The Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts
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Featured:  Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein |
The Cenci was a verse drama by Percy Bysshe Shelley written in the summer of 1819, and inspired by a real Italian family, the Cencis (in particular, Beatrice Cenci). The play was considered unperformable in its day due to its theme of incest, and was not performed in London until 1922. It was included in the Harvard Classics as one of the most important and representative works of the western canon.
Antonin Artaud attempted to stage The Cenci, but his extensive use of surrealism in the performance meant that the production was shown only 14 times before closing.
Other works titled "The Cenci" include a true crime story by Alexandre Dumas, père and a novella by Stendhal.
