Shakespeare and Ariosto: Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and Othello
A GENERAL doubt survives as to Shakespeare's knowledge and use of Italian. In spite of some admissions,1 there is a tendency to follow Richard Farmer's argument that Shakespeare got such knowledge from English textbooks or translations.2 For example, it is suggested that the Hero-Claudio story in Much Ado About Nothing comes not from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso but from the English translation by Sir John Harington or from one of the many English versions of the story.3 Shakespeare's knowledge and use of Italian, however, can be illustrated and established by reference to cantos iv-vi of Orlando Furioso. These cantos provided Shakespeare with material not only for the HeroClaudio theme in Much Ado, but also for King Lear and Othello. It was typical of him to conflate several sources in one play. Thus he combined the Hero-Claudio (Genevra-Ariodante) theme with other sources, such as Bandello, Whetstone, or Spenser.4 It was also typical of him to spread material from one source over several plays. Thus he used the same theme from the same cantos for the trial by combat of Edmund and Edgar in King Lear and for the 'ocular proof' demanded in Othello. This material does not occur in Harington or in the recognized sources of Lear and Othello. The natural inference is that Shakespeare knew these cantos of Orlando Furioso in the Italian. The story in cantos Iv-vi of Orlando Furioso is recognized as a main source of Much Ado. In Ariosto, the villain Polynesso has tried to gain the love of the king's daughter Genevra through the intermediary of