Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Prologue (pp. 11-18)
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"In the beginning was the Word.... (p. 11):
The quotation is from John 1:1-5, the introduction to the gospel of John, whose major theological import is the doctrine that Christ, being co-eternal with God the Father, was present at the time of the creation of the world. The passage in John, of course, appropriates language from the creation story as told in Genesis 1:1-27. The symbolic resonances of this sentence are as follows:
(1) The Name of the Rose begins with the "beginning"; thus, Eco introduces the work with a form of iconicity, according to which elements of the text resemble their referents in some way.
(2) Quotation of this verse hints at the novel's apocalyptic theme, since the story of Apocalpyse is the story of the world from Creation to Doomsday.
(3) The theme of Christ's presence at the creation of the world, and language from John 1, is important in the mass for the first Sunday in Advent, which marks the beginning of the liturgical year. In First Day: Prime, it is clear that the story begins with the Sunday preceding Advent, and that the week of The Name of the Rose is the last week of the liturgical year. In the novel, the monastery is destroyed on the Saturday before Advent; its destruction is, symbolically, the end of the world. But Adso was one of the survivors, who escaped. See our discussion of Eco's Paratext on Time (pp. 7-8). In his Preface, Adso symbolically enacts the Advent Sunday that never came for the Benedictine monastery of Abbot Abo.
(4) The quotation might also symbolize Adso's Augustinianism and Neo-Platonism. In Confessions VII, 9.13, Augustine writes that "he had read in the books of Plato, though not in the same words, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." Almost certainly, Eco was not thinking of this particular passage from Augustine when he wrote Adso's Preface; but in general terms, the Christology implied in the Gospel of John lends itself to Platonic interpretations of the sort that Augustine pursued.
(5) The quotation of John evokes a semiotic interest. [Comment from Lee Zickel]: Umberto Eco, self-proclaimed postmodernist and known
semiotician, opens The Name of the Rose with the text of John 1:1. It is
fitting the he should begin with the beginning, with a biblical quote spoken
by a monk who's duty it is to put God above all else. While this seems an
acceptable for a literal reading, and one could see the allegory of
apocalypse, there is evidence that Eco is playing a many-leveled game. It is
a game, which finds its roots not in the allegorical meaning, but in the
language itself.
Eco, a post-modernist, subscribes to a relational theory of words in a
language. That is, a word is given its meaning through its use in the
language. There is evidence that Eco is trying to induce his reader to look
at the novel in a more semantic, or word oriented manner, discerning between
that which is and that which is spoken or written about those events. With
that in mind, a close reading of the opening of the novel shows that a full
twenty percent of the language is related to language and/or language use.
If one were to take this word based approach to the text, the view that Eco
has created Adso with, regarding the power of language, is apparent from the
opening sentence.
Eco seems to intend Adso to be a filter for the Word of God, as it was
played out in those events that he witnessed long ago. This language-based
approach to the text is further supported by Adso's evocation of "the prayer
of deciphering" (p. 11) for those that should later read his words. It is as
if Eco is asking the reader to take the time to think, "What is in a word?"
and "What does this mass of language called The Name of the Rose propose?"
"now we see through a glass darkly" (p. 11): the
quotation is from 1 Corinthians 13:12, and suggests that we will never understand fully the meaning of historical events until the end of Time. Adso thus appropriates Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians as part of his apocalyptic vision.
"sharing in the light of angelic intelligence; confined now with my heavy, ailing body" (p. 11): The Neo-Platonic idea here is that the "essence" or universal form of a being expresses itself through light, whereas, in contrast, material substance--the corporeal body--is dark, and traps the "essential" light (of the soul), preventing it from shining forth. The brighter or lighter a being, the closer it is to goodness and beauty. Thomas Aquinas defined beauty in terms of claritas, clarity, the essential light of the divine shining through a being. Darker and heavier beings are comparatively more trapped in the mire of material substance.
Conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope (pp. 12-13): This continuing conflict kept Italy divided and enmeshed in civil wars for most of the Middle Ages. Those who sided with the Church came to be known as Guelphs; those who sided with the Emperor, as Ghibellines.
