Orlando

The biographer begins this chapter describing the difficulty in finding appropriate sources regarding this section of Orlando’s life. Regardless of the difficulty, the biographer insists that they were able to simply give facts without interpretation or speculation.

The narrative itself now takes place the following summer, and Orlando has been banished from court. He lives in solitude at the family’s country estate.

On the morning of June 18th, Orlando falls into a deep, sleep-like trance for seven days. When he awakes, Orlando is much changed, having forgotten much of his past. Six months later, doctors still do not have a diagnosis, and Orlando refuses all visitors.

Orlando becomes fascinated with death, often spending time in the crypts that hold ten generations of his ancestors. One day, while pacing in the estate’s art galleries, Orlando spots a painting of a snow scene. This image causes Orlando to sob, as he remembers the day with Sasha at the Carnival.

Only literature sustains him during this deep depression. The biographer equates his vociferous reading to a disease that afflicts only some noblemen. While this disease infected Orlando even as a child, he now spends up to six hours a night reading.