El Verdugo
Honoré de Balzac
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Description
Honore de Balzac's El Verdugo, The Executioner, translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley, opens at midnight in the Spanish town of Menda during the Peninsular War. A young French officer, Victor Marchand, leans on the chateau terrace under a sky of azure, thinking deeper than military carelessness allows. The Spanish sky and the occupied town set the trap.
The townspeople rise, prisoners are taken, and Marchand returns to his general asking mercy in a voice full of feeling, to be met with bitter irony. Balzac builds the tale toward its famous horror: a son forced to serve as executioner of his own family to save one life. Written early, it is among his most concentrated tragedies.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| COLLECTION | BOOKS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 22 KB |
| LICENSE | PUBLIC_DOMAIN |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Project Gutenberg |