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Lorenzaccio
Lorenzino, Lorenzetta, Renzo, Renzino : Musset module à l'infini les surnoms et les masques pour désigner Lorenzo de Médicis, androgyne à l'aspect maladif qui nourrit en secret un projet terrible. Lorenzaccio, cousin et favori du duc Alexandre, est un modèle de débauche qui a pourtant ses entrées chez ceux qui la déplorent. Il sait que son acte, désespéré mais nécessaire sur le plan privé, sera récupéré par le flux, transformé en geste public dérisoire sur le plan universel. De tirades cyniques en monologues poignants, Musset trace les contours d'une silhouette fantasmagorique qui se détache d'une Florence en pleine déchéance. Pris au piège de son jeu bien plus qu'Hamlet, Lorenzaccio cultive son drame. Non pas comme d'autres romantiques cultivent leur mélancolie, mais parce que c'est le seul lien qui lui reste avec la réalité.
Musset, après l'échec cuisant de La Nuit vénitienne, décide de composer ses pièces sans les faire jouer. Son oeuvre sera donc un théâtre de spectres et de visions fugitives où l'individu fait place à des types humains participant à l'histoire, modelée à souhait par un enfant, non pas du siècle mais de tous les temps. --Sana Tang-Léopold Wauters
247 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1834
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1986 people want to read
About the author
Alfred de Musset
1,577 books221 followersAlfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century, autobiographical) from 1836.
Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris. His family was upper-class but poor and his father worked in various key government positions, but never gave his son any money. His mother was similarly accomplished, and her role as a society hostess, - for example her drawing-room parties, luncheons, and dinners, held in the Musset residence - left a lasting impression on young Alfred.
Early indications of Musset's boyhood talents were seen by his fondness for acting impromptu mini-plays based upon episodes from old romance stories he had read. Years later, elder brother Paul de Musset would preserve these, and many other details, for posterity, in a biography on his famous younger brother.
Alfred de Musset entered the collège Henri IV at the age of nine, where in 1827 he won the Latin essay prize in the Concours général. With the help of Paul Foucher, Victor Hugo's brother-in-law, he began to attend, at the age of 17, the Cénacle, the literary salon of Charles Nodier at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. After attempts at careers in medicine (which he gave up owing to a distaste for dissections), law, drawing, English and piano, he became one of the first Romantic writers, with his first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829, Tales of Spain and Italy). By the time he reached the age of 20, his rising literary fame was already accompanied by a sulphurous reputation fed by his dandy side.
He was the librarian of the French Ministry of the Interior under the July Monarchy. During this time he also involved himself in polemics during the Rhine crisis of 1840, caused by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers, who as Minister of the Interior had been Musset's superior. Thiers had demanded that France should own the left bank of the Rhine (described as France's "natural boundary"), as it had under Napoleon, despite the territory's German population. These demands were rejected by German songs and poems, including Nikolaus Becker's Rheinlied, which contained the verse: "Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..." (They shall not have it, the free, German Rhine). Musset answered to this with a poem of his own: "Nous l'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand" (We've had it, your German Rhine).
The tale of his celebrated love affair with George Sand, which lasted from 1833 to 1835, is told from his point of view in his autobiographical novel, La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century, made into a film, Children of the Century), and from her point of view in her Elle et lui. Musset's Nuits (1835–1837, Nights) trace his emotional upheaval of his love for George Sand, from early despair to final resignation. He is also believed to be the author of Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess (1833), a lesbian erotic novel, also believed to be modeled on George Sand.
Tomb of Alfred de Musset in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Musset was dismissed from his post as librarian by the new minister Ledru-Rollin after the revolution of 1848. He was however appointed librarian of the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1853.
Musset received the Légion d'honneur on 24 April 1845, at the same time as Balzac, and was elected to the Académie française in 1852 (after two failures to do so in 1848 and 1850).
Alfred de Musset died in his sleep on 2 May 1857. The cause was heart failure, the combination of alcoholism and a longstanding aortic insufficiency. One symptom that had been noticed by his brother was a bobbing of the head as a result of the amplification of the pulse; this was later called de Musset's sign. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris. His family was upper-class but poor and his father worked in various key government positions, but never gave his son any money. His mother was similarly accomplished, and her role as a society hostess, - for example her drawing-room parties, luncheons, and dinners, held in the Musset residence - left a lasting impression on young Alfred.
Early indications of Musset's boyhood talents were seen by his fondness for acting impromptu mini-plays based upon episodes from old romance stories he had read. Years later, elder brother Paul de Musset would preserve these, and many other details, for posterity, in a biography on his famous younger brother.
Alfred de Musset entered the collège Henri IV at the age of nine, where in 1827 he won the Latin essay prize in the Concours général. With the help of Paul Foucher, Victor Hugo's brother-in-law, he began to attend, at the age of 17, the Cénacle, the literary salon of Charles Nodier at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. After attempts at careers in medicine (which he gave up owing to a distaste for dissections), law, drawing, English and piano, he became one of the first Romantic writers, with his first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829, Tales of Spain and Italy). By the time he reached the age of 20, his rising literary fame was already accompanied by a sulphurous reputation fed by his dandy side.
