Florante at Laura

Florante at Laura[lower-alpha 1] is an 1838 awit written by Tagalog poet Francisco Balagtas. The story is loosely based on his own biography: Balagtas wrote the epic during his imprisonment in Manila in c. 1835 – c. 1836.[2] The story was dedicated to his former sweetheart María Asuncion Rivera, whom he nicknamed "M.A.R." and Selya in Kay Selya ("For Celia").[3][4][5]

Florante at Laura
Title page of a 1913 book featuring Florante at Laura
AuthorFrancisco Balagtas
CountryCaptaincy General of the Philippines
LanguageTagalog
GenreFiction, epic poetry
Set inAlbania
Published1838/1853[1]
ISBN978-1-78435-092-5

Form

Florante at Laura is written as an awit, meaning "song", but it also refers to a standard poetic format with the following characteristics:[6]

  1. four lines per stanza;[7] quatrain[6]
  2. twelve syllables per line;[7]
  3. an assonantal rhyme scheme of AAAA (as described by José Rizal in Tagalische Verskunst);
  4. a caesura or pause after the sixth syllable;[7]
  5. a complete, grammatically correct sentence and a figure of speech for each stanza

Plot

Florante

The son of a princess and a royal adviser, Florante was loved and taken care of. When he was a baby, he was almost captured by a vulture that entered in their mountain cottage. He was saved by his cousin Menalipo, an archer from Epirus.

At 11 years old, Florante's parents, Duke Briseo and Princess Floresca, sent him to Athens, Greece, to study under Antenor, a renowned teacher. There, he meets Adolfo, the brightest student in their school. After six years of studying Astrology, Philosophy and Mathematics, Florante surpassed Adolfo's capabilities, talents, and intelligence, gaining popularity. While performing during a school contest, Adolfo attempts to kill Florante due to jealousy. Florante's friend, Menandro, was quick enough to save Florante, thus causing Adolfo to head home to Albania.

Two months later, Florante receives ten carriages along with a second letter from his father telling him to return to Albania. Menandro, unwilling to be separated from Florante and gaining permission to travel by his uncle Antenor, accompanied him on his journey. Upon their arrival to Albania, an emissary of the kingdom of Crotona requested Albania's assistance in the upcoming war against the Persians; Florante accepts to be the general that would help Crotona. In Albania, Florante falls in love with Laura, the daughter of King Linceo, completely forgetting about the war.

Helping Crotona, Florante fights against the Persian general Osmalik for five hours, finally slaying him in the end. He stays in Crotona for five months before returning to Albania to see Laura, where he sees a Persian flag waving atop the kingdom. He saves Laura from being beheaded from the hands of Emir, later recapturing the palace and saving his father, the King, and Count Adolfo; Florante is declared "Defender of Albania" for his bravery, deepening Adolfo's envy and hatred.

Florante protects the kingdom from the Turkish forces under General Miramolin, an acclaimed conqueror. In Aetolia, Florante later receives a letter from King Linceo, requesting him to come back to Albania. Upon returning, he is ambushed by 30,000 soldiers under Adolfo's orders and is imprisoned for 18 days. In prison, he learns his father and the king were beheaded by Adolfo. Florante is exiled to the forest and is tied to a tree for two days.

Aladin

After Florante finishes his story, Aladin introduces himself as Prince Aladin of the Persian kingdom and the son of Sultan Ali-Adab.

While walking through the forest, Aladin speaks about his lover, Flerida, whom his father also desired. After Aladin returns home from invading Albania, Ali-Adab imprisons him by claiming Aladin abandoned his troops, resulting in Aladin getting ordered decapitated. Aladin is eventually released by a general on Ali-Adab's orders, but Aladin is banished and may never enter the kingdom. Aladin roams around the forest, hears Florante, and finds him tied to a tree; he saves Florante from two lions and nurses him back to health.

Reunion and peace

Aladin's speech is interrupted when he and Florante hear voices. A woman, Flerida, tells them her beloved is about to be beheaded. She pleads with tears to the king to forgive his son; the king answers that he will not forgive his son unless she accepts his proposal of marriage. She escapes from the marriage, later searching for her beloved. She shares that she uses her bow and arrow in the forest to kill Adolfo, who was about to rape a woman—Laura.

