Introduction

John Barclay’s Argenis (1621) is a Neo-Latin political romance that tells the story of the chaste passion of the only daughter of the king of Sicily for a foreign nobleman to whom she is secretly betrothed. It was one of the most widely read and imitated novels of the seventeenth century, with numer...

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Main Author: Jacqueline Glomski
Format: Article
Language:Catalan
Published: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2016-11-01
Series:Studia Aurea: Revista de Literatura Española y Teoría Literaria del Renacimiento y Siglo de Oro
Subjects:
Online Access:https://studiaaurea.com/article/view/203
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author Jacqueline Glomski
author_facet Jacqueline Glomski
author_sort Jacqueline Glomski
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description John Barclay’s Argenis (1621) is a Neo-Latin political romance that tells the story of the chaste passion of the only daughter of the king of Sicily for a foreign nobleman to whom she is secretly betrothed. It was one of the most widely read and imitated novels of the seventeenth century, with numerous prose translations, abridgements, and sequels in all the major languages of Europe. Although a great novel does not necessarily make a great play, Barclay’s story also had authentic dramatic potential, and it was adapted for the stage five times, in French (twice), Spanish, German, and Italian, from the 1620s to the end of the century. This essay introduces the main features of Barclay’s work, sketches its literary and political context, and suggests reasons why Barclay’s stimulating combination of politics and romance was so attractive to the three playwrights discussed in this cluster: Pierre Du Ryer, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and Christian Weise.
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spelling doaj-art-22a4b0e06a784f85a8b5587d6c0fc8ef2025-08-20T01:56:01ZcatUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaStudia Aurea: Revista de Literatura Española y Teoría Literaria del Renacimiento y Siglo de Oro1988-10882016-11-011010.5565/rev/studiaaurea.203124IntroductionJacqueline Glomski0King's College LondonJohn Barclay’s Argenis (1621) is a Neo-Latin political romance that tells the story of the chaste passion of the only daughter of the king of Sicily for a foreign nobleman to whom she is secretly betrothed. It was one of the most widely read and imitated novels of the seventeenth century, with numerous prose translations, abridgements, and sequels in all the major languages of Europe. Although a great novel does not necessarily make a great play, Barclay’s story also had authentic dramatic potential, and it was adapted for the stage five times, in French (twice), Spanish, German, and Italian, from the 1620s to the end of the century. This essay introduces the main features of Barclay’s work, sketches its literary and political context, and suggests reasons why Barclay’s stimulating combination of politics and romance was so attractive to the three playwrights discussed in this cluster: Pierre Du Ryer, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and Christian Weise.https://studiaaurea.com/article/view/203John Barclayromance fictiontheatrical adaptationNeo-Latin literature
spellingShingle Jacqueline Glomski
Introduction
Studia Aurea: Revista de Literatura Española y Teoría Literaria del Renacimiento y Siglo de Oro
John Barclay
romance fiction
theatrical adaptation
Neo-Latin literature
title Introduction
title_full Introduction
title_fullStr Introduction
title_full_unstemmed Introduction
title_short Introduction
title_sort introduction
topic John Barclay
romance fiction
theatrical adaptation
Neo-Latin literature
url https://studiaaurea.com/article/view/203
work_keys_str_mv AT jacquelineglomski introduction