Guido Colonna, the commander of Pisa's tired and depleted garrison, has just received the demands of the Florentine army surrounding the city: hand over his wife, Lady Giovanna, for one night. If Guido refuses, they will kill him, Monna Vanna, and Pisa's thirty-thousand citizens at dawn.
WHY I LOVE IT
This 3-act, 100-page play surges forward at a terrific pace, continuously ratcheting up the tension between Guido, Monna Vanna, and Prinzivalle, the Florentine army's commander; his initial demand — and the major characters' choices to accept or reject it — become complicated as we learn the circumstances behind the demand, of the marriage of Vanna and Guido, and of the war itself.
I don't want to give anything more away in terms of plot, but I loved Maeterlinck's ability to transform a traditional love triangle into a web of interconnected motives, ambitions, and choices — all resolved via a satisfying climax. {JG}
I don't want to give anything more away in terms of plot, but I loved Maeterlinck's ability to transform a traditional love triangle into a web of interconnected motives, ambitions, and choices — all resolved via a satisfying climax. {JG}
FAVORITE QUOTES
{ * } "I come as you have willed." — Monna Vanna, Act II
{ * } "I am but a poor wretch whose eyes rest for one moment on the goal of his whole life."
— Prinzivalle, Act II
{ * } "It is all over now—all shall be forgotten in our splendid vengeance...'Twas but an evil dream."
— Guido, Act III
{ * } "I am but a poor wretch whose eyes rest for one moment on the goal of his whole life."
— Prinzivalle, Act II
{ * } "It is all over now—all shall be forgotten in our splendid vengeance...'Twas but an evil dream."
— Guido, Act III
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I haven't read any other works by the Belgian poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, but some of his best-known works include The Life of the Bee, a fable-essay that explores the society of bees and its grand achievements in architecture and self-sacrifice. Another play I've seen recommended is The Blue Bird, a fairy-tale-like play involving two poor and unloved children trying to understand the luxury and happiness around them in the city. Will be sure to report back in the coming weeks.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
{ * } Polyeuctus by Pierre Cornielle
{ * } The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan
{ * } L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand
{ * } Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
{ * } Chantecler by Edmond Rostand
{ * } The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan
{ * } L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand
{ * } Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
{ * } Chantecler by Edmond Rostand
