de Musset: Lorenzaccio

By Alfred de Musset

Book Overview

This new edition of Musset's masterpiece is intended to clarify this rich and fascinating text for the English-speaking reader. The detailed introduction sets the text in both its literary and cultural context, and also explores the interpretative issues raised by a work which, although one of the greatest plays written in French during the nineteenth century was originally intended to be read rather than staged. The structure and themes of the text are also explored, and the copious notes elucidate the wide range of Musset's cultural and historical references. The edition makes use of recent research into the author without ignoring the ground-breaking work in Musset studies done by scholars from the early decades of the twentieth century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1853995169
• ISBN13: 9781853995163
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Of course, it is in French -- this is the French section !

Lorenzaccio is a great play. Musset's book sometimes looks more like a novel than a play. Actually, the play was not staged until after Musset's death and I think it has never been played integrally. Indeed, the play is very long, with endless monologues, and exuberant. Briefly, Lorenzaccio is about Lorenzo de Medicis, cousin of Alexander, Duke and tyran of Florence. Lorenzo shares Alexander's debauchery, but we soon realize that it is only a way for him to gain his cousin's confidence in order to murder him. Lorenzo wants to kill Alexander to bring freedom to Florence, but he ends up realizing that his action is useless and will not change anything. It is definitely a sad play, picturing the struggle of this young man between cynism and dispair. Around him, the (numerous) other characters are also struggling with their own obsesssions and troubles. It is also a very critical play. Musset uses anachronisms to create a parallel between Lorenzo's time and the XIXth century. Through Lorenzo's story, he denounces the cowardice of the people and the "society of the spectacle". But the critics is definitely not the most interesting part of the book : Musset was a young idealistic man and his "commentaries" lacks depth and restraint. What makes Lorenzaccio a French classic is the baroc beauty of the writing, the excessive tragedy of the story and the passionate characters -- all the ingredients of the Romantic movement. The monologues are just so beautiful that I used to recite them to myself. Just buy it, and if you cannot read French, look for an English version...