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Locus amoenus (Latin for "pleasant place") is a literary topos involving an idealized place of safety or comfort. A locus amoenus is usually a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland, or a group of idyllic islands, sometimes with connotations of Eden or Elysium.^[1]

Ernst Robert Curtius wrote the concept's definitive formulation in his European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1953).^[2]

Characteristics

A locus amoenus will have three basic elements: trees, grass, and water. Often, the garden will be in a remote place and function as a landscape of the mind. It can also be used to highlight the differences between urban and rural life or be a place of refuge from the processes of time and mortality.

In some works, such gardens also have overtones of the regenerative powers of human sexuality^[3] marked out by flowers, springtime, and goddesses of love and fertility.^[4]

History

Classical

The literary use of this type of setting goes back, in Western literature at least, to Homer,^[5] and it became a staple of the pastoral works of poets such as Theocritus and Virgil. Horace (Ars Poetica, 17) and the commentators on Virgil, such as Servius, recognize that descriptions of loci amoeni have become a rhetorical commonplace. Arcadia, a rugged region of Greece, was frequently depicted as a locus amoenus whose inhabitants lived in harmony with nature; in time, this usage evolved to describe a broader utopian vision based around simple, pastoral living.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the function of the locus amoenus is inverted, to form the "locus terribilis". Instead of offering a respite from dangers, it is itself usually the scene of violent encounters.^[6]

Medieval

The Middle Ages merged the classical locus amoenus with biblical imagery, as from the Song of Songs.^[7]

Matthew of Vendôme provided multiple accounts of how to describe the locus amoenus,^[8] while Dante drew on the commonplace for his description of the Earthly Paradise: "Here spring is endless, here all fruits are."^[9]

Renaissance

The locus amoenus was a popular theme in the works of such Renaissance figures as Ariosto and Tasso.^[10]

Shakespeare made good use of the locus amoenus in his long poem Venus and Adonis.^[11] The trope also fed into his construction, in many plays, of what Northrop Frye has called the Shakespearean "green world" – a space that lies outside of city limits, a liminal space where erotic passions can be freely explored, away from civilization and the social order – such as the Forest of Arden in As You Like It.^[12] A mysterious and dark, feminine place, as opposed to the rigid masculine civil structure, the green world can also be found featured in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Titus Andronicus.^{[citation needed]}

Modern

In the 20th century the locus amoenus appears in the work of T. S. Eliot, as in the Rose Garden of Burnt Norton^[13] and in J. R. R. Tolkien's Shire^[14] and Lothlórien.^[15]

Sinister doubles

The split-off obverse of the locus amoenus is the apparently delectable but in fact treacherous garden, often linked to a malign sexuality, as in Circe's palace or the Bower of Bliss in Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene.^[16]

References

^ J. B. Russell, A History of Heaven (1998) p. 21
^ E. R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1953) p. 183-202
^ For more information, see Evett, David. "Paradice's Only Map": The "Topos" of the "Locus Amoenus" and the Structure of Marvell's "Upon Appleton House." PMLA. 85.3(1970):504-513.
^ W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 260
^ J. B. Russell, A History of Heaven (1998) p. 21
^ John David Zuern, "Locus Amoenus"
^ W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 261
^ H. Pleij, Dreaming of Cockaigne (2013) p. 216
^ Dante, Purgatory (1971) p. 293
^ W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 260
^ P. Cheney, Shakespeare, National Poet-Playwright (2004) p. 102
^ A. Shurbanov, Shakespeare's Lyricized Drama (2010) p. 197
^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (1973) p. 321
^ A. Neset, Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas (2009) p. 30
^ Tom Shippey, J. R. R. Tolkien (2001) p. 196-7
^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (1971) p. 149

External links

Locus amoenus: Gardens and Horticulture in the Renaissance

[1] J. B. Russell, A History of Heaven (1998) p. 21

[2] E. R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1953) p. 183-202

[3] For more information, see Evett, David. "Paradice's Only Map": The "Topos" of the "Locus Amoenus" and the Structure of Marvell's "Upon Appleton House." PMLA. 85.3(1970):504-513.

[4] W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 260

[5] J. B. Russell, A History of Heaven (1998) p. 21

[6] John David Zuern, "Locus Amoenus"

[7] W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 261

[8] H. Pleij, Dreaming of Cockaigne (2013) p. 216

[9] Dante, Purgatory (1971) p. 293

[10] W. Shullenberger, Lady in the Labyrinth (2008) p. 260

[11] P. Cheney, Shakespeare, National Poet-Playwright (2004) p. 102

[12] A. Shurbanov, Shakespeare's Lyricized Drama (2010) p. 197

[13] Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (1973) p. 321

[14] A. Neset, Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas (2009) p. 30