He was the librarian of the French Ministry of the Interior under the July Monarchy. During this time he also involved himself in polemics during the Rhine crisis of 1840, caused by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers, who as Minister of the Interior had been Musset's superior. Thiers had demanded that France should own the left bank of the Rhine (described as France's "natural boundary"), as it had under Napoleon, despite the territory's German population. These demands were rejected by German songs and poems, including Nikolaus Becker's Rheinlied, which contained the verse: "Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien, deutschen Rhein ..." (They shall not have it, the free, German Rhine). Musset answered to this with a poem of his own: "Nous l'avons eu, votre Rhin allemand" (We've had it, your German Rhine).
The tale of his celebrated love affair with George Sand, which lasted from 1833 to 1835, is told from his point of view in his autobiographical novel, La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century, made into a film, Children of the Century), and from her point of view in her Elle et lui. Musset's Nuits (1835–1837, Nights) trace his emotional upheaval of his love for George Sand, from early despair to final resignation. He is also believed to be the author of Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess (1833), a lesbian erotic novel, also believed to be modeled on George Sand.
Tomb of Alfred de Musset in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Musset was dismissed from his post as librarian by the new minister Ledru-Rollin after the revolution of 1848. He was however appointed librarian of the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1853.
Musset received the Légion d'honneur on 24 April 1845, at the same time as Balzac, and was elected to the Académie française in 1852 (after two failures to do so in 1848 and 1850).
Alfred de Musset died in his sleep on 2 May 1857. The cause was heart failure, the combination of alcoholism and a longstanding aortic insufficiency. One symptom that had been noticed by his brother was a bobbing of the head as a result of the amplification of the pulse; this was later called de Musset's sign. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
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December 4, 2024
In 1896 Sarah Bernhardt decided to take Musset’s unplayable play Lorenzaccio, first published around sixty years earlier, in 1834, to the stage for the first time. It had never been performed before because its author had conceived it as a Spectacle dans un fauteuil, or a spectacle for the armchair. Bernhardt also chose to perform the eponymous leading role and ever since, until relatively recently, Lorenzaccio has been played by women.
This was not the first play for the armchair that Musset had written. This comfortable format allowed him complete freedom from stage production constraints. Form would not interfere with his intentions. This unwieldy play can take six hours of performance; it has a large number of characters; sudden and numerous changes of settings; some awkward instances of characters leaving the stage galloping off on a horse; some scenes have various dialogues engaged almost at the same time... For us, of course, all of this calls for a cinematographic rendering and Lorenzaccio was eventually filmed, but for a theatre director it was a beast that would have to endure taming in some form or other. Franco Zeffirelli attempted it at the Comédie Française in the 1970s. This stage performance was recorded.
I have picked this up in relation to my Florentine reading project, but I had read it at the University already. The play can be understood as a manifesto on Romantic drama. Musset wrote no literary treatises or essays, like Victor Hugo in Cromwell or Stendhal in his Racine Et Shakespeare. Instead he presented a demonstration of his literary beliefs and his Lorenzaccio broke away from all the rules from classical French drama from the 17th Century. French theatre was no longer to be French but more German (Schiller) and English (Shakespeare). Out of the window, or the stage, went the three famous unities of subject, time and place and along with them the bienséances or rules of décorum. That meant that language could be used in all its possible colours. This drastic new advocacy for a different type of drama had been dramatic enough when Victor Hugo’s Battle of Hernani took place a few years before Musset’s play-to-be-read.
If Musset wanted to feel free from form, he also wanted to feel free from history. The subject of this play follows two major leads. He based himself, very closely, on his lover’s Une conspiration de 1537 as well as on the Florentine chronicles by the Florentine Varchi. George Sand’s piece from 1827 is not a full play but a scène historique in dialogue form. And even if some lines from Musset’s work are parallel to some by Sand, he definitely changed the tone and toned down its bloodiness.
He also read Cellini’s The Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini, which I have been reading in parallel to Musset. And the French playwright certainly changed the somewhat undesirable personality of Cellini’s Lorenzino (Meanwhile, I went on making the Duke’s portrait; and oftentimes I found him napping after dinner with that Lorenzino of his, who afterwards murdered him... and that mad melancholy philosopher Lorenzino). If the Romantics favoured historical settings, Musset did not feel that he had to comply with historical accuracy. Musset gave his own destiny to his Lorenzaccio.
For it is not really the Florence of 1530s and the assassination of Duke Alessandro of Medici, Il Moro, by his cousin Lorenzo de Medici that interested Musset, but his own contemporary political scenery. These were the times of the July monarchy, which after raising so many hopes had also disappointed so many. And Musset’s pessimistic political agenda certainly gives the overall unity to this rich play.
But for me the most attractive aspect of the work is the elusive Lorenzaccio. Criticism identifies him with Musset’s alter ego. Possibly. The character certainly comes across as the Romantic hero who pursues a passionate but futile goal. But he can also appeal to the more modern aestheticism for his ambiguity. His intentions, behaviour, morality, sexuality,... bravery, remain suspect and open. We can now understand that an actress of the highest calibre would want to impersonate such a challenging figure.
