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Orlando Furioso

Some works written, composed, read, and drawn have been influencing every form of art for centuries.


Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440–1494) began writing the poem Orlando Innamorato in 1476 but did not complete it. The poem was inspired by La Chanson de Roland, a French epic dating back to the 11th century. Charlemagne (747–814) and his knights battle against the Saracens, and Roland (or Orlando) is one of the knights in this war.


Boiardo is the person at his time who translated The Histories by Herodotus (M.Ö. 484-425) of Halicarnassus (Bodrum) into Italian.

Boiardo's translation of The Histories (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Maria_Boiardo)


Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533) wrote Orlando Furioso based on Orlando Innamorato. Ariosto began writing the poem in 1506 at the age of 32. He continued making additions until the final version was published in 1532.

Orlando Innamorato (Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/1uNE7GA8czNFA1nb7)


A few days ago, I was listening to Antonio Vivaldi’s (1678–1741) Orlando Furioso. Inspired by the emotions the notes evoked in me, I felt the need to revisit the poem, Orlando Furioso. After listening to Vivaldi five times in a row, I was able to establish a stronger connection between the poem and the music.


As I was visualizing the story of Orlando Furioso in my mind, my thoughts kept drifting to Martin Eden. I initially intended to write about Orlando Furioso, but Martin Eden unexpectedly made its way into my reflections. Comparing Orlando with Martin Eden seemed like a more intriguing approach. As I pondered why my mind was drawn to Martin Eden, the following thoughts emerged.


The history of literature is filled with passionate heroes who chase love, success, or honor. Their confrontation with reality intensifies the emotional depth of the works. Literature is a way of depicting these emotionally charged moments.


Despite the centuries between them, I sensed thematic parallels between Ludovico Ariosto’s (1474–1533) Orlando Furioso and Jack London’s Martin Eden—as well as some contrasts.


There are two heroes who belong to different literary formats—one in a Renaissance epic filled with fantastical elements, the other in a novel grounded in stark reality. Yet, I found similarities in the paths they followed.


Both Orlando Furioso and Martin Eden begin with idealism, continue with disappointment, and ultimately spiral into an existential crisis. They offer a critique of romanticized ideals and a profound questioning of the ultimate emptiness of personal ambition.


Orlando is a warrior in search of chivalric honor and love. Martin, on the other hand, is a self-educated intellectual. Orlando’s obsession with Angelica parallels Martin’s admiration for Ruth. Both strive to win the affection of the women they love. However, as their journeys progress, they come to realize that the ideals they have been chasing are merely illusions.


When Orlando discovers that Angelica is indifferent to him, he descends into madness. His madness serves as a metaphor for the collapse of the chivalric ideal—love is not a divine reward, and honor does not guarantee happiness. Similarly, Martin Eden spends years striving for literary success, believing that his intellectual growth will grant him entry into the upper class. Yet, once he achieves fame, he sees that the world he once idealized is superficial and unworthy of his efforts. This radical transformation lies at the heart of both works.


In both Orlando Furioso and Martin Eden, love is the primary driving force behind the protagonists' desires. However, the roots of their downfall also lie in love. Orlando's passion for Angelica is not based on mutual affection but rather on an idealized notion of love shaped by the chivalric culture. When Angelica chooses an ordinary soldier over a famous knight, Orlando’s perception of love and honor is shattered. His violent act of tearing off his armor and descending into madness symbolizes the meaninglessness of chivalric ideals.


Similarly, Martin Eden’s love for Ruth is a product of idealism. To Martin, Ruth is not just a woman but also a symbol of cultural refinement, belonging to the upper class, and achieving social acceptance. However, once Martin attains success and recognition, he realizes that Ruth’s love is tied not to his character but to the status he has acquired. This realization alienates him not only from Ruth but from the entire social structure he once aspired to be a part of. Both heroes, initially inspired by love, ultimately experience their deepest disappointments because of it.


In Orlando Furioso, Orlando’s collapse as a knight suggests that the concept of chivalry itself has lost its relevance. Though the work contains fantastical elements, Ariosto clearly takes a critical stance toward the notions of heroism and honor. He emphasizes that the belief in honor as a path to happiness is nothing more than a romantic illusion.


London, on the other hand, offers a sharp critique of the myth of individual success and the dream promised by capitalist society. Martin Eden operates under the belief that talent and hard work will bring him happiness. However, upon achieving success, he realizes that it does not fulfill him but instead deepens his sense of alienation. In the end, he sees that the life he once dreamed of holds no real meaning, leading him to take his own life. This tragic ending underscores how misleading individual ambition and the romanticized notion of social success can be.


Despite their different historical contexts and literary genres, Orlando Furioso and Martin Eden share a common narrative: the transformation of ambition and idealism into despair. Both Orlando and Martin shape their lives around romanticized ideals of love and success. Yet, these very ideals ultimately lead to their destruction.


Whether set in the chivalric world of the Renaissance or the landscape of the 20th century, these stories serve as a reminder of how unchecked ambition and idealized values can spiral into existential emptiness.


There are several operas composed in reference to Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. One of them—the one that brought my thoughts above to mind while listening—is Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso. This version was first staged in Venice in 1727 and is the more well-known of Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso operas. However, Vivaldi had composed another Orlando Furioso, which was also first staged in Venice. The original score was composed by Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692–1753), and Vivaldi later adapted it, adding his own musical contributions. This earlier version premiered in 1714—thirteen years before his more famous Orlando Furioso.


Before Vivaldi, Orlando Furioso had already caught the attention of Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) in France. In 1685, his opera Roland was first staged at Versailles. Lully was discovered in Florence at the age of eleven and brought to France. He had a close relationship with Molière (1622–1673), the famous playwright known by his real name, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, who wrote The Miser (L’Avare). Molière also wrote the comédie-ballet Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman), for which Lully composed the music. One of Lully’s most famous compositions, Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs (March for the Turkish Ceremony), comes from this work.


Another composer inspired by Orlando Furioso was George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Handel also composed an opera titled Orlando, but there are two additional Handel operas the librettos of which were inspired by Orlando Furioso: Alcina and Ariodante.


The works mentioned above are the ones I frequently listen to, so I wrote them without considering any chronological or thematic order. However, there are others that I have listened to less often but plan to focus on more after writing this piece.




Some works transcend time and eras—not just through their content but through the emotions they evoke. They exert an almost all-encompassing influence, encircling different forms of art in their wake.

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© 2025 by Arda Tunca

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