[15] Tom Shippey, J. R. R. Tolkien (2001) p. 196-7

[16] Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (1971) p. 149

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+{{Short description|Literary topos involving an idealized place of safety or comfort}}
-[[Latin]] for "pleasant place", '''''locus amoenus''''' is a [[literary]] term which generally refers to an idealized place of safety or comfort. A ''locus amoenus'' is usually a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland, or a group of idyllic islands, sometimes with connotations of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]] or [[Elysium]].<ref>J. B. Russell, ''A History of Heaven'' (1998) p. 21</ref>
+[[File:John Constable - Wivenhoe Park, Essex - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|333px|[[John Constable]]'s ''Wivenhoe Park, Essex'': An idyllic scene featuring trees, grass, and water]]
+{{Utopia}}
+{{italic title}}
+'''{{lang|la|Locus amoenus}}''' ([[Latin]] for "pleasant place") is a [[literary topos]] involving an [[utopia|idealized place]] of safety or comfort. A {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} is usually a beautiful, shady lawn or open woodland, or a group of idyllic islands, sometimes with connotations of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]] or [[Elysium]].<ref>J. B. Russell, ''A History of Heaven'' (1998) p. 21</ref>
 [[Ernst Robert Curtius]] wrote the concept's definitive formulation in his ''European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages'' (1953).<ref>E. R. Curtius, ''European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages'' (1953) p. 183-202</ref>
 ==Characteristics==
+[[File:Maerten Ryckaert - Rocky Pastoral Landscape - WGA20594.jpg|thumb|Maerten Ryckaert, ''Rocky Pastoral Landscape'']]
+A {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} will have three basic elements: trees, grass, and water. Often, the garden will be in a remote place and function as a landscape of the mind. It can also be used to highlight the differences between urban and rural life or be a place of refuge from the processes of time and mortality.
+In some works, such gardens also have overtones of the regenerative powers of [[human sexuality]]<ref>For more information, see [https://archive.org/details/paradicesonlymap00osma   Evett, David. "Paradice's Only Map": The "Topos" of the "Locus Amoenus" and the Structure of Marvell's "Upon Appleton House." PMLA. 85.3(1970):504-513.]</ref> marked out by flowers, springtime, and goddesses of love and fertility.<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 260</ref>
-A locus amoenus will have three basic elements: trees, grass, and water. Often, the garden will be in a remote place and function as a landscape of the mind. It can also be used to highlight the differences between urban and rural life or be a place of refuge from the processes of time and mortality.
-Some gardens in the genre also have overtones of the regenerative powers of human sexuality<ref>For more information, see [http://ia600408.us.archive.org/7/items/paradicesonlymap00osma/paradicesonlymap00osma.pdf   Evett, David. "Paradice's Only Map": The "Topos" of the "Locus Amoenus" and the Structure of Marvell's "Upon Appleton House." PMLA. 85.3(1970):504-513.]</ref> marked out by flowers, springtime, and goddesses of love and fertility.<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 260</ref>
 ==History==
 ===Classical===
+[[File:Arkadia idyll Peloponnese.jpg|thumb|Modern-day Arcadia]]
-The literary use of this type of setting goes back, in Western literature at least, to [[Homer]],<ref>J. B. Russell, ''A History of Heaven'' (1998) p. 21</ref> and it became a staple of the [[pastoral]] works of poets such as [[Theocritus]] and [[Virgil]]. [[Horace]] (''[[Ars poetica]]'', 17) and the commentators on Virgil, such as [[Servius]], recognize that descriptions of ''loci amoeni'' have become a rhetorical commonplace.
+The literary use of this type of setting goes back, in Western literature at least, to [[Homer]],<ref>J. B. Russell, ''A History of Heaven'' (1998) p. 21</ref> and it became a staple of the [[pastoral]] works of poets such as [[Theocritus]] and [[Virgil]]. [[Horace]] (''[[Ars Poetica (Horace)|Ars Poetica]]'', 17) and the commentators on Virgil, such as [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], recognize that descriptions of ''loci amoeni'' have become a rhetorical commonplace. [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadia]], a rugged region of Greece, was frequently depicted as a {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} whose inhabitants lived in harmony with nature; in time, this usage evolved to describe [[Arcadia (utopia)|a broader utopian vision]] based around simple, [[pastoral]] living.
-In [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', the function of the ''locus amoenus'' is inverted, to form the locus terribilis. Instead of offering a respite from dangers, it is itself usually the scene of violent encounters.<ref>[http://www2.hawaii.edu/~zuern/demo/explication/loc/locus1.html  John David Zuern, "Locus Amoenus"]</ref>
+In [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', the function of the {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} is inverted, to form the "locus terribilis". Instead of offering a respite from dangers, it is itself usually the scene of violent encounters.<ref>[http://www2.hawaii.edu/~zuern/demo/explication/loc/locus1.html  John David Zuern, "Locus Amoenus"]</ref>
 ===Medieval===
