Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 4712
  • Author(s)/Creator(s):
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  • Title: The Marks of the Hidden Flame: Three Faces of Dido in Curial e Güelfa
  • Source: Neophilologus 80, 1 (January 1996): Pages 53 - 60.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Catalan Literature Classical Influences Curial e Güelfa, Catalan Novella Dido (Literary Figure) Literature- Prose Women in Literature
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Iberia
  • Century: 15
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  • Abstract: Curial e Güelfa, a fifteenth century Catalan chivalresque novel whose authorship is unknown, presents the story of two lovers: a widowed young noblewoman named Güelfa who falls in love with Curial, a page in her brother's household. The love story is configured to echo the tale of Dido and Aeneas. The character of Güelfa alone does not, however, present a complete portrait of Dido. Other dimensions to this portrait are provided by two important secondary female characters, Laquesis and Camar. The Laquesis episodes illustrate several important characteristics of Dido: she rejects other suitors, and attempts to prevent Curial's further travels in search of his destiny. Camar presents those same characteristics, and then some: she remains true to her love for Curial, rejecting a royal suitor, and eventually commits suicide, invoking Dido explicitly, to keep that faith. Initially Güelfa, and then Laquesis, represent the classical, Virgilian Dido; Camar completes the tale, evoking details of the Dido/Aeneas myth through Ovid, Augustine and Dante, creating a late medieval fully-realized portrait of the Carthaginian queen. [Reproduced from the journal page on the Springer Link website: https://link.springer.com/.]

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  • Year of Publication: 1996.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00282677