May be a good film director could take up the Lorenzaccio challenge again.
--
Update: I just got tickets to watch a representation of this produced by a French troupe.
March 30, 2024
And here is the French Hamlet, or rather the cross between Brutus and Hamlet. I missed the romantic drama (how good!!), and this one linked to the story more than usual. We have natural village scenes and an even more significant number of characters and places. So much so that the play, by its rhythm, variety, and abundance, makes us think more of a novel from the 19th century. I didn't know much about Musset before reading it, and I particularly appreciated the autobiographical touches with Lorenzo's ghostly double his complex disenchantment. We see Hamlet's inspiration, except that he leaves less in all directions; his tension is resolved and put in black and white in Act III, scene III, a crucial passage, while the spectator facing Severus Snape "sliding like an eel" for both camps! Lorenzo's statement, and that of the play, is a bitter observation, still very current. It resonates more than ever in our time without hope and where humans have abandoned participation in the change of civilization. The play is a very violent demonstration of human inactivity and the immutability of History. We have difficulty digesting Lorenzo's acidity but accept this sad, pessimistic truth. He made me think of Raskolnikov thirty years before, but a Raskolnikov after the murder. We are talking about a work on the evil of the century (of the 19th century), but it is even more valid in the 21st century.
Favorite for Lorenzo and poor Philippe, his evolution is very psychological. Musset knows how to build his characters. The death of Louise Strozzi came like a cleaver, an authentic narrative guillotine-like Cordelia by King Lear, and that's what I want to congratulate the most in this play. Each act ended with an incredible twist, which left us in suspense like hell!! Paradoxically, Musset likes the anti-climax to also surprise us, as with the minimalist death of Alexandre.
I don't give it five stars because, despite the flashes of the text, we are far from the Hugolian storm. But it's a significant piece of romantic drama, that's for sure.
Favorite for Lorenzo and poor Philippe, his evolution is very psychological. Musset knows how to build his characters. The death of Louise Strozzi came like a cleaver, an authentic narrative guillotine-like Cordelia by King Lear, and that's what I want to congratulate the most in this play. Each act ended with an incredible twist, which left us in suspense like hell!! Paradoxically, Musset likes the anti-climax to also surprise us, as with the minimalist death of Alexandre.
I don't give it five stars because, despite the flashes of the text, we are far from the Hugolian storm. But it's a significant piece of romantic drama, that's for sure.
January 5, 2021
"Mirad ese cuerpecillo flaco, esa pinta de recién llegado de una orgía ambulante. Mirad esos ojos casi cerrados, esas manos débiles y torpes, apenas lo bastante firmes para sostener un abanico, ese rostro taciturno que a veces sonríe pero que no tiene fuerza para reír. ¿Es ése un hombre terrible?"
Una tragedia muy peculiar, que a pesar de no haberme gustado muchísimo, tiene aspectos muy interesantes y también bastante de originalidad. Esperaba, es cierto, que me guste más.
Esta tragedia de Musset tiene su origen en el interés que despertó en el autor la lectura de una pieza sobre el mismo tema, escrita por su amante, George Sand. Esta pieza conocida como "Una conspiración en 1537" también se encuentra en la formidable edición de Cátedra, así como un fragmento del origen aún más primigenio, de donde ambos aprendieron la historia de Lorenzo, "Historia Florentina" de Benedetto Varchi.
El personaje principal, que desde luego se roba absolutamente en mi opinión todas las miradas, es Lorenzaccio, llamado en el texto también Lorenzo, pues Lorenzaccio es más bien un apodo un poco despectivo. Lorenzo de Médicis es un joven de origen noble que es todo un personaje, resulta bastante inmoral, sarcástico y vicioso. Tiene costumbre de tomar alcohol, ir con mujeres incluso de la calle, prepara las orgías de su amigo el Duque de Médicis (quien viene a ser la máxima autoridad de Florencia) y siempre tiene una palabra hiriente e incluso irrespetuosa para el que lo rodea, sea hombre o mujer, joven o viejo. Eso lo hace parecer un loco y hasta su propia madre y hermana a veces sienten repulsión por él.
Sin embargo, a pesar del tono cómico - grotesco que toma Lorenzo durante casi toda la trama, el fondo es bastante serio. Alejandro de Médicis, primo y amigo de Lorenzo, es el duque de Florencia, pero él ha sido impuesto por Carlos V de Alemania quien lo maneja de manera directa. Ello no es del agrado de muchos ciudadanos quien desprecian a Alejandro porque además se conoce en toda la ciudad que es un hijo bastardo de un cardenal. Los que están en contra de sus bravuconadas, orgías y sumisión a los soldados alemanes que los secundan son sobre todo los republicanos: Filippo Strozzi y sus hijos, Ruccellai, Salviati y Pazzi. Mientras que del lado del Duque están sir Maurizzio, Valori, Giomo, el húngaro y los soldados.
