The Name of the Rose

“Prime, in which Benno of Uppsala confides certain things, others are confided by Berengar of Arundel, and Adso learns the meaning of true penitence”

William and Adso return to prayers, where they observe that Berengar is frightened, Benno is nervous, and Malachi is “frowning…[and] impassive” (124). William knows he must interrogate them immediately. Benno reveals that there was a dispute between Venatius, Jorge, and Berengar about the lost second book of Aristotle’s Poetics, on the subject of comedy, which upholds laughter as a good thing. This is an idea that enrages the pious Jorge. Later that same day, Benno recalls seeing both Venatius and Adelmo separately approach Berengar on two different occasions, prompting William to say: “the two persons who have recently died in mysterious circumstances had [each] asked something of Berengar” (128). At this, Benno demurs, instead pointing them towards the library. Next, the two monks question a distraught Berengar who tearfully claims he saw the ghost of Adelmo the night of the murder, and that the ghost was agitated by the weight of a deadly sin. After Berengar departs, William again proclaims Adelmo’s death a suicide, because of a guilty conscience due to some misdeed—the ‘ghost’ that Berengar saw was really Adelmo himself, just prior to his suicide. A philosophical discussion follows about what constitutes true penitence as the two monks head to the scriptorium.

“Terce, in which the visitors witness a brawl among vulgar persons, Aymaro of Alessandria makes some allusions, and Adso meditates on saintliness and on the dung of the Devil. Subsequently, William and Adso go back to the scriptorium, William sees something interesting, has a third conversation on the licitness of laughter, but in the end, is unable to look where he wishes”

Stopping in the kitchen on their way to the scriptorium, Adso and William witness a fight between Salvatore and the chief cook, after which the cook alludes to certain indiscretions the older man has committed “at night,” but he is unwilling to say more (138). They encounter Aymaro of Alessandria, who complains about Malachi and Berengar; he resents that the abbot has handed over the library to these “foreigners,” whom he insinuates are part of a “nest of serpents.” Aymaro also claims that Abo “directs the abbey like a citadel erected to defend the library” (141-143). In the scriptorium, William examines Venantius’s desk, including his most recent translations, with Berengar’s assistance. Suddenly, Jorge appears, and William parries with him masterfully about the dangers of laughter. Laughter, Jorge insists, creates doubt, and whenever one doubts, the only recourse is to submit to a higher authority. William disagrees, elevating man’s reason as an antidote to doubt, because “our reason was created by God” (152). As more monks gather to hear the debate, Jorge becomes enraged, and William meekly extricates by begging Jorge’s pardon. While William resumes his examination of the Venantius’s papers, Benno whispers that he must speak with him urgently, and they decide to meet behind the balneary. Before departing, William loudly engages Malachi to watch over the dead monk’s desk, trying to ensure that it remains undisturbed throughout his investigation.

“Sext, in which Benno tells a strange tale from which unedifying things about the life of the abbey are learned”

William and Adso suspect that Benno lured them to a meeting in order to draw them away from the scriptorium, and his “confused” tale seems to suggest as much (155). During the now infamous debate about laughter that occurred a few days before Adelmo’s death, Berengar had referred to something called the “finis Africae” (155). However, it seemed forbidden to know more, and Benno chafes against such intellectual restrictions. He then reveals that Berengar is a known homosexual, and that he used extortion to coerce other monks into sex. Passionately attracted to Adelmo, Berengar proposed a “vile barter” in which he would reveal to Adelmo a secret contained in the library in exchange for sexual favors (157). Benno claims to have overheard this exchange himself. The night before Adelmo’s death, Benno followed the pair, and witnessed a tryst, after which he saw Adelmo run out of Berengar’s room and into Jorge’s, where he likely engaged in holy confession. Adelmo then ran to the choir, ostensibly to pray for forgiveness. Benno followed once again, suddenly realizing that someone else had also been following the two men. It was Venantius, but he had not seen Benno; he then followed Adelmo into the choir. Fearing discovery, Benno then departed. William remains convinced that Adelmo took his own life, but wonders who could have murdered Venantius. It could have been Berengar, he thinks, or perhaps Malachi, who must guard the secrets of the library. Jorge is also a potential suspect, though his age and especially his blindness are impediments to this theory. Even Benno himself is a suspect, according to William, but he decides not to limit his suspicions only to those who participated in the now infamous debate about laughter. He then resolves to sneak into the library that very evening.