Pope John XXII (p. 12): Jacques d'Eux de Cahors (1249-1334), educated by the Dominicans at Cahors; elected pope in 1316. After the death of Pope Clement V (April 20, 1314), the pontificate was vacant for 2 years and more than 3 months while the electoral college, split between Italian and French cardinals, debated where they should meet. Jacques de Cahors was elected pope shortly after the death of King Charles II and the ascension of King Philip V (the Fair) in France, in 1316.
Desolation of Rome (p. 12) as a result of Pope Clement V (Bertrand de Got, 1264-1314; pope from 1305-1314), moving the pontifical seat to Avignon in 1309, leaving Rome to its fate in the hands of local lords and brigands. Clement V actually never ruled the papacy from Rome at all: from 1305-1309, he traveled from one French court to another, finally establishing the papal see in Avignon in 1309.
As a symbolic dimension of this sad story, the "desolation of Rome" would have been interpreted by some as an apocalyptic sign. In the Apocalypse of John (Revelation 17), the "whore of Babylon" is symbolic of Rome (she sits on a beast that has seven heads, referring to the "seven hills" of Rome, verses 3 and 9). The desolation of the whore of Babylon is described in this chapter; the desolation of Rome after 1305 would have been interpreted as a fulfillment of the prophecy about the whore of Babylon in Revelation 17.
John XXII . . . heaven grant that no pontiff take again a name now so distasteful to the righteous" (p. 12): Eco's allusion is ambiguous here. He might be referring to John XXIII the "Antipope" (1406-1415), one in a long history of "antipopes," or pretenders to the pontificate who were not canonically elected.
Suppression of the Knights Templars (p. 12): Even before he was elected pope (as John XXII), Jacques de Cahors played a role in the suppression of the Knights Templars. As Chancellor to King Charles II of France (1309-1312), Jacques de Cahors wrote legal opinions that were favorable to the King's suppression of the Templars; the real motivation was seizure of the Templars' property.
Perugia (p. 13): city in central Italy, Perugia had been the ancient center of the Etuscans. Because the city was allied with the Guelphs, siding with the Pope during conflicts between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire, Perugia emerged as an important city in papal politics. Popes often kept their residence there. It was also an important Franciscan site, because Blessed John of Perugia was one of the companions of St. Francis of Assisi. The city was also a center of learning with a University, where Pope Clement V established a studium generale in 1308.
Michael of Cesena (ca. 1270-1342) (p. 13): Minister General of the Franciscan Order (elected 1310). His Gravi qua premor, issued Aug. 21, 1316, declared the absolute poverty of Jesus and his apostles as a model for the Franciscans, and opened the debate on the poverty of Jesus.
Cum inter nonnullos [schoasticos viros] (p. 13), "Since among several [learned men]": Papal bull of John XXII in 1323, spoken of again in Fifth Day: Prime at p. 339, when Abbot Abo mentions it in his summary of historical events leading to the debate on the Franciscan doctrine of the "absolute poverty" of Jesus and his apostles. Papal bulls take their titles from the initial words of their texts. In "Cum inter nonnullos," Pope John XXII condemned as heretical the Franciscan doctrine that Jesus and his apostles neither owned nor had control over any material things. Specifically, this Papal bull condemned the doctrine of the poverty of Jesus as espoused in a Franciscan council at Perugia in 1322. For notes on the debate about the poverty of Jesus, see commentary on Fifth Day: Prime.
"Brother William of Baskerville" (p. 13): The allusion
is to Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles,
especially chapter 13, where Sherlock Holmes and Sir Henry
Baskerville examine the Baskerville estate's collection
of portraits of family members. The collection suggests
that the Baskervilles are an old family with a distinguished
history. There is even a portrait of a "Sir William
Baskerville, who was Chairman of Committees of the House
of Commons under [William] Pitt." The Name of the Rose,
then, takes its place as a detective story that has one of
Sir Henry Baskerville's ancestors as its hero.
