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Il pastor fido ("The Faithful Shepherd") is a 16th century play in five acts, written by Giovanni Battista Guarini. Guarini worked on the play from 1580-1589.
Guarini termed the play a tragicommedia pastorale (pastoral tragicomedy). Il pastor fido, along with Torquato Tasso's Aminta, published in 1573, are credited with being the models for all subsequent pastoral dramas in Europe. [1]
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[edit] Performance history
First performed at Crema in 1596
[edit] Characters
- Amarilli – betrothed to Silvio; loves Mirtillo
- Corisca – jealous of Mirtillo's love for Amarilli; betrays Mirtillo and Amarilli
- Dorinda – in love with Silvio
- Mirtillo – the titular faithful shepherd; loves Amarilli
- Silvio – a hunter; too absorbed with the hunt to care for either his betrothed, Amarilli, or Dorinda who loves him
- The Satyr
[edit] Synopsis
A summary of the plot of Il pastor fido is here detailed:
The setting of the play is the fictional pastoral region of Arcadia. Because of an ancient curse, it is necessary for representatives from two families of divine lineage to marry; otherwise the people must either present a nymph as a sacrifice, or face disaster upon their land. Silvio the hunter and Amarilli are so pledged to be married, and the play opens as their wedding day is at hand.
Although betrothed to Amarilli, Silvio is too preoccupied with hunting to love either Amarilli, or Dorinda, who loves Silvio. The shepherd, Mirtillo, loves Amarilli, who loves him in return, despite being pledged to another. Corisca, who desires Mirtillo for herself, plots to reveal the love between Amarilli and Mirtillo, in such a way that it appears that Amarilli has been unfaithful to the promise binding her to Silvio. The punishment for such unfaithfulness is death, and Amarilli is condemned to die. Mirtillo, the faithful shepherd of the title, proves his love for Amarilli by offering to die in her place. His offer is accepted, but, before the execution can take place, a blind seer reveals Mirtillo's hidden identity as the Silvio of the prophecy (which was intended to refer to a shepherd named Silvio, rather than to Silvio the hunter), so that Mirtillo is actually Amarilli's true betrothed.
Meanwhile, Dorinda, disguising herself in a wolf skin to be near to Silvio the hunter, has been accidentally wounded by one of Silvio's arrows. When Silvio realizes what has transpired, he is awakened to a realization of her love for him, and he finds that he returns her love.
The play ends with preparations to celebrate the marriage of Mirtillo and Amarilli, and with the repentance of Corisca.
[edit] Influence
Il pastor fido was translated into many other European languages. Sir Richard Fanshawe penned an English translation, which was published in 1647.
Guarini's play was the basis, or inspiration, for several later literary works. Among these are:
- The Faithful Shepherdess, a play by English playwright John Fletcher, first performed in 1608
- the libretto written by Giacomo Rossi for Handel's opera Il pastor fido, originally composed in 1712
[edit] External links
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fletcher. Literature of the Italian Renaissance, p. 295.
[edit] Sources
- Fletcher, Jefferson Butler [1934] (1964). "ch. XIX, Drama", Literature of the Italian Renaissance. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, pp. 295-300. LCCN 64-24454.
- Kennard, Joseph Spencer [1932] (1964). "The Sixteenth Century: The Pastoral Drama and Other Forms", The Italian Theatre - vol. 1: From its beginning to the close of the Seventeenth Century. New York: Benjamin Blom, pp. 156-181. LCCN 64-14709.
- Patterson, Michael (2005). "The Faithful Shepherd, (Il pastor fido)", The Oxford Dictionary of Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 145. ISBN 0-19-860417-3.
- Wilkins, Ernest Hatch (1954). "The Drama in the Late Sixteenth Century", A History of Italian Literature. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 290. LCCN 54-5185.
