Jerusalem Delivered Critical Essay | Critical Essay by C. P. Brand

Critical Essay by C. P. Brand

SOURCE: Brand, C. P. “The Epic: The Gerusalemme Liberata.” In Torquato Tasso: A Study of the Poet and of His Contribution to English Literature, pp. 79-118. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1965.

In the following essay, Brand argues that Gerusalemme liberata is a “fusion of the heroic epic and the chivalrous romance” and that Tasso's style attempts to follow the classical precedents set by Homer and Virgil.

Structurally the Liberata is a fusion of the heroic epic and the chivalrous romance, and represents a conscious attempt at the perfection of a literary form. Few poems have been less ‘spontaneous’ in the conventional sense: years of reading, thought, discussion, correspondence, even formal declaration of principles preceded and accompanied the composition of the poem. For Tasso the peaks of literary achievement had been reached by Homer and Virgil in the epic and his aim was to rival, where possible to excel them....
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