It is rather common for writers to get inspired by the greatest literary works from the past when creating their own novels, short stories, and poems. For instance, The Song of Roland, created in the eleventh century and considered the oldest surviving significant example of French literature, had and still has an extreme impact on various fields of art. It is believed that Ludovico Ariosto’s Italian epic poem known as Orlando Furioso, which was written and published in the early sixteenth century, was inspired precisely by The Song of Roland. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the two literary works.
To begin with, the key similarity between the two poems is their main character – Orlando (or Roland). In both literary works, he is one of the bravest, boldest, strongest, and most skillful warriors of France. The background setting of the poems is also similar. The epic hero and his army have to fight against enemies that want to conquer France, and though there are different wars and invaders in the poems, they form their plots.
The differences include the period in which the action of the poems takes place and the concept of love. As for the former, considering that both literary works are about the same epic hero, Orlando Furioso describes earlier events – the love interest of Orlando, his madness and the return to sanity, and his brave, bold, and successful fight with the African king Agramante. As for The Song of Roland, it describes later years of the epic hero’s life. He now has a betrothed but is fully devoted to his king and perceives battles and honor as the main concepts in his life. His boldness and excess pride do not allow him to call for help when the Muslims trick his army, and right after his glorious death, angels take Roland straight to heaven.
Another difference between the two poems is the way the epic hero and the authors themselves perceive love. In the French poem, the love between Roland and his betrothed, Alde, does not play any significant role in the plot but is considered strong and true since Alde dies of grief after she learns about the death of her beloved. At the same time, in Orlando Furioso, love is viewed as a form of madness, and this symptom disappears after Orlando is cured of insanity.