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Flori, a Pastoral Drama

A Bilingual Edition

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Virginia Cox and Lisa Sampson
Translated by Virginia Cox
One of the first pastoral dramas published by an Italian woman, Flori is Maddalena Campiglia’s most substantial surviving literary work and one of the earliest known examples of secular dramatic writing by a woman in Europe.

Although acclaimed in her day, Campiglia (1553-95) has not benefited from the recent wave of scholarship that has done much to enhance the visibility and reputation of contemporaries such as Isabella Andreini, Moderata Fonte, and Veronica Franco. As this bilingual, first-ever critical edition of Flori illustrates, this neglect is decidedly unwarranted. Flori is a work of great literary and cultural interest, noteworthy in particular for the intensity of its focus on the experiences and perceptions of its female protagonists and their ideals of female autonomy. Flori will be read by those involved in the study of early modern literature and drama, women’s studies, and the study of gender and sexuality in this period.

360 pages | 2 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2004

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe

History: European History

Literature and Literary Criticism: Romance Languages

Women's Studies

Reviews

"This is the first-ever critical edition, with translation, of an unusually interesting 16th-century secular drama. [Virginia] Cox and [Lisa] Sampson provide all that the reader encountering this long-neglected work could reasonably ask for: a reliable text, an accurate (though not literal) and readable translation, informative annotation, and a comprehensive, thought-provoking introduction. In that introduction, the editors set author and work in their historical and cultural context and conduct a sustained analysis of the play’s structure and themes that highlights the extent to which awareness of gender issues can contribute to a satisfactory reading of Campiglia’s work. The result is an important addition to the steadily growing canon of early modern women’s writing, a volume that will also appeal to all readers and scholars of 16th-century drama and the pastoral tradition"

S. Botterill | Choice

Table of Contents

Series Editors’ Introduction
Volume Editors’ Introduction
Volume Editors’ Bibliography

Flori, Favola Boscareccia /
Flori, a Pastoral Drama

Alla illustrissima Signora Donna Isabella
Pallavicina Lupi Marchesana di Soragna, Maddalena Campiglia /
To the Most Illustrious Lady Isabella Pallavicino Lupi,
Marchioness of Soragna, from Maddalena Campiglia
All’Illustrissimo Signor Curzio Gonzaga,
Maddalena Campiglia / To the Most Illustrious
Lord Curzio Gonzaga, from Maddalena Campiglia
Personaggi della favola / Cast · Prologo / Prologue
Atto primo / Act One · Atto secondo / Act Two
Atto terzo / Act Three · Atto quarto / Act Four
Atto quinto / Act Five
Maddalena Campiglia alla sua FLORI /
Maddalena Campiglia to Her Flori

Appendix A: Note on the Italian Text
Appendix B: Maddalena Campiglia’s Emblem and Portrait
Notes
Series Editors’ Bibliography
Index

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