The Power of the Lute and the Genius of the Language: Ann Radcliffe’s Poetic Tune by Serena Baiesi Abstract: Ann Radcliffe is not only the major writer of gothic romances, but also a very refined and highly regarded poet of the Romantic period. As a matter of fact, poetry has an important role in her novels, even though many critics of her time did not appreciate the recurrent sentimental poetical insertions Radcliffe included in her gothic plots. To her contemporary readers, such poems were a source of distraction from the intriguing main plot, full of adventures and pervaded by a gloomy atmosphere. However, for Radcliffe, poetry was an important component of the human spirit: an innate force, through which a young woman could disclose her genius and talent. Indeed, Radcliffe’s heroines, besides being sensible and sentimental girls, are often endowed with musical skills together with poetical inspiration, and they employ their artistic skills in order to cope with their fragile emotions, face difficult moments of their lives, or simply live their everyday reality. In this article, I draw attention to the great importance of Radcliffe’s pieces of poetry within her romances, and how verses are inserted in her gothic romances not as distraction from the main story, but as fundamental passages revealing the characters’ personalities and their relations with the natural backdrop. I also investigate the interesting link between the art of playing an instrument and that of improvisation in Radcliffe’s female characters as a practice deriving from Italian improvisation. Very common in Italy, improvisation was employed by men as well as by women from ancient times, and through to the Renaissance period arriving to the eighteenth and nineteenth century almost unaltered. However, it is the female tradition that most influenced English women writers of the Romantic period, since female improvvisatrici embodied freedom of expression in art and life. Very interestingly, Ann Radcliffe is anticipating in many ways other Romantic women writers who took inspiration from Italian improvvisatrici for their publications, in order to give voice to an exclusive female talent.

The Power of the Lute and the Genius of the Language: Ann Radcliffe’s Poetic Tune

Serena Baiesi
2017

Abstract

The Power of the Lute and the Genius of the Language: Ann Radcliffe’s Poetic Tune by Serena Baiesi Abstract: Ann Radcliffe is not only the major writer of gothic romances, but also a very refined and highly regarded poet of the Romantic period. As a matter of fact, poetry has an important role in her novels, even though many critics of her time did not appreciate the recurrent sentimental poetical insertions Radcliffe included in her gothic plots. To her contemporary readers, such poems were a source of distraction from the intriguing main plot, full of adventures and pervaded by a gloomy atmosphere. However, for Radcliffe, poetry was an important component of the human spirit: an innate force, through which a young woman could disclose her genius and talent. Indeed, Radcliffe’s heroines, besides being sensible and sentimental girls, are often endowed with musical skills together with poetical inspiration, and they employ their artistic skills in order to cope with their fragile emotions, face difficult moments of their lives, or simply live their everyday reality. In this article, I draw attention to the great importance of Radcliffe’s pieces of poetry within her romances, and how verses are inserted in her gothic romances not as distraction from the main story, but as fundamental passages revealing the characters’ personalities and their relations with the natural backdrop. I also investigate the interesting link between the art of playing an instrument and that of improvisation in Radcliffe’s female characters as a practice deriving from Italian improvisation. Very common in Italy, improvisation was employed by men as well as by women from ancient times, and through to the Renaissance period arriving to the eighteenth and nineteenth century almost unaltered. However, it is the female tradition that most influenced English women writers of the Romantic period, since female improvvisatrici embodied freedom of expression in art and life. Very interestingly, Ann Radcliffe is anticipating in many ways other Romantic women writers who took inspiration from Italian improvvisatrici for their publications, in order to give voice to an exclusive female talent.
2017
Serena Baiesi
File in questo prodotto:
Eventuali allegati, non sono esposti

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/672545
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact