D'Annunzio, Gabriele

D'Annunzio, Gabriele [ Gabriele Rapagnetta] (1863–1938), Italian poet, novelist, and dramatist, who in 1919 captured the port of Fiume (now Rijeka in Yugoslavia) for Italy, and thereafter became a political rather than a literary figure. His plays, simple in structure but rich in poetry and sensuality, aroused much controversy when first produced, but none is the product of an emotionally mature mind and none, except perhaps La figlia di Jorio (1904), is truly dramatic. His stage directions reveal the extent and accuracy of his archaeological knowledge, but his people are puppets, driven by elemental passions, and his plays live mainly by their poetry. Among the best known are La città morta (1898), in which worship of the Nietzschean superman is already apparent; La Gioconda (1899), in which Duse, who spent much time and money in furthering the production of D'Annunzio's plays, starred opposite Salvini; and Francesca da Rimini (1902). None of these has remained in the repertory, but a religious play written in French, Le Martyre de San-Sébastien (1911), is sometimes revived in a cut version for the sake of Debussy's incidental music. D'Annunzio's medieval verse tragedies, such as La fiaccola sotto il moggio (The Light under the Bushel, 1905), best demonstrate his tempestuous yet curiously static style. His search for heroic transcendence, and frequent underlying sadism, reflect the mood which gave rise to Fascism.