Abdelazer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge (German: Abdelazer or Die Rache des Mauren ) is a play by the English writer Aphra Behn from 1676.

The play is an adaptation of the English Restoration - tragedy Lust's Dominion, or The Lascivious Queen (German: The reign of pleasure or the lustful queen ). The original was first printed in 1657 in duodec format and initially attributed to Christopher Marlowe , but this is doubtful.

In the summer of 1695 the English composer Henry Purcell wrote the Abdelazer Suite , which contains the overture and the interludes of the theatrical performance.

Characters

Male roles
  • Ferdinand: a young king of Spain, in love with Florella
  • Philip: his brother
  • Abdelasar: the Moor
  • Mendozo: Prince- Cardinal , in love with the Queen
  • Alonzo: a young nobleman from Spain, engaged to Leonora
  • Roderigo: a creature of the Moors
  • Antonio & Sebastian: Two officers of the king
  • Osmin & Zarrack: Moors and officers from Abdelazar
  • Ordonio: a courtier
  • A farm boy, shepherd, courtiers, officers, guards, soldiers, Moors, pages, and servants.
Women roles
  • Isabella: Queen of Spain, mother of Ferdinand and Philip, in love with Abdelazer
  • Leonora: her daughter, sister of Ferdinand and Philip
  • Florella: Abdelazer's wife and Alonzo's sister
  • Elvira: maid of the queen
  • A nymph , shepherdesses and servants

action

The old king of Spain conquered the Moroccan city ​​of Fez and killed the Moorish monarch, took the orphaned prince Abdelazer under his protection and later made him a general .

Abdelazer, although always courageous, always has his greatest desire for revenge. To gain influence, much less than for love, he becomes the queen's lover. She, a lustful and wicked woman, made a pact with the Moors to poison her husband, on whose death Philip, her second son, recently returned from a war expedition, leaving his army some distance away, falling into a mad rage, and his Mother publicly accused of adultery with Abdelazer. She is highly angry, but Cardinal Mendozo, as the king's guardian, promptly banishes her lover. The young King Ferdinand, however, revokes this ordinance in order to please Florella, the Moor's wife, whom he loves.

Abdelazer, next orders his native officer Osmin, in revenge, to kill Philip and the cardinal. They flee at night disguised as monks while Abdelazer alarms the castle with treachery and reports to the king that Philip and the cardinal have conspired to murder him. Ferdinand orders Abdelazer to follow them, intending to visit Florella while her husband is absent. To pride and ruin, Abdelazer, fully aware of his plan, equips Florella with a dagger, begging her to stab the king if he persists in his plan.

Elvira, the Queen Mother's confidante, sees the King go to Florella's apartments and sends the message to her mistress, who, with hidden reluctance, informs the Moor's brother-in-law, Alonzo. Florella resists courtship from the king and threatens to stab herself with the dagger. At that moment the queen storms in and kills her, feigning the suspicion of Florella's attack on the king's life. Your real motive for doing this is jealousy. While the king falls crying at the feet of his mistress, Abdelazer comes in and kills Ferdinand in the ensuing duel.

Philip is then declared king, but Abdelazer announcing that Philip is a bastard, from a secret confession of the queen, declares himself the protector of Spain, overwhelmed by his followers the princes accept him. Alonzo, however, fled to Philip's camp with the messages. A battle ensues between the two parties, but the queen insidiously secrete Mendozo, who loves her, from Philip, and although the Moors were repulsed first, they now got an advantage and Philip was captured. At a general meeting of the nobles, the Queen reports the false story of Philip's illegality and claims that the cardinal is his father. She asks Mendozo to acknowledge this in private in order to gain the crown in this way, but he refuses to represent such a lie and is promptly captured as a traitor.

Abdelazer promotes the Infanta Leonora and declares her Queen of Spain. Next he asks Roderigo, also a Moor, to kill the queen mother immediately. Roderigo gets in by disguising himself as a monk and stabs her, whereupon Abdelazer storms in and slaughters him to cover himself. He next announces his love for Leonora and is about to rape her when Osmin, his officer, enters to inform him that Alonzo, to whom Leonora is engaged, has resisted his arrest and is finally safe. Abdelazer, upset by the interruption, wounds Osmin in the arm. Leonora regrets this blow; and the Moorish soldier, deeply hurt by this insult, resolves to betray his masters.

Accordingly, he goes to the prison where Philip, the cardinal, and Alonzo are imprisoned, killing his companion Zarrack, who would be their executioner, he frees them. When Abdelazer finally arrives, he is trapped. Nevertheless, he triumphs over his crimes, and as the liberated tamper with him, Osmin, weakened because of his wound, is killed, Abdelazer himself drops dead in the crowd. The cardinal is pardoned, Leonora and Alonzo are united while Philip ascends the throne.

Web links