Aurelia - The Work

Aurelia (1593) is the second edition of another book An Heptameron of Civill Discourses (1582). Aurelia was issued by the usual Printer of its author R. Jones. Parhaps, he reissued the book under a new title for commercial reasons.

At the time, books were not sold alt all. R. Jones reissued also another book by Whetstone under a new title. It was A Mirrour for Magistrates of the Cities (1584) reissued in 1586 under the title The Enemy of Unthriftness (1586). E.H. Miller shows that the Printer reissued it “to impress reader with variety of Whetstone’s works and writings”. Whetstone’s books were not selling and the printer wanted to sell them. Probably the text we are considering was reissued for the same reason.

The second edition hasn’t many differences from the first. There is one cut in the fourth day’s exercise – the book is divided in days – which can have a political justification. Other differences include some modernizations in the spelling or form of some words. Probably because the English prose of the period was searching for a correct form of its expression. There are more in the first edition than in the second. The short forms were used for typographic reasons.

The Printer had to concentrate many words in a line. This element however required a public able to read them.

The second edition has only a few short forms.

An evident difference in the Title of each day.

In the first edition we read: “ the first daies exercises”; instead, in the second edition we read: “Madonna Aurelia, her first daies pleasures”. Parhaps, it was an expedient of the printer to underline the pleasant aspect of reading. So he presented the book adding the word pleasure even if it wasn’t in the first edition. In this way the printer hoped to sell many books.

There aren’t structural differences between the two editions. Sometimes the printer has cut a sentence and an affirmative one has became a sequence of interrogatives. Perhaps, to simplify the discourse again.

The fourth day presents a cut which is the only structural difference. The scene is settled in the privy Gallery of the noble palace in which the story takes place.

There are many portraits of royal men and even that of Queen Elizabeth I. In the first edition, of the book next to the portrait of the Queen there is another that portrays the duke of Anjou, who was to marry Queen Elizabeth I. In the 1580 the marriage seemed settled. It had to be a political marriage because there was an alliance between France and England against Spain in the war in the Low Countries.

The second edition of the book was issued ten years after the first one, so these events were by this time history, and the proposed marriage between Elizabeth and Anjou never took place. Also the political situation had changed. Whetstone wrote the book influenced by the imminent marriage of the Queen. To issue a book on marriage when Queen Elizabeth decided to get marry was a good reason for publicity for the book.

In the first edition there is the Dedicatory Epistle to sir Christopher Hatton that there isn’t in Aurelia. Sir Christopher Hatton died in 1591, two years before the second edition, so the printer eliminated the Epistle.

There is also a “Carmen Heroicum” in Latin by a certain Botrevicus , whom it has not been possible to identify.

The other parts are similar in the two editions.

In the verses by Sir Thomas Watson in the commendation of the author , in the first edition, the name Whetstone is quoted in the text, instead the verses of the second edition are more general and refer only “to the author”.

Aurelia had a shorter “Title pages” than An Heptameron.

In the XVI century the title page had an advertising function. It was very long because it explained the meaning and the contents of the book.

Aurelia isn’t a book of high culture but it is an erudite book which contains many elements of Italian and classical culture. It has a structure of “frame” which is composed of masques, dances, games, discussions and in which are told “novellas”. So there is a narrative part in a general “frame”.

In Italian culture of XVI century this tradition was well established. Framed Novellas and Dialogue form had their main source and pattern in Boccaccio’s Decameron and the Italian novelists of the XVI century continued the tradition and imitated it.

We have analyzed some works of the kind and have confronted them. We haven’t found a work with the same structure as Aurelia but many elements of the framing structure are similar. For example, the election of a queen of festivities: dances, games, songs, telling tales: in Decameron, Filoloco, Eptameron.

Aurelia is divided in seven days which cover the week between Christmas day and the first day of the New Year.

The framing structure is settled with the arrival of the main character - Whetstone, who is author, narrator and main character – at a noble Palace near Ravenna, the eve of Christmas.

