Pessoa’s The Duke of Parma: Readings from the Library.

“A fool and a duke” (115D-5)

Teresa Filipe

Abstract

Except for some scattered transcriptions and brief references to The Duke of Parma by Pessoa scholars, the play and its main character remain largely unknown. Nevertheless, it has been widely suggested by academics that the tragedy (written in English) owes some of its formal structure (verse and meter), main themes, and use of Italian references and settings to Shakespearean theater, as well as its reuse in nineteenth-century English theater. In this article, I will start by summarizing the presence of English and Italian literature in Pessoa’s private library and then focus on locating possible sources that might have had some influence in the writing of The Duke of Parma.

Apesar de algumas transcrições dispersas e breves referências a The Duke of Parma, a peça e a sua principal personagem permanecem maioritariamente desconhecidas. Apesar disso, tem sido sugerido que a tragédia (escrita em língua inglesa) deve a sua estrutura formal (verso e métrica), os temas de que trata, e o uso de referências e ambientes italianos, ao teatro shakespeariano, assim como ao seu revivalismo no século XIX. O presente artigo identifica sumariamente a presença de literatura inglesa e italiana na biblioteca particular de Fernando Pessoa e, em seguida, procura localizar possíveis fontes que de algum modo tenham influenciado a escrita de The Duke of Parma.

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Resumo

Abstract

Except for some scattered transcriptions and brief references to The Duke of Parma by Pessoa scholars, the play and its main character remain largely unknown. Nevertheless, it has been widely suggested by academics that the tragedy (written in English) owes some of its formal structure (verse and meter), main themes, and use of Italian references and settings to Shakespearean theater, as well as its reuse in nineteenth-century English theater. In this article, I will start by summarizing the presence of English and Italian literature in Pessoa’s private library and then focus on locating possible sources that might have had some influence in the writing of The Duke of Parma.

Apesar de algumas transcrições dispersas e breves referências a The Duke of Parma, a peça e a sua principal personagem permanecem maioritariamente desconhecidas. Apesar disso, tem sido sugerido que a tragédia (escrita em língua inglesa) deve a sua estrutura formal (verso e métrica), os temas de que trata, e o uso de referências e ambientes italianos, ao teatro shakespeariano, assim como ao seu revivalismo no século XIX. O presente artigo identifica sumariamente a presença de literatura inglesa e italiana na biblioteca particular de Fernando Pessoa e, em seguida, procura localizar possíveis fontes que de algum modo tenham influenciado a escrita de The Duke of Parma.

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