meet most needs. Please call 855-5458.
Department of French and Italian
Ballantine Hall 642, 1020 E Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405-7103
Telephone: (812) 855-1952; Fax: (812) 855-8877
email: Department of French & Italian
Last Updated:
11-Feb-2008
Comments: Nancy Stoute
Copyright 2006,
The Trustees of Indiana
University