From error to utopia : meetings with utopia in "Orlando Furioso"

The philosophical interpretation of Ariosto's poem illustrates the transformation of individual and societal value systems. The titular madness, evoked by the misperception of reality, is analyzed within the wider frame of literary tradition. Ariosto emphasizes the presence of utopian aspects in various literary themes, thus conforming to the prevailing trends in Italian and European literature of his times. Ariosto's utopian subject is related to Encomium Moriae by Erasm of Rotterdam and the dialogues of Leon Battista Alberti. At the same time, the author of Furioso combines utopian ideas with the concept of human life, which he perceives as a path among errors and madness. In the spotlight is the substance vital for the narrative poetry and the worldview described there: the manner in which Ariosto grasps the situation of man condemned to committing and persisting in mistakes, doomed to eternal seeking of truth in his life, of a fair purpose of one’s existence and right paths to it, and also to uncertainty as to his own decisions and senses