Break of Noon (Masterplots II: Drama)
At a glance:
- Author: Paul Claudel
- First Published: 1906
- Type of Work: Poetic drama
- Time of Work: Unspecified
- Setting: An ocean steamer and China
- Principal Characters: Yse, de Ciz, Mesa, Amalric
- Genres: Drama, Symbolist literature, Closet drama
- Subjects: Values, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Religion, God, Spiritual life or spirituality, Asia or Asians, Adultery, Business or business people, Mysticism
- Locales: Asia
The Play
Act 1 of Break of Noon begins on the deck of a large steamer somewhere in the Indian Ocean, bound for China. It is noon, and the atmosphere is one of blinding white light. Among the passengers is Yse, a beautiful but unfulfilled woman who is accompanied by her children and her husband of ten years, de Ciz. Also traveling on the ship are Amalric, an economic adventurer, and Mesa, a mysterious, religious, egotistical man. Yse reveals that she feels bound by her children and that she has never felt at home; her home, she states, is a chaise longue “and eight...
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- Break of Noon (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
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