The Scene in Torquato Tasso's Aminta (1573)

Abstract

“Ferrarese Pastoral” is a series of pastoral dramas which was written in Ferrara during the latter half of the 16^th century. The series include Agostino Beccari's Il Sacrificio (1554), Alberto Lollio's Aretusa (1563), Agostino Argenti's Lo Sfortunato (1567), Torquato Tasso's Aminta (1573), and Battista Guarini's Il Pastor fido (1590). Except for Aminta, all of the above-mentioned pastoral dramas are set in Arcadia.

This paper attempts to reveal why Tasso did not choose Arcadia as a set in Aminta, and then to discuss where the plot is actually set. The analysis of the texts of “Ferrarese Pastoral” leads to the conclusion that in Aminta, Tasso did not intend the return of the Golden Age, which inevitably happens in Arcadia. This is in contrast with Il Pastor fido whose subject is solely the return of the Golden Age. The set of Aminta is the woods surrounding Ferrara, which is Tasso's means of criticizing the city of Ferrara and the Este's court where Tasso himself served as a poet.