"Thus I became William's scribe and disciple at the same time" (p. 14): A parallel and perhaps the model for this theme is the relationship between young Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1221 or 1225-1274) and his magister at Paris and Cologne, Albertus Magnus (ca. 1206?-1280)), a Dominican friar who was the first great scholar in the Order of St. Dominic. Thomas was, like Adso, initially educated in a Benedictine monastery: Montecassino, near Aquino, which had been founded by St. Benedict during the 6th century (possibly ca. 529). At age 18, Thomas decided to join the mendicant Order of St. Dominic, over the objections of his aristocratic family. After many adventures during which his family forcibly prevented him from joining the Dominicans, he was finally sent to Paris (1245) to study theology and philosophy with Albert, and served as the recorder (reporator) for Albert's University of Paris lectures on Pseudo-Dionysius' On the Divine Names. Thomas Aquinas served as Albert's "scribe and disciple" for about seven years (1245-1252). In 1248, by which time Albert had achieved the title of Master of Theology, the dominican Order sent him to Cologne to help found a new studium generale there: this was the occasion of the founding of the University of Cologne. Albert was invited to bring with him a young scholar of his choice to serve as Bachelor of Theology, and he chose Thomas Aquinas for this position. While at Cologne (1248-1252), Thomas was ordained as a priest, probably in the old cathedral there. The foundation stone of the great Cologne Cathedral was laid on August 15, 1248--an event that Albert and Thomas must have witnessed. During his years at Cologne, Thomas continued to serve as Albert's scribe. Two of Albert's lecture series from this period survive partly in Thomas' hand: his lectures on the Pseudo-Dionysian On the Divine Names (again, as at Paris), and a new lecture series on Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Thus, Thomas Aquinas was Albert's disciple, scribe, and travel companion, in ways that parallel the relationship between Adso and William of Baskerville.
The parallel can be extended to include contrasting intellectual predilections. William of Baskerville is like Albertus Magnus in at least four ways: (1) Albert was interested in "natural philosophy" (especially the study of animals, plants, and minerals) rather than theology; William regards optics as the most important of the sciences, and has a keen interest in herbs. (2) Albertus Magnus was an expert on Aristotle, whose philosophy he combined with the Neo-Platonic views of "Dionysius" the Pseudo-Areopagite; William also has a keen interest in Aristotle. (3) Albert was a logician -- possibly the most authoritative logician of the Middle Ages -- and so is William, who several times gives Adso lessons in deductive logic and logical fallacies. (4) Albert was inclusively encyclopedic in his approach to knowledge, while Thomas Aquinas was inclined to specialize in the field of theology. William resembles Albert rather than Thomas Aquinas in this regard.
Thomas Aquinas was in some ways more like Adso: (1) he learned from Albertus' exploration of natural philosophy, but his own personal talents did not include mathematics and science; (2) he absorbed Albert's expertise on Aristotle, but applied it mainly to theology; (3) he absorbed Albert's methods of logic, but was not himself a creative logician.
William of Baskerville is, in many ways, a prefiguration of "modern" man, or an allegory of modernism emerging from the Middle Ages. In this respect, his historical exemplars are Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and William of Occam. With regard to William's proto-modernism, Adso does not follow in his path, although he finds much to marvel at in his master. William is ahead of his time, and therefore is unlikely to find a disciple who can follow in his path--as was the case with Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon. But although Adso can only admire (but not appropriate) William's empiricism, logic, and scientific knowledge, what does stay with Adso is William's humanism and humanitarianism: his love of learning, and his insight that it is wrong to persecute and kill people in the cause of a religious ideology.
The parallel is not exact, but as he matured, Thomas Aquinas had to go his own way in the world, just as Adso did. Thomas Aquinas went on to write the most authoritative summary of theology in Catholic history, the Summa theologica. It was his destiny to be the exemplar of medieval learning and of the "medieval sensibility," much in contrast with his proto-modern teacher, Albertus Magnus. In like manner, Adso lived out his life as a pious monk in the Benedictine monastery at Melk, in Germany -- a monastery that was beset with many internal problems during the 14th century, just as Montecassino was during the 13th century.
Adso or Adson: [Gary Swanson comments] To read it in English, one's first instinct is to
read it phonetically as "ad-so" but to read it in Italian or in the
French of the Abbé Vallet manuscript, it would more properly sound out as
"od-s~n.". In the second pronunciation, the allusion becomes more clear
as "od-s~n" is a short jump from
"wot-s~n" or Watson.
Brother William's physical appearance (p. 15): [Gary Swanson comments] Line by line, Eco doesn't
so much base his character of William of Baskerville on Sherlock Holmes
as demonstrates effectively that he is none other than the same.
"Brother William's physical appearance was at that time such as to
attract the attention of the most inattentive observer." Compare
this now with Dr. Watson's first description of Holmes, from A Study
in Scarlet: "His very person and appearance were such as to strike
the attention of the most casual observer." [all Doyle passages taken
from the same volume.] It continues on in this same style. One wonders
if the slight variation of wording is that of Eco or of his translator,
William Weaver.
