111
Less typical are several heroes, notably Belianís, who spend a large part of the narration trying to decide between two ladies. Even rarer is a type like Florindo, a confirmed woman-hater who rejects all idea of love and marriage until the end, when he is virtually forced to choose a bride for dynastic reasons. See Río Nogueras on Florindo. (N. from the A.)
112
Let us recall, for instance, Queen Briolanja in Amadís, who in the lost medieval version might have succeeded in persuading Amadís to sleep with her -an incident quite unlike Montalvo's more reserved fifteenth-century version. Other examples are the Amazon queen Calafia in the Sergas de Esplandián and several women in Lepolemo, Floriseo, Felixmarte, Tirant, the Clarián series, and many others. (N. from the A.)
113
We will remember one of the barber's arguments for Galaor over
Amadís: «tenía muy acomodada
condición para todo; que no era caballero
melindroso»
(I, 1, 73); also that the
comic
epitafio suggests that Don Quijote
did not admire Amadís's brother: «el
que... en muy poquito a Galaores tuvo»
(I, 52,
605). (N. from the A.)
114
For examples of dying for love, see Platir, Clarián, I, 1; Polismán; and Amadís VII, among many others. Needless to say, those who do commit suicide are almost invariably non-Christians. (N. from the A.)
115
If the hero rejects the lady, he might try to marry her off to another knight, but if he has accepted her attentions for a night or two and perhaps engendered a child with her, he typically either endows her with a castle or other property or simply abandons her. If no child is involved, she might, again, waste away from sorrow, commit suicide, or devote her life to good works, but she rarely marries anyone else. Once the lady has borne the hero's child, she behaves almost like an eternally bereaved widow -devoted solely to raising her child. Worthy of future examination is this apparent authorial reluctance to have any of the hero's ex-mistresses become involved with other knights. For the «Oliva» vs. «Olivia» problem, see Eisenberg, Bibliography. (N. from the A.)
116
On philocaptio, consult P. E. Russell's classic Celestina article (1978) and M. E. Perry. Some of the best on magic and enchantment: Caro Baroja, Garrosa Resina, Maravall, Pavia, Thorndike, and Winkler. A few examples of enchantment episodes: Arderique; Clarián I, 2; II; III; Polismán; Belianís; Floriseo; Polindo; and Florambel. (N. from the A.)
117
Other such objects include the magic swords of Amadís, Reymundo de Grecia, Primaleón, and many others; Lisuarte's scabbard in Amadís VIII; and Platir's shield. In Clarián I, 1 the knight has a magic ring which cures all wounds as well as keeping him from enchantments, and it is not until Clarián III (by a different author) that Daborea succeeds in removing it. Lepolemo has a magic brazalete which protects him from all of the ladies in love with him, and no one ever succeeds in removing it. A maga might also use a similar object to keep him enchanted, in which case the hero's rescuers must remove it to disenchant him. See Giamatti for an analysis of the role of the enchantress in the Italian and English verse epics of the time. We will also remember that in Alcina's enchantment of Ruggiero in Ariosto's Orlando furioso (Canto VI), the knight foolishly does not use his magic shield to protect himself (also, a magic ring is required for his disenchantment). (N. from the A.)
118
In Arderique, for example, Blancheflor keeps him in thrall with a ring on each of his little fingers and a stone on a silken cord around his neck. It might be music (Floriseo), or a love potion (Polismán), or another liquid, like the «agua de desacuerdo» in Florambel de Lucea or the sleeping draught (Palmerín), a magic mirror (Polindo), a ring (Florindo), a book (Félix Magno), a magic cloud or fog (also Polismán). Sometimes it is simply generic artes mágicas (Beliflor in Clarián IV), while sometimes these artes are used to deceive the knight, most often to make him think (as in Lancelot-Elaine episodes), that the maga is his lady (Belianís IV) or that he is only dreaming of the encounter. Interestingly enough, although magas and magos (and often their books) are sometimes burned for heresy in the romances (Floriseo, Clarián II and III, and Amadís VIII, for example), the magas who succeed in enchanting the hero (and therefore having sexual relations with him) are rarely punished -Arderique is a major exception. Rather, their fate often resembles that of the rejected ladies already discussed: suicide, wasting away from sorrow, etc. If they bear the hero's son, they are treated especially well, the most exaggerated example being in Floriseo, where Queen Lacivia (!) of In dia bears Floriseo a son and later becomes a great friend to him and his wife, the Queen of Bohemia. See Nunemaker (55) on Alfonso el Sabio's Lapidario for descriptions of the magical properties (erotic and otherwise) of various objects. (N. from the A.)
119
The chivalric author's apparent attitude toward the enamoured enchantress varies considerably. Some are painted as quite sympathetic figures, like Homer's Calypso or some of the non-enchantresses who also fall in love with the hero, like Esplandián's eternal handmaiden Carmela, or the most famous «other woman», Scott's unfortunate Rebecca -the «dark lady» who loves the hero and cannot have him. Various magas, described as being motivated solely by lust, are condemned by the author, particularly if they are older women in youthful disguise. This litter type resembles the maga Cenotia in Persiles (II, 9). (N. from the A.)
120
See Giamatti on the moral implications of erotic enchantment in the works of Ariosto, Tasso, Spencer, and others. We should also note that while in the pseudo-medieval Spanish romances of the sixteenth century, the Christian conversions are distinctly different from their medieval predecessors, the enchantments retain their medieval quality. Notable as well is the reversal of the conventional enchantment in Zayas's «La inocencia castigada», where the authorities absolve Inés, but her husband does not. (N. from the A.)