"La mitad de un Médicis, un cernícalo que el cielo había destinado a ser mozo de carnicero o gañán labrador, se acuesta en la cama de nuestras hijas, se bebe nuestras botellas, rompe nuestras ventanas, y aún tenemos que pagarle por eso"
El argumento y trama de la historia desde luego incurre en varios "errores" históricos, así lo apunta bien mi excelente edición, en la cual incluso pone los datos incorrectos (parentesco, anacronía y un largo etcétera) y la veracidad histórica.
Definitivamente le han faltado muchas cosas que a mi gusto hacen una tragedia perfecta, sobre todo el tema de las motivaciones, la misma introducción de mi edición lo dice y subraya, están brumosas, no se llega a percibir en varios personajes realmente cuál es y eso a veces hace sus actos un poco incomprensibles además que le quita fuerza. Eso quizás es parte de la originalidad de la que he hablado, no es una tragedia derecha y consistente sino algo ambigua, pero todo va por el carácter de Lorenzo. Considero que él es la estrella y opaca demasiado a los demás. Existen subtramas pero ellas a veces no afectan demasiado la acción, por ello ése es otro problema para mí. No es un castillo bien armado como las tragedias de Shakespeare, probablemente Musset se salió aún más de lo convencional, pero le quita fuerza nuevamente.
Creo que es una obra que a muchos no les puede gustar, pero vamos, luego recuerdas al personaje de Lorenzo y eso se te pasa en un rato, porque a pesar de todo, su peculiaridad y su locura te hace sentir más humano, menos perfectible, no es desde luego un héroe sin tacha como los que acostumbro muchas veces a leer.
"Estoy harto de verme abucheado por cobardes sin nombre que me colman de injurias para no verse obligados a matarme, como deberían hacer"
Una tragedia muy peculiar, que a pesar de no haberme gustado muchísimo, tiene aspectos muy interesantes y también bastante de originalidad. Esperaba, es cierto, que me guste más.
Esta tragedia de Musset tiene su origen en el interés que despertó en el autor la lectura de una pieza sobre el mismo tema, escrita por su amante, George Sand. Esta pieza conocida como "Una conspiración en 1537" también se encuentra en la formidable edición de Cátedra, así como un fragmento del origen aún más primigenio, de donde ambos aprendieron la historia de Lorenzo, "Historia Florentina" de Benedetto Varchi.
El personaje principal, que desde luego se roba absolutamente en mi opinión todas las miradas, es Lorenzaccio, llamado en el texto también Lorenzo, pues Lorenzaccio es más bien un apodo un poco despectivo. Lorenzo de Médicis es un joven de origen noble que es todo un personaje, resulta bastante inmoral, sarcástico y vicioso. Tiene costumbre de tomar alcohol, ir con mujeres incluso de la calle, prepara las orgías de su amigo el Duque de Médicis (quien viene a ser la máxima autoridad de Florencia) y siempre tiene una palabra hiriente e incluso irrespetuosa para el que lo rodea, sea hombre o mujer, joven o viejo. Eso lo hace parecer un loco y hasta su propia madre y hermana a veces sienten repulsión por él.
Sin embargo, a pesar del tono cómico - grotesco que toma Lorenzo durante casi toda la trama, el fondo es bastante serio. Alejandro de Médicis, primo y amigo de Lorenzo, es el duque de Florencia, pero él ha sido impuesto por Carlos V de Alemania quien lo maneja de manera directa. Ello no es del agrado de muchos ciudadanos quien desprecian a Alejandro porque además se conoce en toda la ciudad que es un hijo bastardo de un cardenal. Los que están en contra de sus bravuconadas, orgías y sumisión a los soldados alemanes que los secundan son sobre todo los republicanos: Filippo Strozzi y sus hijos, Ruccellai, Salviati y Pazzi. Mientras que del lado del Duque están sir Maurizzio, Valori, Giomo, el húngaro y los soldados.
"La mitad de un Médicis, un cernícalo que el cielo había destinado a ser mozo de carnicero o gañán labrador, se acuesta en la cama de nuestras hijas, se bebe nuestras botellas, rompe nuestras ventanas, y aún tenemos que pagarle por eso"
El argumento y trama de la historia desde luego incurre en varios "errores" históricos, así lo apunta bien mi excelente edición, en la cual incluso pone los datos incorrectos (parentesco, anacronía y un largo etcétera) y la veracidad histórica.
Definitivamente le han faltado muchas cosas que a mi gusto hacen una tragedia perfecta, sobre todo el tema de las motivaciones, la misma introducción de mi edición lo dice y subraya, están brumosas, no se llega a percibir en varios personajes realmente cuál es y eso a veces hace sus actos un poco incomprensibles además que le quita fuerza. Eso quizás es parte de la originalidad de la que he hablado, no es una tragedia derecha y consistente sino algo ambigua, pero todo va por el carácter de Lorenzo. Considero que él es la estrella y opaca demasiado a los demás. Existen subtramas pero ellas a veces no afectan demasiado la acción, por ello ése es otro problema para mí. No es un castillo bien armado como las tragedias de Shakespeare, probablemente Musset se salió aún más de lo convencional, pero le quita fuerza nuevamente.