“Nones, in which the abbot declares his pride in the wealth of his abbey and his fear of heretics, and eventually Adso wonders whether he has made a mistake in going forth into the world”

William asks Adso to attend a private meeting with Abo and act as “secretary.” Adso admires the gold and jewels that adorn the altar, and the Abo waxes rhapsodic about how riches tend to the glory of God, in turn inspiring reverence in us. A discussion of the official role that brought William to the abbey ensues. They discuss the conflict between the Emperor and the Pope, and between the Pope and the Franciscans, much of which concerns the issue of poverty as a sign of commitment to Christ, who was poor. William had thus far been skillful in his various intercessions with all of the power brokers involved. The abbey was chosen as “Neutral territory,” due to the abbot’s “great diplomatic skill”–he was well-liked and trusted by Emperor and Pope alike (169). But now, with a murderer afoot, Abo is uneasy: either William will have to solve the crime before the arrival of the papal delegation, or Abo will be forced to disclose the deaths to the Pope’s envoys, thus increasing their alarm in the midst of tense negotiations. Abo and William then debate various heresies and the motivations of heretics themselves, with William sadly proclaiming that truth remains an elusive idea, and Abo disagreeing. They put disputation aside, however, in order to solve the mystery. Abo suggests that William examine Remigio and Salvatore, who arrived together many years ago. Whether Abo is trying to divert them away from the library is unclear, but William remains determined to sneak in. Adso, for his part, feels weighed down by the complexities of going “out into the world,” as he falls asleep in prayer (178).

“After Vespers, in which, though the chapter is short, old Alinardo says very interesting things about the labyrinth and about the way to enter it”

Adso awakes to find that William has again visited the scriptorium to examine Venantius’s desk, only to be thwarted by Malachi, Benno, and Berengar in rapid succession. In the cloister, William and Adso encounter the oldest monk in the abbey, Alinardo of Grottaferrata, and question him. He states emphatically that the Antichrist is coming, that “sin has entered the abbey,” and that “the world all around the abbey is rank with heresy.” In his rambling, roundabout way, he confirms that the secret way into the library is through the ossarium, whose entry point is just at the entry to the third chapel and carved with “a thousand skeletons” (182-83).

“Compline, in which the Aedificium is entered, a mysterious visitor is discovered, a secret message with necromantic signs is found, and also a book is found, but then promptly vanishes, to be sought through many subsequent chapters; nor is the theft of William’s precious lenses the last of the vicissitudes”

At the third chapel, William and Adso find the third skull on the right, and William presses his fingers into the empty eye sockets, just as Alinardo had instructed. With light from a lamp Adso has stolen from the kitchen, they see a dark entry, descend dank steps, and arrive in the scriptorium. At Venantius’s desk, William is dismayed to discover that a book has gone missing since his earlier visit that afternoon. It was a Greek text that someone had removed so hastily that they dropped a page. Holding it up to the lamp, the heat exposes a secret language on the paper. Before they can look more closely, they hear a noise towards the east stairway and set off in that direction. Suddenly, they realized they have been fooled: the intruder has thrown the noise to distract them from the dead monk’s desk. They reverse course, with Adso in solitary pursuit, but the man disappears, and with him, so have William’s glasses. The two men now look again at the mysterious paper, which is written in invisible ink: it seems Venantius had some secret to conceal. Without his lenses, William is hard pressed to decipher the secret code, and asks Adso to recopy it in larger hand. William believes it is written in a kind of “zodiacal alphabet” (191), and having studied some cryptography at Oxford, resolves to break the code. They debate the identity of the intruder and then head towards the library.

“Night, in which the labyrinth is finally broached, and the intruders have strange visions and, as happens in labyrinths, lose their way”

Adso and William climb the east staircase to the forbidden door and enter the labyrinth. They arrive in a small, windowless room with seven walls, only four of which have doorways. Above the doorways are scrolls carved into the stone with messages from the book of the Apocalypse of John. William considers the layout: “five quadrangular or vaguely trapezoidal rooms, each with one window, arranged around a windowless heptagonal room to which the stairway leads” (197). He believes he understands the layout, but realizes he is mistaken when they become lost trying to retrace their steps. The labyrinth is more complex than they realized and they are thwarted in their attempts to reach the east tower that leads to the library itself. Going round and round, the men see a light, and Adso—having been frightened by a large distorted mirror a few moments ago—decides to follow it, trying to redeem himself. No one is in the room, and the light turns out to be a censer, not a lamp. Suddenly, Adso starts seeing visions and falls into unconsciousness. He is revived by William and learns that the censer contained a dangerous, hallucinogenic herb, set there to protect the library from intruders. William resolves to speak with Severinus the next day, remarking that the library “is guarded by many and most cunning devices.” He dislikes that “knowledge is used to conceal, rather than to enlighten” (203). After wandering aimlessly, the men stumble onto the stairway and depart, resolving to return the next evening. They devise a method of marking the walls to avoid getting lost next time. They encounter the abbot, who has been searching for them all night. He tells them that Berengar is missing.