Abstract

The research centres on the symbolic element of fire, which continuously recurs in a tale by Brusoni (L'amante schernito), creating multiple branches of meaning. In this text of the Baroque period, it is present, in an original variation, the double polarity which has always characterised that archetype. In L'amante schernito, the image of fire is presented now negatively (when it is connected to an 'infernal' place, the furnace), now positively (when expressing ardent love). In the metaphorical system of the story, there is another element of strong symbolic meaning invested with variations of symbols, that is water, which takes up a dynamic opposition to the representations of fire. The protagonist, the "fire hero", will in the end be defeated by emblems of water.