Creo que es una obra que a muchos no les puede gustar, pero vamos, luego recuerdas al personaje de Lorenzo y eso se te pasa en un rato, porque a pesar de todo, su peculiaridad y su locura te hace sentir más humano, menos perfectible, no es desde luego un héroe sin tacha como los que acostumbro muchas veces a leer.
"Estoy harto de verme abucheado por cobardes sin nombre que me colman de injurias para no verse obligados a matarme, como deberían hacer"
March 29, 2019
I can confirm it after this reread: Lorenzaccio is one of my favorite plays!
I'm fascinated by Lorenzo, his intelligence, his cunning, his loneliness and melancholy. I sometimes saw Tyrion Lannister in him: he loves to wield words, but can also use a sword! And he clearly has a problem with his family!
I love how this play, set in the XVIth century in Florence/Italy, also speaks volumes about the political situation in France, clearly unstable. It is also why one of the reflections in this book is about words versus action. People love to talk, but they rarely act. Their words are empty, just there to show opinions, but they rarely do something to change a situation that bothers them. Lorenzo despises them, and acts because he has to, because he wants a better future - or because it is the only meaning of his life now? Hypocrisy is also shown, and anticlericalism: clearly, Musset didn't like clerks very much!
I remember fondly this play because I had to study it when I was younger: after Antigone by Jean Anouilh, it is one of my rare favorites in this genre, one that actually makes me think and reminds me of the pleasure I took acting as a young girl! Delighted by this reread!
I'm fascinated by Lorenzo, his intelligence, his cunning, his loneliness and melancholy. I sometimes saw Tyrion Lannister in him: he loves to wield words, but can also use a sword! And he clearly has a problem with his family!
I love how this play, set in the XVIth century in Florence/Italy, also speaks volumes about the political situation in France, clearly unstable. It is also why one of the reflections in this book is about words versus action. People love to talk, but they rarely act. Their words are empty, just there to show opinions, but they rarely do something to change a situation that bothers them. Lorenzo despises them, and acts because he has to, because he wants a better future - or because it is the only meaning of his life now? Hypocrisy is also shown, and anticlericalism: clearly, Musset didn't like clerks very much!
I remember fondly this play because I had to study it when I was younger: after Antigone by Jean Anouilh, it is one of my rare favorites in this genre, one that actually makes me think and reminds me of the pleasure I took acting as a young girl! Delighted by this reread!
June 11, 2024
Si j'avais fait lettres modernes peut-être que Lorenzaccio aurait été mon sujet de mémoire. Cette pièce est tellement fascinante dans sa représentation de la violence et notamment du dédoublement de son personnage principal. On remercie tous George Sand qui a écrit le premier manuscrit et Musset qui l'a rendu gay.
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September 1, 2023Si tu n’as vu que le mal, je te plains ; mais je ne puis te croire. Le mal existe, mais non pas sans le bien; comme l’ombre existe, mais non sans la lumière.
October 28, 2021
Confession d'un enfant du siècle by Musset really impressed me and since reading it, I have learned more about Musset, his life and tumultuous love affaire with George Sand.
Musset came of age in the time after France's 1789 revolution, during the Restoration, and like most young men of his generation, he felt lost, jaded and maybe cheated out of an opportunity to get a taste of the ideals that defined the Romantic Movement.
He once said that it was like living on the ocean between two continents... He also said he was born too young in a world too old. I feel like many young people today could relate to his work if they gave this 19th century boy a chance.
Anyway Lorenzaccio is a stunning achievement.
Set during the Renaissance, during the Medici rule in Florence Italy , the play (which by the way could not be performed until 1896 because it ran 6 hours long and was impossible to stage ), tells the story of Lorenzo, a young man who thought himself pure and righteous until he was not.
I won't give away too much, if only to say that Lorenzo's story is a bit of fable and a fable that could fit today's times very well.
His obsession with what he sees as his cousin Alexander Medici's depravity and debauchery, leads Lorenzo down the rabbit hole, and soon, what he thought could not stick to him does.
In the pursuit of vengeance and justice, Lorenzo gets too close to the very evil he seeks to destroy.
We become what we obsess over if we are not careful.
We find in the world and in others what we look for.
In the play, there is a moment when an older and kind man tries to dissuade Lorenzo not to go through with his plan, and Lorenzo's answer is simple: The old man sees the city he chooses to see. Walls. Homes. Decent people inside.
Lorenzo tells him that he knows what lurks inside those homes. That everyone is corrupt and he's seen humanity's dirty underwear and now there is no way for him to recapture his blessed innocence.
What we choose to see or ignore is a great and difficult choice we all face every day...
Musset came of age in the time after France's 1789 revolution, during the Restoration, and like most young men of his generation, he felt lost, jaded and maybe cheated out of an opportunity to get a taste of the ideals that defined the Romantic Movement.
He once said that it was like living on the ocean between two continents... He also said he was born too young in a world too old. I feel like many young people today could relate to his work if they gave this 19th century boy a chance.
Anyway Lorenzaccio is a stunning achievement.
Set during the Renaissance, during the Medici rule in Florence Italy , the play (which by the way could not be performed until 1896 because it ran 6 hours long and was impossible to stage ), tells the story of Lorenzo, a young man who thought himself pure and righteous until he was not.
