Orlando

The Power of Renewable Resources: Orlando's Tactical Engagement with the Law of Intestacy

“…The sixteen-year-old Orlando 'would steal away from his mother and the peacocks in the garden and go to his attic room and there lunge and plunge and slice the air with his blade', reliving his ancestors' actions prompted by the green arras in the attic. 19 After seeing the arras, Orlando reflects that his 'fathers had been noble since they had been at all. They all came out of the northern mists wearing coronets on their heads'.…”

“…They all came out of the northern mists wearing coronets on their heads'. 20 The house's rooms become an impetus and a setting for the re-enactment and remembrance of his ancestors' exploits. Noticeably absent from these descriptions is any mention of female ancestors, suggesting the practice of primogeniture.…”

“…After describing a 'vast mansion like that of Orlando's father', Orlando points out his father's house, his uncle's house and his aunt's 'three great turrets among the trees there'. 21 In a later example where Orlando discusses his lineage, he defers to the power of the pen rather than the power of real property, an apparent reversal of his initial emphasis on the house as a source of historical and biographical significance. The biographer writes, 'He said (reciting the names and exploits of his ancestors) that Sir Boris had fought and killed the Paynim; Sir Gawain, the Turk; Sir Miles, the Pole; Sir Andrew, the Frank; Sir Richard, the Austrian; Sir Jordan, the Frenchman; and Sir Herbert, the Spaniard'.…”

“…The biographer writes, 'He said (reciting the names and exploits of his ancestors) that Sir Boris had fought and killed the Paynim; Sir Gawain, the Turk; Sir Miles, the Pole; Sir Andrew, the Frank; Sir Richard, the Austrian; Sir Jordan, the Frenchman; and Sir Herbert, the Spaniard'. 22 Orlando's contemplation of his family history gives him a burst of imaginative output with his writing. He even compares the difficulty of writing with those tasks of war performed by his ancestors: Orlando 'soon perceived, however, that the battles which Sir Miles and the rest had waged against armed knights to win a kingdom, were not half so arduous as this which he now undertook to win immortality against the English language'.…”

“…He even compares the difficulty of writing with those tasks of war performed by his ancestors: Orlando 'soon perceived, however, that the battles which Sir Miles and the rest had waged against armed knights to win a kingdom, were not half so arduous as this which he now undertook to win immortality against the English language'. 23 Writing is the key to immortality for Orlando, unlike his ancestors' military deeds now represented through 'dust and ashes'. However, a closer look at this passage reveals the true source of Orlando's 'divine melody' of words: 'an incantation rising from all parts of the room'.…”