這份論文主要是探討Tasso在面對宗教和文學傳統壓力之下如何在迎合社會主流意識，但同時又顛覆社會大眾對言情詩的偏見。Tasso窮極一生調整自己成為一個受歡迎的臣子、有創意的詩人和文學評論者。在創新與傳統的衝擊之中，Tasso將所有文學種類結合在一起，創造出他自己獨特的文學理論。藉由整合各種文學種類，Tasso在他的作品中呈現出詩的豐富性和人性的多變性。

　　首先，我將會探討十六世紀義大利的社會背景和Tasso的生平以及他的個人信件。在被關在療養院長達七年之久後，Tasso出版他生平第一部史詩Jerusalem Delivered《耶路撒冷被交付》。這部作品隱藏了Tasso在這七年之中未說出的話。為了解開隱藏在該作品中的訊息，我們必需先了解Tasso的文學理論。Tasso深信每各文學種類都有助於呈現人性，而一個好的詩人必需不受到外在意識形態的影響，忠實呈現人性的多面性。不同於當時的詩人，Tasso融合所有不同的情緒在一個人物中，因為Tasso相信人是所有對立情感的結合。所以為了達成完整呈現人性的目標，Tasso結合言情詩和史詩。在《耶路撒冷被交付》中代表情愛的Armida和代表理性和社會責任的Rinaldo於故事最終成為彼此的另一半。這意味著Tasso有意打破當時文學種類的隔閤和社會價值的分裂。然而，結合不同的文學種類以及異族女子和基督教英雄結合的故事情節對於當時高度要求制度和倫理的社會產生重大的衝擊。　但是Tasso巧妙的運用不同的宗教典故來遮蓋他非傳統的筆法和作品中任何會冒犯讀者的論述。表面上Tasso順從文學傳統和社會潮流使用宗教典故來讚揚當代的主流價值觀，但是事實上Armida和Rinaldo的結合卻顛覆文學傳統和社會期待。在這部史詩中，Tasso在順從主流文化的同時又顛覆既有傳統。藉由堅持結合言情詩和史詩，Tasso打破社會族群對立和階級制度。更重要的是，在征服聖域的故事中，Tasso將讀者從社會偏見和二元對立中解放出來並且帶領他們進入多元化的世界。

　This thesis is to explore how Tasso, under the pressure of religious censorship and literary traditions, submitted himself to the dominating ideologies while trying to subvert the conventions and prejudiced stereotypes of his time toward romance through uniting the hero and enchantress in an epic. Tasso spent his life time adjusting himself to be a popular courtier, creative poet and scholarly critic. Confronting novelty and traditions, Tasso formed his unique literary theory of including all the genres within one work in which the abundance of poetry and diversity of humanity are presented.

　To make my argument, I look into the social background of the 16th-century Italy and Tasso’s life as well as his personal letters. Tasso’s life interests a lot of critics due to his dramatic experience in poetry-writing and court life. Tasso, after being locked up in an asylum for seven years, published his epic, Jerusalem Delivered. Seven years of confinement are all presented in this epic through some unspoken messages. To decode these messages, one needs first to study Tasso’s literary theory. Tasso made compromise with the Church by covering his work with Christian metaphors to protect Jerusalem Delivered. Tasso was convinced that every literary genre has its own function in presenting humanity, and a good poet should not be partial to any ideology but portray human nature as it is. Unlike his contemporaries who tended to dichotomize everything, Tasso fused all opposite emotions in a character because he believed man is a combination of binary oppositions. Therefore, in order to achieve the goal of fully representing humanity, Tasso combined romance with epic in a work titled with religious significance in which Armida, the embodiment of love, unites with Rinadlo, the representative of rationality. However, the juxtaposition of genres and the union between a pagan woman and a Christian hero were a great offense against both the Church and the literary society which had a high demand of order and moral seriousness. However, Tasso justified himself by using religious allegories to cover up any descriptions in his epic that would irritate his readers. With the knowledge of Tasso’s literary theory and his strategic compromise with the society, the messages which lie in this epic are uncovered. By insisting on fusing romance with epic, Tasso intended to break the fixed literary conventions, and through uniting the pagan witch with the Christian hero, the social gap and hierarchy between each class are cracked down. Through the story of liberating the holy city, Tasso overcame the fear of crossing the borderline of romance and epic, love and rationality, and most importantly he liberated his readers from the confinement of social prejudices and delivered them into a world of diversity.

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