"His height surpassed that of a normal man and he was so thin that he
seemed still taller. His eyes were sharp and penetrating; his thin and
slightly beaky nose gave his countenance the expression of man on the
lookout, save in certain moments of sluggishness of which I shall speak.
His chin also denoted a firm will, though the long face covered with
freckles...could occasionally express hesitation and puzzlement." To
return to Doyle: " In height he was rather over six feet, and so
excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were
sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have
alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of
alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness
which mark the man of determination."
What we are shown here is that our fourteenth century detective is the
spitting image of his later nineteenth century predecessor. Eco leads
us directly to this observation by having Adso point out, immediately
preceding William's description, that he will "not indulge in
descriptions of persons" though he makes an exception for Brother
William. Why the exception? It can only be to alert the reader to the
resemblance. As Eco points out in his Postscript "writing means
constructing, through the text, one's own model reader." Who is this
model reader? For one, it is the type of person who would enjoy Sherlock
Holmes mysteries, but above all, one who would enjoy a gripping good
read. Eco has gone on at length about his epiphany that literature can
be both enjoyable and enlightening. The Name of the Rose is both.
Eco has made us in such a way that we read how he desires.
But we are alerted to more than simply William's physical resemblance to
the famed detective:
"His energy seemed inexhaustible when a burst of activity overwhelmed
him. But from time to time...he moved backwards in moments of inertia,
and I watched him lie for hours on my pallet in my cell, uttering barely
a few monosyllables, without contracting a single muscle of his face. On
those occasions a vacant, absent expression appeared in his eyes, and I
would have suspected he was in the power of some vegetal substance
capable of producing visions if the obvious temperance of his life had
not led me to reject the thought."
Again, compare:
"Nothing could exceed his energy when the working fit was upon him; but
now and again a reaction would seize him, and for days on end he would
lie upon the sofa in the sitting room, hardly uttering a word or moving a
muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a
dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of
being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and
cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion."
Notice how it is only the specific references to time and place which
allow a reader to distinguish which passage refers to Brother William and
which to Sherlock Holmes. What we are now given are two detectives,
alike not only in appearance, but in temperance, in a kind of
manic-depressive swing of energy and sloth, as well as in habit. Eco is
toying with us. He wants us to see the very same detective, the cloth
cap, the pipe, the whole Basil Rathbone profile. His model reader is to
see the famous detective of Baker Street in one of his illustrious
disguises: that of a monk.
While it is unknown if Doyle wrote A Study in Scarlet anticipating
a sequel, the slighting allusion to "some narcotic" proves to be another
of Dr. Watson's erroneous assumptions as readers will recall Holmes
predilection for his ten-percent solution." Eco continues on in a vein,
suggesting that his detective too has a weakness for drugs (p. 16). Adso's comment on William's use of opiates resembles Dr. Watson's comment on Sherlock Holmes' use of cocaine, in "The Sign of Four":
"Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance, but
custom had not reconciled my mind to it. On the contrary, from day to day I
had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly
within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest. Again
and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the
subject; but there was that in the cool, nonchalant air of my companion
which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything
approaching to a liberty. His great powers, his masterly manner, and the
experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities, all made me
diffident and backward in crossing him."
"I did not then know what Brother William was
seeking..." (p. 14):
Arthur Conan Doyle's Dr. Watson refers to Sherlock Holmes' often
being deployed on international investigative missions, the
nature of which usually was kept secret; there are examples in the
beginning paragraphs of "A Scandal of Bohemia," and in
"A Case of Identity."
"Ageing of the world" topos: this was a common medieval
topos and probably has several sources, whose relation to the
text should be considered. Among the problems are:
"Ageing of the world" as a sign of apocalypse (p. 1)
"The world upside down" or the "topsy-turvy world"
(p. 15)--Eco's source for this is almost certainly Alan
de Insulus' De planctu natura, which he represents
William as quoting from later (p. 23).
Later, Eco relates this topos to Honorius (p. 36).