I won't give away too much, if only to say that Lorenzo's story is a bit of fable and a fable that could fit today's times very well.
His obsession with what he sees as his cousin Alexander Medici's depravity and debauchery, leads Lorenzo down the rabbit hole, and soon, what he thought could not stick to him does.
In the pursuit of vengeance and justice, Lorenzo gets too close to the very evil he seeks to destroy.
We become what we obsess over if we are not careful.
We find in the world and in others what we look for.
In the play, there is a moment when an older and kind man tries to dissuade Lorenzo not to go through with his plan, and Lorenzo's answer is simple: The old man sees the city he chooses to see. Walls. Homes. Decent people inside.
Lorenzo tells him that he knows what lurks inside those homes. That everyone is corrupt and he's seen humanity's dirty underwear and now there is no way for him to recapture his blessed innocence.
What we choose to see or ignore is a great and difficult choice we all face every day...
July 18, 2025
ai oublié dans ma lointaine jeunesse de faire une petite revue juste pour vous dire de regarder la mise en scène de Franco Zeffirelli c'est sur youtube.... Francis Huster en Lorenzaccio tu as changé des vies sache-le
August 28, 2023
Lorenzaccio: « i drive »
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December 6, 2021J'avoue que c'est le théâtre qui m'avait introduite à la littérature. Ma toute première lecture sérieuse était la comédie de Beaumarchais - Le barbier de Séville ou La précaution inutile. C'est grâce au bon souvenir que je n'hésitais pas à lire et relire Corneille, Racine, Molière, et par conséquent de Musset.
Lorenzaccio est une pièce théâtrale qui reprend les thématiques habituelles de son auteur, sauf que pour celle ci une autre dimension politique précisément florentine qui fait de Lorenzaccio sont chef d'œuvre en drame romantique.
Se déroulant en Florence au 16ème siècle, Lorenzo de Medicis tente un coup d'état contre son cousin. Cela aurait pu être le plus banal des actes en ce temps, si ce n'était pas pour le lyrisme de l'auteur et le canon tragique grec: le fameux sentiment de fatalité épouvantable face aux événements.
Pour rapprocher le sentiment qu'on a en lisant à de Musset, c'est comme si Shakespeare écrivait en Français.
La pièce était interdite par la censure de Napoléon III, pour ses propos politiques évidemment.
Si vous n'avez pas de goût pour un drame, autant lire ces deux autres œuvres qui m'ont toujours fait rire ou du moins réfléchir :
- On ne badine pas avec l'amour;
- Il ne faut jurer de rien.
Lorenzaccio est une pièce théâtrale qui reprend les thématiques habituelles de son auteur, sauf que pour celle ci une autre dimension politique précisément florentine qui fait de Lorenzaccio sont chef d'œuvre en drame romantique.
Se déroulant en Florence au 16ème siècle, Lorenzo de Medicis tente un coup d'état contre son cousin. Cela aurait pu être le plus banal des actes en ce temps, si ce n'était pas pour le lyrisme de l'auteur et le canon tragique grec: le fameux sentiment de fatalité épouvantable face aux événements.
Pour rapprocher le sentiment qu'on a en lisant à de Musset, c'est comme si Shakespeare écrivait en Français.
La pièce était interdite par la censure de Napoléon III, pour ses propos politiques évidemment.
Si vous n'avez pas de goût pour un drame, autant lire ces deux autres œuvres qui m'ont toujours fait rire ou du moins réfléchir :
- On ne badine pas avec l'amour;
- Il ne faut jurer de rien.
February 4, 2022
Review en Français • en Español • in English
C'est une belle pièce qui malgré qu'elle est située au 16e siècle, en Florence, critique la France des années 1800s et les échecs de ses révolutions. Le personnage principal de ce livre est mon préféré de la tradition du romantisme—le jeune homme qui souffre—ici représenté par un portrait psychologique grotesque, mais aussi légèrement surréaliste.
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Es una bonita obra de teatro que, a pesar de estar situada en el siglo 16 en Florencia, critica la Francia de los años 1800s y los fracasos de sus revoluciones. El personaje principal de esta libro es mi favorito de la tradición del romanticismo—el joven que sufre—aquí representado en un marco psicológico grotesco, pero también un tanto surrealista.
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This play is nice and, despite being situated in 16th century Italy, it criticizes the France of the 1800s and the failures of its revolutions. The main character from this book is my favourite in the tradition of romanticism—the young man who's constantly suffering—here portrayed in a rather grotesque way and slightly surreal.
C'est une belle pièce qui malgré qu'elle est située au 16e siècle, en Florence, critique la France des années 1800s et les échecs de ses révolutions. Le personnage principal de ce livre est mon préféré de la tradition du romantisme—le jeune homme qui souffre—ici représenté par un portrait psychologique grotesque, mais aussi légèrement surréaliste.
—
Es una bonita obra de teatro que, a pesar de estar situada en el siglo 16 en Florencia, critica la Francia de los años 1800s y los fracasos de sus revoluciones. El personaje principal de esta libro es mi favorito de la tradición del romanticismo—el joven que sufre—aquí representado en un marco psicológico grotesco, pero también un tanto surrealista.