He his a wandering Knight so is called Cavaliero Ismarito. In the palace there is a company of gentlemen and ladies of different nationalities who live courteously.

The scene of the book is in this noble Palace during the Christmas festivities on 1580. In fact, Whestone was in Italy in that period. He probably visited many Renaissance courts in Italy during his travels. It isn’t possible, however, to say which court he refers to. Some critics (Cecioni, for examples) have thought it may be the Court of Ferrara but it isn’t clear.

The palace is very elegant, and its description recalls that of Boccaccio’s Decameron in Fiesole and the Garden which is described by Pietro Bembo in Gli Asolani : another work in dialogue form perhaps source of Whetstone.

The Lord of Palace is called Philoxenus. His name has a Greek etymology and it means foreign lover. Philoxenus’ guests are mostly foreigners. There is a Scottish man, a German Doctor, an English gentleman and a Frenchman.

The name of the characters are invented by the author and they symbolize the moral qualities of the character or their situation in that moment. So we haven’t historical elements to identify them.

In other similar works as Il libro del cortigiano di Baldassarre Castiglione, for example, the characters are historical or literary.

M.A.Scott and the D.N.B. think that Philoxenus nay be Giraldi Cinthio but it is a supposition, only. Whetstone gives us a few elements to identify his main character and his palace. He describes a Coat of Arms and reports a motto. The coat of arms represents a bird among the branches and under a motto in Arcaic French “Qui me nourit me destruit”.

In the Enciclopedia storuico-nobiliare italiana there isn’t this coat of arms. Philoxenus is a gentleman who admires England and its Queen; has been educated at a French Court, among Protestant men and surrounds himdelf with foreigners gentlemen ad ladies.

Ismarito is invited to remain and to be a member of the group.

He’ll be the Knight of Queen Aurelia, sister of Philoxenus and regularly elected queen of the festivities: the guests cut a cake and give to her a particular piece.

The Queen proclaims his laws and then she and other guests decided to establish some arguments for discussions. Each character has an argument to treat according to his state. For example, Ismarito is a bachelor, so he’ll speak about single life in the first day’s discussion.

Whetstone gives us a Summary of the principal arguments which will be treated during the seven days of exercises.

Italian culture in Aurelia

The Italian culture of the Renaissance emerges from the text by Whetstone which we are considering, in many way.

The main element is the setting of the scene at an Italian Court of the period. Probably the author visited many courts during his journey in Italy and was able to know manners, customs, and courtesy of them.

The main character of Aurelia is a perfect courtier in many aspects similar to that described by Castiglione in his Courtier, this book was very famous in Europe and was quite a handbook to became a perfect Courtie.

The Palace in which the scene takes place is very elegant and resembles other important palaces of Italian literary of the time.

In the book many towns and monuments are quoted such as the Library of the Medici in Florence; the villa of Tivoli; the Lateranian Gallery of the maps of the world collected by the Pope. Whetstone quotes also the Cathedral of Loreto and its famous chapel and Recanati, near Loreto.

He quotes other towns such as Naples, Rome, Ravenna and Venice.

He writes about Naples, in particular. He says that he doesn’t admire Naples and Neapolitans and doesn’t want to remember the insults suffered in that city. The Neapolitan character of the book is Dondolo: ironic and ambiguous man. Also a character of a tale is from Capoverdo , near Naples and he is very vendicative. He doesn’t consider about the rest of the Italian people. In fact, he thinks that Italians are intelligent, wise, quick and sharp people. His Italian character is called Soranso.

There is also a minor character: a thief found in the kitchen who speaks well and is intelligent and ironic.

The Italian culture of the period emerges in particular in the Third Night with the Mountebanks’ performance and on the Fifth Night with Comedians.

The Italian Mountebanks look like English Pedlars but they don’t want to sell useless merchandise. The mountebanks has many serpents and vipers around his neck and control the stings of many kinds of insects.

He is with Zanni, who shows the art of his master.

Zanni was a real character of the Italian Commedia dell’Arte

Zanni is the diminutive of Giovanni and he was the clown of the company.

