Francesca Da Rimini (1855), a tragedy by George H.
Boker. [
Broadway Theatre, 8 perf.] In hopes of putting an end to the long feud between Guelfs and Ghibellines, Lanciotto ( E. L.
Davenport) of Rimini is engaged to Francesca ( Elizabeth
Ponisi) of Ravenna. Lanciotto is a spindly hunchback whose brother Paolo ( Mr. Lanergan) has often had to defend him from cruel jibes. The brothers love each other, so Lanciotto asks Paolo to go to Ravenna to bring back the bride. Paolo and Francesca fall in love, but at first both attempt to constrain themselves. The sight of Lanciotto, however, drives Francesca into the handsome Paolo's arms. When the vicious jester, Pepe ( Charles
Fisher), reports the rendezvous to Lanciotto, Lanciotto kills him. In a jealous fury he rushes to find Paolo and Francesca in an embrace. He kills them, too, then stabs himself. Derived from an incident in Dante, the drama was only moderately successful at first. Fine revivals by Lawrence
Barrett in 1882 and Otis
Skinner in 1901 led to a further appreciation of its merits. Boker's modern biographer, Professor Sculley Bradley, has written in
Literary History of the United States, “In Francesca da Rimini . . . Boker found his masterpiece. Of seven plays on this theme in four languages, his is the only one to conceive the pathos of the deformed husband, Lanciotto, without sacrificing the enduring appeal of the young lovers, Paolo and Francesca, and to recognize that callous society, not fate, was the agent of the tragedy. . . . With this play, romantic tragedy in America achieved the dignity of art.”
