The setting of The Name of the Rose , released in 1980 and from which a film was also made, is singular. We are in a Benedictine abbey located in the Apennines, in 1327. The Franciscan Guglielmo da Baskerville and his faithful companion Adso da Melk head towards it, without knowing the disturbing mystery that awaits them upon their arrival. William, who has an obscure past as an inquisitor, will be entrusted with the mission of participating in a meeting in which he will discuss the alleged heresy of a branch of the Franciscans: the spirituals.
Once a good setting has been developed,
Umberto Eco creates a thriller that allows the reader to wander through the darkest and cruelest uses and customs of the Middle Ages.
A historical setting in which religion gave and took away power, granted whims or ruined lives in the name of a God who, in addition to being omnipotent, was portrayed as a punisher and opposed to all worldly entertainment and its most natural manifestation: the laugh.
The Name of The rose
The mystery of the rose
The name of the monk protagonist,
William of Baskerville
, it is not at all casual: Umberto Eco chose Guglielmo in honor of the renowned philosopher Guglielmo da Occam, famous above all for the famous methodological principle “Occam’s Razor”. This particular razor stipulates that when there are two hypotheses that explain facts with the same exactness, the simpler one must prevail. This is no small feat, since it is by following this idea that science evolves. The modern formulation of this requirement is the “principle of parsimony or simplicity”.
A principle that is also very present in the way of operating one of the most famous detectives in history. Let’s talk about
Sherlock Holmes
. William’s surname, Baskerville, refers precisely to one of the cases that gave fame and glory to the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: the Hound of the Baskervilles.
So far the explanation of the origin of the name of the friar would be simply anecdotal, were it not for one
declaration on the intentions of William ‘s modus operandi
, who will dedicate a large part of his stay in the abbey to
try to solve the crimes that are beginning to unfold
, in a drawing that recalls another of the most famous thrillers: “Ten Little Indians” by Agatha Christie.
Another narrative wink that appears in The Name of the Rose comes from the keeper of the convent’s large library. This is Jorge da Burgos and the literary reference to Jorge Luis Borges. As the author says, “the blindest library can only give Borges, also because the debts are paid”.
The thorns of the rose
This character is hidden behind the murders that take place one after the other in the abbey. All for the desire to prevent the second book on Aristotle’s poetics from coming out.
A book dedicated to humor and of which the friar is afraid, convinced that laughter is nothing more than a diabolical wind that deforms the features and makes men look like monkeys.
Brother Jorge thought that laughter was the antidote to fear
. To the fear of the Devil who pushed men to embrace God.
Without this fear, he believed, there would be no reason why men should not laugh at God as they did with the rest of the elements.
However, his condemnation also resides in Jorge’s work because, as a lover of books, he prefers to control knowledge rather than destroy it. Thus, he will undertake this journey only when he realizes that he is trapped, that he has been discovered by Guglielmo and that there are no more possibilities left.
In the film you can also appreciate
another classic medieval clash between reason and faith
. It is more precisely the clash that takes place in the work between the inquisitor Bernardo Gui and Guglielmo, and which will cause the foundations of the Church to collapse with the birth of the Protestant Reformation and the apex of the Enlightenment.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy
