Riscritture e variazioni dannunziane : la Francesca da Rimini

In the tragedy Francesca da Rimini d’Annunzio revives the famous episode of the fifth canto of Dante’s Inferno, starting from the story of Andrea Lancia and the other Florentine commentators and above all from the story of Giovanni Boccaccio. In d’Annunzio, therefore, the most ancient nucleus of history as it was outlined in the fourteenth century does not disappear, but it is scattered in a few verses and in the final captions of the last scene. From the dramatist’s intense documentary work, his tragedy of blood and lust is born, which is a vivid and new fresco of the Middle Ages. Among the most successful novelties there are two characters: Malatestino Malatesta and the Cypriot slave Smaragdi.