Florante and Aladin reunite with their loved ones, Laura and Flerida. After they reunite, Laura tells her story: While Laura's lover was away at war, Adolfo made rumours, which causes the Albanians to overthrow the king. Adolfo rises to the throne, forcing Laura to be his queen. An army under Menandro, Florante's childhood friend, was able to overthrow Adolfo from power. Now hopeless, Adolfo flees into the woods with Laura.

Florante, Laura, Aladin, Flerida, and Menandro return to Albania. Florante and Laura as well as Aladin and Flerida marry, with the first couple rising up as king and queen. Aladin and Flerida return to Persia where they become king and queen.

Legacy

The play adaption of Florante at Laura is part of the Philippine high school curriculum.[8]

An unedited reading performance of the Florante at Laura in North America was mounted by the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba on June 10, 2023, for Philippine Heritage Month celebrations in Canada.[9] The performance was a novel interpretation of the 1838 epic, combining theatrical staging and choreography.

Characters
  • Florante – defender of Albania; son of Duke Briseo and Princessa Floresca
  • Laura – daughter of Haring Linceo of Albania; Florante's lover
  • Aladin – son of Sultan Ali-Adab of Persia; Muslim who saves and helps Florante
  • Flerida – lover of Aladin who is forcibly being taken by his father Sultan Ali-Adab
  • Haring Linceo – Laura's father and king of Albania
  • Sultan Ali-Adab – Aladin's father and sultan of Persia
  • Princessa Floresca – Florante's mother and princess of Crotona
  • Duke Briseo – Florante's father and Haring Linceo's royal adviser
  • Adolfo – Florante's rival, called "mapagbalat-kayo" (disguise); hates Florante
  • Count Sileno – Adolfo's father
  • Menalipo – Florante's cousin; saves young Florante from a vulture
  • Menandro – Florante's close friend and Antenor's nephew; saves Florante from Adolfo
  • Antenor – Florante's teacher from Athens
  • Emir – Muslim who fails to murder Florante
  • General Osmalik – Persian general who fought in Crotona
  • General Miramolin – general from Turkey

See also

Notes
  1. The original full title is Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Florante at ni Laura sa kahariang Albania, kinuha sa madlang "cuadro historico" o pinturang nagsasabi sa mga nangyayari nang unang panahon sa imperio ng Grecia at tinula ng isang matuwain sa bersong Tagalog (transl. The History of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albania, based on various "historical scenes" or portraits relating events in ancient times in the Greek Empire and written by one who delights in Tagalog verse).[lower-alpha 2]
  2. Jurilla, Patricia May B. (2005). "Florante at Laura and the History of the Filipino Book". Book History. Penn State University Press. 8 (1): 131–197. doi:10.1353/bh.2005.0008. ISSN 1529-1499. JSTOR 30227375. S2CID 161433451. Retrieved July 16, 2023.

References
  1. Balagtas, Francisco (2012). "Si Balagtas at ang Florante at Laura". In Almario, Virgilio S. (ed.). Florante at Laura (in Filipino) (2nd ed.). Adarna House. p. 25. ISBN 978-971-508-179-5. Tinanggap ni Epifanio de los Santos ang petsang 1838 bilang unang edisyon ng awit bagaman walang ebidensiyang bibliyograpiko si H. Cruz. Gayunman, hanggang noong bago sumiklab ang Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig ay pinakamatanda nang tukoy na edisyon ang inilathala ng Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais noong 1853...
  3. Blanco, John D. (February 24, 2009). Frontier Constitutions: Christianity and Colonial Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines. University of California Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-520-94369-8.
  4. Hosillos, Lucila V. (October 1984). Originality as vengeance in Philippine literature. New Day Publishers. p. 559. ISBN 978-971-10-0131-5.
  5. Asumen, Constancio Sulapas (September 2011). Flirting with Misadventures: Escapades of an Exotic Life. FriesenPress. pp. 153. ISBN 978-1-77067-614-5.
  6. Manuel, E. Arsenio (1958). "Tayabas Tagalog Awit Fragments from Quezon Province". Folklore Studies. Nanzan University. 17: 55–60. doi:10.2307/1177378. ISSN 0388-0370. JSTOR 1177378. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  7. Lee, Jonathan H. X. (2011). Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife: [3 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  8. "K to 12 Gabay Pangkurikulum; FILIPINO; (Baitang 1 - 10)" (PDF). Department of Education (in Filipino). May 2016. p. 159. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 14, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  9. Sison, Ronald Mervin (July 5, 2023). "Florante at Laura". The Filipino Journal. p. 9 – via Issuu.

Further reading
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