A Florentine Tragedy and La Sainte Courtisane

About this film

LibriVox dramatic recording of A Florentine Tragedy and La Sainte Courtisane, by Oscar Wilde. Includes an introduction by Robert Ross. Two short fragments: an unfinished and a lost play. A Florentine Tragedy, left in a taxi (not a handbag), is Wilde’s most successful attempt at tragedy – intense and domestic, with surprising depth of characterisation. It was adapted into an opera by the Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky in 1917. La Sainte Courtisane, or The Woman Covered in Jewels explores one of Wilde’s great idées fixes: the paradox of religious hedonism, pagan piety. Both plays, Wildean to their core, revel in the profound sadness that is the fruit of the conflict between fidelity and forbidden love. Written towards the end of his tragic life, these fragments give us a glimpse of a genius at his best: visceral, passionate, personal, poetic. (Summary by Simon Larois) For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording. For more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit LibriVox.org . Download M4B (26MB)

Directors & creators

Oscar Wilde

Subjects

Librivox; audiobook; Wilde; drama; play; Ross

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