Shakespeare's Library - 1875 Author:William Carew Hazlitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: [THE history of " Ariodanto and Genevra," from the fifth canto of Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso," has been reprinted to form part of the present little Shakespearia... more »n Cyclopaedia, agreeably to the suggestion of the late Mr Dyce, who observes (edit. of Shakespeare, 1868, ii. 72): "The earlier portion of the serious business of ' Much Ado About Nothing' has a great resemblance to part of the story of Ariodante and Ginevra, in Ariosto's ' Orlando Furioso,' Canto V., where Polinesso, in order to revenge himself on the Princess Ginevra, who has rejected his love suit, and pledged her troth to Ariodante, prevails on her attendant Dalinda to personate the princess, and to appear on a balcony by moonlight, while he ascends to her apartment by a ladder of ropes." The story was also, no doubt, familiarised to Shakespeare by its treatment in Spenser's " Fairy Queen." The English version of Ariosto, which the poet almost unquestionably used, appeared in 1591. See further in Mr Dyce's Shakespeare, loco citato. Of Shakespeare's obligations, if any, to the older play on the subject, performed in 1582-3, it is impossible to form any opinion, as that production has not come down to us. Nor has Turbervile's version of the tale, quoted by Harington, ever been seen, if indeed it passed the press. As regards the novel reprinted from Bandello, Mr Dyce says: " Bandello relates how S. Timbreo di Cardona, essendo col Re Piero d'Aragona in Messina, s'innamora di Fenicia Lionata, .... and in the supposed death of Fenicia, her obsequies, and her subsequent marriage with Timbreo, we recognise very important incidents of the play ; nor is it immaterial to notice that the names ' Lionato de Lionati'and 'Piero d'Aragona' have become in the play ' Leonato' and ' Pedro of Arragon.' " Ban- dello's novel is in Bel...« less