Rassendyll, Sapt, von Tarlenheim and ten picked men go "hunting" nearby. She confirms that the King is being held in the castle at Zenda.
Antoinette de Mauban, Michael's mistress, does not want to lose him to Flavia. Despite himself, he falls in love with her, and she with him. He learns that everyone expects them to wed. While Sapt searches for the King, Rassendyll becomes acquainted with the beautiful Princess Flavia, who is beloved by the people. Rassendyll must continue his deception, but at least Michael cannot unmask him without incriminating himself. However, when they go to retrieve the King, they find that he has been abducted. They hide the King in the cellar of the lodge and proceed to the capital. He persuades the Englishman to impersonate the King. Not showing up for the coronation would prove disastrous, but Sapt believes that Fate has sent Rassendyll to Ruritania. His friends cannot rouse him the next morning. However, his younger half-brother Michael, Duke of Strelsau, sees to it he is presented a bottle of drugged wine. The future king and his loyal attendants, Colonel Sapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim, wine and dine their new acquaintance at a hunting-lodge. On the eve of the coronation of Rudolf V of Ruritania, he encounters his distant relative, Englishman Rudolf Rassendyll, come to witness the festivities. The popularity of the novels inspired the Ruritanian romance genre of literature, film, and theatre that features stories set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, for example Graustark from the novels of George Barr McCutcheon, and the neighbouring countries of Syldavia and Borduria in the Tintin comics. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save the unstable political situation of the interregnum.Ī sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, was published in 1898 and is included in some editions of The Prisoner of Zenda. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. The Prisoner of Zenda is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. A whole new subgenre of 'Ruritanian romances' followed, though no imitation managed to capture the charm, exuberance, and sheer storytelling power of Hope's classic tale.Frontispiece to the 1898 Macmillan Publishers edition, illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson
But if he succeeds, our hero and Flavia will have to choose between love and honour.Īs Nicholas Daly's introduction outlines, this thrilling tale inspired not only stage and screen adaptations, but also place names, and even a popular board game. Although the story is set in the near past, Ruritania is a semi-feudal land in which a strong sword arm can carry the day, and Rassendyll and his allies fight to rescue the king. However, Rassendyll's role becomes more complicated when the real king is kidnapped, and he falls for the lovely Princess Flavia. Englishman Rudolf Rassendyll closely resembles the King of Ruritania, and to foil a coup by his rival to the throne, he is persuaded to impersonate him for a day. But is love the only thing?'Īnthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda is a swashbuckling adventure set in Ruritania, a mythical pocket kingdom. 'If love were the only thing, I would follow you-in rags if need be. Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Global Public Health.
#THE PRISONER OF ZENDA ANTHONY HOPE SERIES#
The European Society of Cardiology Series.Oxford Commentaries on International Law.
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