The Cenci (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Antonin Artaud
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Historical
- Time of Work: The sixteenth century
- Setting: Italy
- Genres: Drama, History play, Cruelty, Theater of
- Subjects: Values, Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, Religion, Incest, Rape, Good and evil, Kings, queens, or royalty, Assassins, hit men, or contract killers, Cruelty, Fate or fatalism, Sixteenth century, Existentialism, Italy or Italians, Rome, Blasphemy
- Locales: Italy
Characters Discussed
Count Cenci (chen-chee), the malevolent patriarch of a wealthy Renaissance family. In his late sixties, he is arrogant, blasphemous, and sadistically cruel to all the members of his family. His primary motivation in practicing evil is that he identifies himself with nature and, therefore, must abandon himself to his desires. After bribing the pope to pardon him for murdering some old enemies, he organizes a luxurious orgy, during which he triumphantly announces the deaths of his two sons and threatens both his wife, Lucretia, and his daughter, Beatrice....
[The entire page is 660 words long]
