“Shakespeare, Bandello and the Italian Novellisti”

READIND AND SPEAKING 1. Briefly describe the diffusion of the Italian novella in Europe, pointing out the main line of transmission of the story of Romeo and Juliet. – Boccaccio, Bandello, Giraldi Cinzio, Masuccio Salernitano deeply influenced European writers. In the 16 th century the line of transmission of the novella was: Italian French English. Masuccio Salernitano’s “Cinquanta Novelle” (1475), Luigi Da Porto’s novellas (1530), and Bandello’s “Novelle” (1554) were translated into French and English. From Bandello’s version Shakespeare took his sources for “Romeo and Juliet”. Following this route the Italian novella usually underwent a change in a moral sense: for example, the greatest English anthology of prose tales – “Palace of Pleasure” included many tales from Boccaccio and Mandello but left out some of the Decameron’s more irreverent stories.

READIND AND SPEAKING 2.What changes did Shakespeare make in his sources for “Romeo and Juliet” – Sakespeare changes are based on three main points: time of the action: he shortens months to days thus heightening the dramatic tension. Romeo and Juliet’s death: Romeo kills himself just before Juliet wakes up thus the playwright stresses the solitude of the lovers, the importance of time as one of the causes in the tragedy and the role played by fatality in the story. The contrast between the young and the old: the young are seen as generous and disinterested, the old as tyrannical and cruel.