Ariosto's Asides

As scholars such as Daniel Javitch have noted, the Orlando Furioso is a poem characterized by interruption, both of the varying plot lines which develop simultaneously, but also of the poem and narrative itself by the narrator (Javitch 1980, 66; Brand, 1977, 509). Ariosto constantly intervenes, breaking the “fourth wall” between the world of the poem and the reader/listener both to bookend canti or offer an extra level of commentary during a specific event. Part of the experience of reading this poem is becoming familiar with these types of interactions, coming to understand the framing of these canti and appeals to his courtly audience as an important aspect of his style (Winter 1983, 340-341). Yet, the scene on moon contains an interesting shift, and significant break from how he invokes the audience within the world of the poem. The moon scenes spread from Canto 34, octaves LXVIII-XCII to Canto 35, octaves I-XXX. 

Moon Canti 

In and of itself, much of the moon scene could be considered a fourth wall break; Ariosto rarely invokes the characters of Astolfo or St. John by name, and instead inserts himself for multiple octaves to catalog the items on the moon or recount the life thread of Ippolito d’Este. Within this scene, however, his more pointed fourth wall breaks take on a much different tone from the rest of the poem. As he describes the contents of the moon he more directly invokes the audience, implicating them as he makes clear his critiques of the humanistic shortcomings of courtly society. While brief, these scenes are distinct and markedly different from the other interactions with the audience. 

Analysis of Fourth Wall Breaks

Connecting to Dante

Connecting to the Reader

Accounting for gender and number, some form of the Italian second person “vostro” appears 110 times throughout the Furioso. Many of these instances occur in dialogue between two characters within the text, but we also see how Ariosto uses these referring either directly to a prominent figure (namely Ippolito d’Este) or more vaguely to a broader section of the audience.

Canto 1, Octave 3

Piacciavi, generosa Erculea prole,

ornamento e splendor del secol nostro,

Ippolito, aggradir questo che vuole

e darvi sol può l'umil servo vostro.

Quel ch'io vi debbo, posso di parole

pagare in parte e d'opera d'inchiostro;

né che poco io vi dia da imputar sono,

che quanto io posso dar, tutto vi dono.

Canto 22, Octave 1

Cortesi donne e grate al vostro amante,

voi che d'un solo amor sète contente,

come che certo sia, fra tante e tante,

che rarissime siate in questa mente;

non vi dispiaccia quel ch'io dissi inante,

quando contra Gabrina fui sì ardente,

e s'ancor son per spendervi alcun verso,

di lei biasmando l'animo perverso.

When used to address someone outside of the poem, vostr* occurs most frequently in the opening or closing lines of a canto, often as a gracious, polite, and humble appeal to his audience, either asking for their patience or discussing a certain quality or aspect of their lives. In addition to considering specific examples, we can also see this trend more broadly. Using Voyant, the 108 instances of “vostr*” across 108 lines were identified, along with the 15 words directly preceding and succeeding them. From there, we identified the 39 instances in which the second person is implied to refer to the reader or the general audience of Ariosto. These lines were then re-entered into Voyant to generate the most common terms. 

Importantly, while this is inclusive of the uses of “vostr*” it is incomplete as a data set of all fourth wall breaks. Rather, we can understand this as a cross section or sampling of these instances, as a reading of the poem suggests a similar tone throughout all of Ariosto’s interruptions. This dataset returns top terms such as “signor” (9), “honor” (6), "gran" (6), and “degna” (4), underlining the positive and deferential tone that we see throughout these 4th wall breaks and conversation with the audience. 

Yet, as Ariosto is discussing the contents of things abandoned on the moon that we see a unique instance of this type of audience interaction. While he invokes the audience often throughout the poem­, here the interactions turn from overtly, effusively positive to, when taken within the context of the canto, critical and negative.

Canto 34, Octave 81

Vide gran copia di panie con visco,

ch'erano, o donne, le bellezze vostre.

Lungo sarà, se tutte in verso ordisco

le cose che gli fur quivi dimostre;

che dopo mille e mille io non finisco,

e vi son tutte l'occurrenze nostre:

sol la pazzia non v'è poca né assai;

che sta qua giù, né se ne parte mai.

“Le bellezze vostre,” (2) perhaps worded so to cover the biting criticism of the futility of its pursuit, shifts the critique from nameless knights, poets and kings directly onto the listener here. Within this octave, the abstract ideas of waste become concrete, and the general pleas to his audience take on a more specific nature. While not so explicit as to be directed at an individual, the criticism here is clear as he pulls the audience directly into the poem, placing them alongside Orlando and the other characters as he exposes their faults and shortcoming. We can see a similar phenomenon several octaves earlier, as Ariosto describes the listener, along with himself as “peccatori.”

Canto 34, Octave 74

Non pur di regni o di ricchezze parlo,

in che la ruota instabile lavora;

ma di quel ch'in poter di tor, di darlo

non ha Fortuna, intender voglio ancora.

Molta fama è là su, che, come tarlo,

il tempo al lungo andar qua giù divora:

là su infiniti prieghi e voti stanno,

che da noi peccatori a Dio si fanno.

Overall it is clear that, while whimsical at times, the poem is often harshly critical of Ariosto’s contemporary society. The moon as a whole is a fringe scene, demarcated from the rest of the poem in a variety of ways, that gives Ariosto the freedom to bring these claims directly rather than couched in layers of irony and sarcasm. Here on the moon, we see that he breaks from his typical pattern of audience interaction to bring them directly into the world of the poem and its critiques. Notably, this episode is brief. Canto 35 brings with it grand and effusive praise of the life thread of Ippolito d’Este which, although implied to be ironic in its hyperbole, represents a return to the norm in regards to the relationship between Ariosto and his audience.

Analysis of Moon Canti Virtues