Decline of learning topos (p. 15): This theme
appears in King Alfred's Preface to the Old English translation
of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care. Another important
example of it is Roger Bacon's polemic about the decline
of learning in his Compendium studii philosophiae,
which probably was Eco's source for this theme, along with
Curtius' discussion of it in his Literature of the Latin
Middle Ages. Two useful discussions of the "decline of
learning" topos are:
Stewart C. Easton, Roger Bacon and His Search for a
Universal Science (Oxford: Clarendon, 1952), pp. 210-31.
Argues that Bacon is thinking particularly of Albertus Magnus
in his polemic. Easton presents an unfavorable view of
Roger Bacon's own learning.
Jeremiah M. G. Hackett, "The Attitude of Roger Bacon to
the Scientia of Albertus Magnus," in Albertus Magnus
and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays 1980, ed. James A.
Weisheipl (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval
Studies, 1980), pp. 53-72. Q 143 .A42 A7.
Physcial descriptions of characters (pp. 14-16):
Physical description of characters avoided: Adso the old monk writes that he will refrain from
physical description of characters, except when some facial
expression or gesture is relevant to the story. This is
typical of medieval romance style: in Arthurian romances
generally, and in Malory's Morte Darthur, characters
are rarely described physically. But Eco gives this stylistic
characteristic a symbolic meaning by relating it to
a teaching of Boethius, in De consolatione philosophiae,
that outward form is transcient.
William of Baskerville's appearance--resemblance to Sherlock Holmes: William of Barksdale's physical appearance most likely
is an allusion to Sherlock Holmes, at the beginning of
"A Scandal in Bohemia," for instance. Note to students: can
you verify this from text and from illustrations, and
relate its importance to Eco's text?
William's use of opiates (p. 16): Sherlock Holmes'
use of cocaine is mentioned often by Doyle, for instance
near the beginning of "A Scandal in Bohemia."
Suspicion of witchcraft attached to William's
astrolabe and compass (p. 17): Although this seems like
a simple enough instance of "local color" in a medieval story,
Eco probably is alluding to a remark that Dr. Watson makes to
Sherlock Holmes, in "A Scandal in Bohemia," after Holmes
had deduced some personal details about him: "My dear Holmes,"
Watson sas, "this is too much. You would certainly have been
burned, had you lived a few centuries ago."
"And I say to you that God wishes them to be,
and certainly they already are in His mind, even if my friend from Occam
denies that ideas exist in such a way; and I do not say this because we
can determine the divine nature but precisely because we cannot set any
limit to it" (pp. 17-18) [Nancy Pine comments]” In this passage Eco is referring to Plato’s idea of the
Forms. In the dialogue Phaedo, Socrates says that divine truth
cannot be grasped in our lifetime but only before and after death when
the soul is separate from the body. He maintains the virtues that exist
in the material world are copies of the divine ideal form. For example,
a person would be imprecise in describing last night’s sunset as
beautiful, because our eyes cannot view Beauty itself. The sunset could
only participate in the Form of Beauty. William’s friend William of
Occam, a Franciscan philosopher and theologian, denied the view that
universals have an independent existence. Only individual things
exist. According to Occam, to acknowledge the existence of universals
outside the mind is contradictory, because if a universal does indeed
exist, like any reality, it must be singular and unique. Brother
William, on the other hand, prefers not to set limits on such attributes
of divine nature.
Realist-Nominalist controversy (pp. 17-18): The medieval
debate about universals is introduced at the end of the
Prologue, with reference to two English philosophers to
developed opposing positions in this debate: Roger Bacon,
and William of Ockham.
Almost certainly, William of Ockham was in prison at
Avignon in November 1327: he was imprisoned by the
Pope in 1323 and kept in prison for over four years. The Realist-Nominalist controversy
is of continuing importance in The Name of the Rose, and
we will need to develop a profile of it as an essential
part of our understanding of the novel.
In Postscript to The Name of the Rose, Eco writes that
during much of the planning and composition of the novel,
his central character was William of Ockham. Only at a later
stage did he become William of Baskerville instead. This comment
invites comparison between the historical William of Ockham
and the fictional William of Baskerville: both Englishmen
interested in philosophy and logic and spending their careers
wandering about Europe. William of Ockham's ecclesiastical
epithet was "doctor invincibilis," `the invincible doctor',
an allusion to his unbeatable skill in logical argumentation.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a brief but
helpful introductory definition of universals.
The next study page is for First Day: Prime (pp. 21-26).