-The middle ages merged the classical locus amoenus with biblical imagery, as from the [[Song of Songs]].<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 261</ref>
+The [[Middle Ages]] merged the classical {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} with biblical imagery, as from the [[Song of Songs]].<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 261</ref>
-[[Matthew of Vendôme]] provided multiple accounts of how to describe the locus amoenus;<ref>H. Pleij, ''Dreaming of Cockaigne'' (2013) p. 216</ref> while [[Dante]] drew on the [[commonplace]] for his description of the Earthly Paradise: "Here spring is endless, here all fruits are".<ref>Dante, ''Purgatory'' (1971) p. 293</ref>
+[[Matthew of Vendôme]] provided multiple accounts of how to describe the {{lang|la|locus amoenus}},<ref>H. Pleij, ''Dreaming of Cockaigne'' (2013) p. 216</ref> while [[Dante]] drew on the [[Literary topos|commonplace]] for his description of the Earthly Paradise: "Here spring is endless, here all fruits are."<ref>Dante, ''Purgatory'' (1971) p. 293</ref>
 ===Renaissance===
+[[File:Deverell Walter Howard A Scene from As You Like It.jpg|thumb|Characters in the Forest of Arden in Shakespeare's ''As You Like It'']]
-The locus amoenus was a popular theme in the works of such Renaisance figures as [[Ariosto]] and [[Tasso]].<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 260</ref>
+The {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} was a popular theme in the works of such [[Renaissance]] figures as [[Ariosto]] and [[Torquato Tasso|Tasso]].<ref>W. Shullenberger, ''Lady in the Labyrinth'' (2008) p. 260</ref>
-[[Shakespeare]] made good use of the ''locus amoenus'' in his long poem ''[[Venus and Adonis]]''.<ref>P. Cheney, ''Shakespeare, National Poet-Playwright'' (2004) p. 102</ref> The trope also fed into his construction in many plays of a 'green world' - the space that lies outside of city limits, a [[Liminality|liminal]] space where erotic passions can be freely explored, away from civilization and the social order - as with the Forest of Arden in ''[[As You Like It]]''.<ref>A. Shurbanov, ''Shakespeare's Lyricized Drama'' (2010) p. 197</ref>
+[[Shakespeare]] made good use of the {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} in his long poem ''[[Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem)|Venus and Adonis]]''.<ref>P. Cheney, ''Shakespeare, National Poet-Playwright'' (2004) p. 102</ref> The trope also fed into his construction, in many plays, of what [[Northrop Frye]] has called the Shakespearean "green world" – a space that lies outside of city limits, a [[Liminality|liminal]] space where erotic passions can be freely explored, away from civilization and the social order – such as the Forest of Arden in ''[[As You Like It]]''.<ref>A. Shurbanov, ''Shakespeare's Lyricized Drama'' (2010) p. 197</ref> A mysterious and dark, feminine place, as opposed to the rigid masculine civil structure, the green world can also be found featured in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''  and ''[[Titus Andronicus]]''.{{fact|date=September 2011}}
-A mysterious and dark, feminine place, as opposed to the rigid masculine civil structure, the green world can also be found featured in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'',  and ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'' {{fact|date=September 2011}}.
 ===Modern===
-In the 20thC the locus amoenus appears in the work of [[T. S. Eliot]], as with the Rose Garden of ''[[Burnt Norton]]'';<ref>[[Northrop Frye]], ''Anatomy of Criticism'' (1973) p. 321</ref> and in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s Shire<ref>A. Neset, ''Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas'' (2009) p. 30</ref> and his [[Lothlórien]].<ref>Tom Shippey, ''J. R. R. Tolkien'' (2001) p. 196-7</ref>
+In the 20th century the {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} appears in the work of [[T. S. Eliot]], as in the Rose Garden of ''[[Burnt Norton]]''<ref>[[Northrop Frye]], ''Anatomy of Criticism'' (1973) p. 321</ref> and in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Shire (Middle-earth)|Shire]]<ref>A. Neset, ''Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas'' (2009) p. 30</ref> and [[Lothlórien]].<ref>Tom Shippey, ''J. R. R. Tolkien'' (2001) p. 196-7</ref>
+==Sinister doubles==
+The [[Splitting (psychology)|split-off]] obverse of the {{lang|la|locus amoenus}} is the apparently delectable but in fact treacherous garden, often linked to a malign sexuality, as in [[Circe]]'s palace or the Bower of Bliss in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s ''[[Faerie Queene]]''.<ref>Northrop Frye, ''Anatomy of Criticism'' (1971) p. 149</ref>
 ==See also==
-{{columns-list|3|
+{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
-* [[Adonia]]
+*[[Adonia]]
-* [[Arcadia (utopia)|Arcadia]]
+*[[Arcadia (utopia)|Arcadia]]
+*[[Dream world (plot device)|Dream world]]
-* [[Hortus conclusus]]
+*[[Heligan Gardens]]
+*[[Hortus conclusus]]
+*''[[The Secret Garden]]''
 }}
 == References ==
 {{Reflist|2|}}
 == External links ==
-*[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1477-4658.2010.00714.x/abstract Locus amoenus: Gardens and Horticulture in the Renaissance]]
+*[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1477-4658.2010.00714.x/abstract Locus amoenus: Gardens and Horticulture in the Renaissance]
-{{Expand German|Locus amoenus|date=September 2013}}
 [[Category:Fantasy tropes]]
 [[Category:Medieval literature]]
 [[Category:Literary motifs]]
-[[Category:Utopias]]
+[[Category:Utopian fiction]]