—
This play is nice and, despite being situated in 16th century Italy, it criticizes the France of the 1800s and the failures of its revolutions. The main character from this book is my favourite in the tradition of romanticism—the young man who's constantly suffering—here portrayed in a rather grotesque way and slightly surreal.
January 14, 2024
2.5
J'ai aimé la moitié des dialogues, je n'ai pas aimé l'autre. La moyenne me paraît adéquate.
J'ai aimé la moitié des dialogues, je n'ai pas aimé l'autre. La moyenne me paraît adéquate.
October 29, 2023
Never have I ever been so invested in theater.
This is a novel except it’s not prose. This is poetry except it doesn’t rhyme. This book is so utterly, annoyingly great (and also the whole of act 2 is queer coded as hell (I’m a sucker for chaotic evil/chaotic good dynamic and this is the best I promise)).
Also now I’ve thought of Lorenzaccio and Cardan in the Cruel Prince as the same person I can’t undo it. They ARE the SAME PERSON. They even wear the same black eyeshadow I bet.
I will kill Cardinal Cibo because he’s a rat, marry the Marquise Cibo because her getting out of her toxic relationship with the latter slaysss and also I kiss Phillipe Strozzi on the forehead because he’s a cute lost-in-his-fifties daddy and I marry Lorenzaccio because he’s my BABY I love him and morally grey TikTok boyfriends can go and cry in their mama’s closet (btw did I mention Lorenzaccio’s daddy issues ? The ideal man I’m telling you…). Just joking he’s gay as fuck but I’m on the floor right now.
This book destroyed whatever good sense I had left and now I’m punishing the air. Good night.
This is a novel except it’s not prose. This is poetry except it doesn’t rhyme. This book is so utterly, annoyingly great (and also the whole of act 2 is queer coded as hell (I’m a sucker for chaotic evil/chaotic good dynamic and this is the best I promise)).
Also now I’ve thought of Lorenzaccio and Cardan in the Cruel Prince as the same person I can’t undo it. They ARE the SAME PERSON. They even wear the same black eyeshadow I bet.
I will kill Cardinal Cibo because he’s a rat, marry the Marquise Cibo because her getting out of her toxic relationship with the latter slaysss and also I kiss Phillipe Strozzi on the forehead because he’s a cute lost-in-his-fifties daddy and I marry Lorenzaccio because he’s my BABY I love him and morally grey TikTok boyfriends can go and cry in their mama’s closet (btw did I mention Lorenzaccio’s daddy issues ? The ideal man I’m telling you…). Just joking he’s gay as fuck but I’m on the floor right now.
This book destroyed whatever good sense I had left and now I’m punishing the air. Good night.
November 13, 2014
Lorenzaccio is one of the greatest plays written in France during the 19th century. Because of its length and complexity, it was long considered to be a work to be read rather than staged. Sarah Bernhardt finally performed the work in the 1890s playing the title role of the tormented teenager Lorenzaccio and it is has stayed in the repertory ever since.
Set in 16th Century Florence, it is a wonderful text about how to act meaningfully in a state governed by a tyrant. The adolescent Lorenzaccio finally decides to assassinate the evil Duc, an act that will cost him his life.
Depending on your mood, this play is full of the atmosphere of Renaissance Florence or 19th century Paris. This play is a great choice for undergraduate courses because of its quintessential romanticist and juvenile angst. It is still fun to read at any age and according to many still best performed in drag.
Set in 16th Century Florence, it is a wonderful text about how to act meaningfully in a state governed by a tyrant. The adolescent Lorenzaccio finally decides to assassinate the evil Duc, an act that will cost him his life.
Depending on your mood, this play is full of the atmosphere of Renaissance Florence or 19th century Paris. This play is a great choice for undergraduate courses because of its quintessential romanticist and juvenile angst. It is still fun to read at any age and according to many still best performed in drag.
August 3, 2021
"Mirad ese cuerpecillo flaco, esa pinta de recién llegado de una orgía ambulante. Mirad esos ojos casi cerrados, esas manos débiles y torpes, apenas lo bastante firmes pars sostener un abanico, ese rostro taciturno que a veces sonríe pero que no tiene fuerza para reír. ¿Es ése un hombre terrible?"
+
"Cuando están dos hombres al sol, ¿no hay siempre uno cuya sombra molesta al otro?"
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"Lo que se llama virtud, ¿es sólo la ropa de domingo que uno se pone para ir a misa?"
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"Seguramente no todos los hombres son capaces de hacer grandes cosas, pero son sensibles a las grandes cosas"
Nota: antes de ver a encenação de Rogério de Carvalho no Festival de Almada, procurei ler a peça (teve de ser em espanhol) para não ficar tão perdido na imensidade de personagens e de horas que o espetáculo prometia.
+
"Cuando están dos hombres al sol, ¿no hay siempre uno cuya sombra molesta al otro?"
+
"Lo que se llama virtud, ¿es sólo la ropa de domingo que uno se pone para ir a misa?"