On the fifth night, there is a performance that portrays the Italian theatre of the time. The Comedians who arrive at Court haven’t a script, a written text, but have standard parts and improvise on the stage.

The performance that is taken in the book of Whetstone is influenced by the English tradition of Morality Plays. In fact, Philoxenus gives an argument to the Comedians to act asking some questions to his guests about moral precepts.

The Comedians improvise using the elements pf the answers. They are considerations of Ignorance, Dissimulation, Constance and similar Moral Problems. So, the Comedians represent on the stage a Morality Play with a great deal of mirth because the actors are characters of the Commedia dell’Arte.

Another element of Italian culture emerges on the seventh day.

It is the first day of the New Year and Philoxenus brings his gifts to his guests.

In the English tradition it is the lower classes bring gifts to superiors; in Italian tradition the opposite happens. Here it is a comparison and a description of the two uses. The author notes that the English tradition is descended from the Roman tradition because among the ancient Romans the inferiors brought their gifts to Augustus the Emperor even if he wasn’t in the Capital.

Whetstone considers superstition these ceremonies but says that Philoxenus takes part in them because he is an intelligent and wise man. In this context what is important is the polemics against Religious ceremonies, the superstition of Catholic Church and the corruption of Catholic Clergy with its opposition among the different orders of monks. Some tales are about the argument (IV day, IV novella).

The Sonnets have their source in Italian verses. The main themes are from Petrarca’s Il Canzoniere, especially the sonnets of the Masque of the second night. Whetstone translates from Petrarca only some lines then he continues with his own creations.

The themes are from court poets.

Important is the use of mythology which means that he knew classical works or ha read translations and quotations in Italian books of Renaissance.

Whetstone knew the history of ancient Rome and quotes many examples in his book. For example: Philoxenus’ discourse on the seventh day. He knew philosophical theories of the Renaissance such as the theory of the three souls and the Microcosm theory (V Day).

The final Masque is a sum of the two cultures present in the book. The mythology and the symbolism of classical culture in al allegorical masque summarizing the various arguments that the text treats.

Conclusion

Aurelia is a work full of figures, themes and problems that reflect the Elizabethan culture. In fact, it is a work of its time, in the same way that Whetstone is an author of his time. Aurelia has a well organized structure that is the result of medieval ideas of order and symmetry. It’s also the result of Whetstone’s readings and cultural interests and sums up what its author had been able to learn and assimilate.

It is a moralizing work, that shows many aspects of the time in which it was written. For example, patriotism for a great nation of the period. England was very potent at that time. It was the period of the colonization of America and commercial expansion.

The characters of the book are products of their time.

Isabella e Fabritio judge the controversies tanks to their wise minds; Doctor Mossenigo is a German and hates women and Love; Soranso is a quick and sharp man; Dondolo is ambiguous like his name: the Ladies are modern women and defend their own sex. Queen Aurelia is a perfect woman of Court and her brother Philoxenus is a perfect Courtier. Thai can dance, play, and sustain discussion easily.

The names of the characters can be pronounced in a Venetian accent.

For example, Mossenigo is “Mocenigo” in Venetian dialect. Mocenigo is the name of an ancient Venetian family and probably Whetstone heard this surname in his journey to Venice. Perhaps, he was interested in Andrea Mocenigo who was a politician and wrote sole books and among them a theological book called Pentatuco. Ravenna was part of the Pontifical State, but had been of Republic of Venice until 1509.

The tales are written in very incisive short prose. There are a few dialogues and their style is various because it depends on the character who is speaking. There are all the social classes because they represent life and so there are gentlemen, low classes and regal characters.

The tales include songs and amorous epistles, in the fashion of the time. There are allusions to religious problems and to classical culture with final metamorphoses of the characters to symbolize the triumph of Good or of Evil. Aurelia is full of symbolism. Patriotism and Araldic problems.

It’s important for the consideration of the Italian Renaissance culture. It reflects what on aristocratic young man of the period could learn travelling to Italy.