During the first half of the 18th century the memory of the story of Romeo and Juliet was still alive in Verona, on the basis of the Istoria di Verona written by Girolamo Dalla Corte. Shakespeare’s tragedy was unknown. In the second half of the 18th century, Romeo and Juliet found favorable reception mainly in England, then in Germany and France and, through the mediation of the latter, in Italy. Through the analysis of English, German, French and Italian texts and documents, this essay provides a comprehensive survey of Romeo’s and Juliet’s Eighteenth-century circulation, in the Shakespearean version, in its translations and in many adaptations, very different from each other, composed by dramatists of various nationalities. In this complex and varied background, there are no Veronese sources between the Sixties and Eighties. Still, the correspondence between Michael Rijkloff van Goens and Melchiorre Cesarotti reveals how the memory of the two lovers was still alive in their “hometown”; while an elegy written in 1779 by nobleman John Yorke, in Verona during his “Grand Tour”, attests of the earliest Shakespearean pilgrimage to Juliet’s tomb, thirty years before the famous words of Madame de Staël, George Byron and Valery. Yorke’s verses disclose the existence of an oral tradition, forgotten by Veronese written sources, and the existence of tour guides, travelers, and locals who continued to talk about Juliet and visit her tomb.
Nella prima metà del XVIII secolo la memoria di Romeo e Giulietta era ancor viva a Verona, seppur sottotraccia, e si fondava sull’Istoria di Verona di Girolamo Dalla Corte; la tragedia di Shakespeare era invece sconosciuta. Nel secondo Settecento, il Romeo and Juliet trova grande successo e circolazione dapprima in Inghilterra, quindi in Germania e in Francia e, grazie alla mediazione di quest’ultima, in Italia. Attraverso l’analisi di testi e documenti inglesi, tedeschi, francesi e italiani, il contributo offre una sintesi complessiva sulla fortuna europea di Romeo e Giulietta del Settecento, nella versione shakespeariana, nelle sue traduzioni e nei tanti adattamenti, anche diversi tra loro, composti da drammaturghi di varie nazionalità. In questo quadro complesso e variegato, le fonti veronesi tra gli anni Sessanta e Ottanta tacciono. Eppure, il carteggio tra Michael Rijkloff van Goens e Melchiorre Cesarotti rivela come la memoria dei due amanti fosse ancora viva nella loro “città natale”; mentre un’elegia composta nel 1779 dal nobile inglese John Yorke, in visita a Verona nel corso del suo Grand Tour, si offre come testimonianza del più antico pellegrinaggio shakespeariano alla tomba di Giulietta, quasi trent’anni prima delle celebri parole di Madame de Staël, George Byron e Valery. I versi di Yorke aprono un suggestivo spiraglio su una tradizione orale, sfuggita alla memoria delle fonti scritte veronesi, di ciceroni, viaggiatori e gente del luogo che continuava a parlare di Giulietta e a visitare la sua tomba.
Giochi di specchi. Romeo e Giulietta tra istoria e novella nella Verona del XVIII secolo (seconda parte)
Piccoli F.
2017-01-01
Abstract
During the first half of the 18th century the memory of the story of Romeo and Juliet was still alive in Verona, on the basis of the Istoria di Verona written by Girolamo Dalla Corte. Shakespeare’s tragedy was unknown. In the second half of the 18th century, Romeo and Juliet found favorable reception mainly in England, then in Germany and France and, through the mediation of the latter, in Italy. Through the analysis of English, German, French and Italian texts and documents, this essay provides a comprehensive survey of Romeo’s and Juliet’s Eighteenth-century circulation, in the Shakespearean version, in its translations and in many adaptations, very different from each other, composed by dramatists of various nationalities. In this complex and varied background, there are no Veronese sources between the Sixties and Eighties. Still, the correspondence between Michael Rijkloff van Goens and Melchiorre Cesarotti reveals how the memory of the two lovers was still alive in their “hometown”; while an elegy written in 1779 by nobleman John Yorke, in Verona during his “Grand Tour”, attests of the earliest Shakespearean pilgrimage to Juliet’s tomb, thirty years before the famous words of Madame de Staël, George Byron and Valery. Yorke’s verses disclose the existence of an oral tradition, forgotten by Veronese written sources, and the existence of tour guides, travelers, and locals who continued to talk about Juliet and visit her tomb.
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