+
"Seguramente no todos los hombres son capaces de hacer grandes cosas, pero son sensibles a las grandes cosas"
Nota: antes de ver a encenação de Rogério de Carvalho no Festival de Almada, procurei ler a peça (teve de ser em espanhol) para não ficar tão perdido na imensidade de personagens e de horas que o espetáculo prometia.
May 5, 2021
Le théâtre : une bonne option pour une lecture en un jour.
Bon, j'ai trouvé Lorenzo pénible et pas été mécontente qu'on le foute dans un fleuve à la fin. Le romantisme n'est pas pour moi.
Les personnages féminins étaient nazes et servaient simplement à faire avancer l'intrigue, mention spéciale pour Louise, que l'on n'entend JAMAIS (bon, légère exagération) et dont l'agression sexuelle puis la mort servent de motivation à ses frères et à son père.
Bon, j'ai trouvé Lorenzo pénible et pas été mécontente qu'on le foute dans un fleuve à la fin. Le romantisme n'est pas pour moi.
Les personnages féminins étaient nazes et servaient simplement à faire avancer l'intrigue, mention spéciale pour Louise, que l'on n'entend JAMAIS (bon, légère exagération) et dont l'agression sexuelle puis la mort servent de motivation à ses frères et à son père.
September 9, 2022
Honnêtement j'ai pas vraiment compris qui était qui, il y a trop de personnages et trop de liens familiaux pour moi.
February 13, 2021
"Qu'importe que la conscience soit vivante si le bras est mort?"
May 28, 2022
Les pièces de théâtre c’est vraiment pas pour moi mais ça me choque comment la mort des personnages ne suscite aucune réaction pour les autres personnages 🥲
December 5, 2023
I'm convinced Lorenzaccio was morally grey
October 26, 2024
La pièce est sympa mais il y a trop de personnages et ça rend l'histoire difficile à suivre au début
March 8, 2012
J'ai le souvenir d'avoir dévoré cette pièce pour une simple raison : le style. L'écriture d'Alfred de Musset est limpide et pourtant magique. Chaque mot est choisi avec soin, chaque phrase a une portée. La pièce en elle-même est parfois complexe : entre le nombre de personnages et le nombre de lieux, il faut s'y retrouver — sûrement une des pièces les plus difficiles à jouer. Je ne peux que conseiller de la lire.
February 5, 2015
Pièce de théâtre qui m'avait été imposé en littérature.
Au premier abord j'ai détesté, je trouvais l'histoire longue, ennuyante et sans grand intérêt.
Et finalement avec les analyses et les cours, donc avec un peu plus de culture j'ai mieux compris et j'ai su plus apprécié cette pièce.
Je conseille à ceux qui veulent la lire de prendre un petit livre explicatif qui va avec afin de mieux la comprendre.
Au premier abord j'ai détesté, je trouvais l'histoire longue, ennuyante et sans grand intérêt.
Et finalement avec les analyses et les cours, donc avec un peu plus de culture j'ai mieux compris et j'ai su plus apprécié cette pièce.
Je conseille à ceux qui veulent la lire de prendre un petit livre explicatif qui va avec afin de mieux la comprendre.
July 5, 2020
4,5
"Le mal existe, mais pas sans le bien, comme l'ombre existe, mais pas sans la lumière."
Lorenzaccio est certainement une de mes pièces préférées. J'ai beaucoup aimé l'étudié, j'ai même acheté le dvd de la comédie française tellement le texte m'a plu ! Je me rappelle encore des citations que j'avais dû apprendre par cœur pour un contrôle !
"Le vice a été pour moi un vêtement, maintenant il est collé à ma peau."
"Le mal existe, mais pas sans le bien, comme l'ombre existe, mais pas sans la lumière."
Lorenzaccio est certainement une de mes pièces préférées. J'ai beaucoup aimé l'étudié, j'ai même acheté le dvd de la comédie française tellement le texte m'a plu ! Je me rappelle encore des citations que j'avais dû apprendre par cœur pour un contrôle !
"Le vice a été pour moi un vêtement, maintenant il est collé à ma peau."
March 16, 2018
Ca sera finalement pas un coup de coeur parce que j'ai déjà été plus envouté par la plume de Musset mais j'ai aimé le parcours humain de Lorenzo, l'ambiance insurrectionnelle autour des Médicis et les questionnements que ça entraine sur le courage nécessaire pour passer des paroles aux actes. Et je me suis fait la même réflexion hier soir en écoutant une interview de Sylvain Tesson, je suis beaucoup trop attaché aux mots et aux idées et assez lâche dans mes actes.
January 13, 2024
de Musset manages to make this incredibly funny and dramatic, sadly in some of its most important moments, the stakes are not taken higher and then it seems a little dull. Maybe watching the play might highten the drama
February 3, 2014
Alfred de Musset seems to be one of my favourite classical author. With few words, he can talk about politics and morality in two places at the same time : Florence and Paris.
February 11, 2019
pour devenir son ami, et acquérir sa confiance, il fallait baiser sur ses lèvres épaisses tous les restes de ses orgies.
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