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Zaïre (play)
''Zaïre'' ((:za.iʁ); ''The Tragedy of Zara'') is a five-act tragedy in verse by Voltaire. Written in only three weeks, it was given its first public performance on 13 August 1732 by the Comédie française in Paris. It was a great success with the Paris audiences and marked a turning away from tragedies caused by a fatal flaw in the protagonist's character to ones based on pathos. The tragic fate of its heroine is caused not through any fault of her own, but by the jealousy of her Muslim lover and the intolerance of her fellow Christians. ''Zaïre'' was notably revived in 1874 with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role, and it was the only one of Voltaire's plays to be performed by the ''Comédie française'' during the 20th century The play was widely performed in Britain well into the 19th century in an English adaptation by Aaron Hill and was the inspiration for at least thirteen operas.
==Plot, characters, and themes==
''Zaïre'' was the first successful French tragedy to include French characters.〔''North American Review'' (April 1858) p. 418. See also Carlson (1998) p. 43.〕 Voltaire ostensibly set the play in the "Epoch of Saint Louis". However, the plot and characters are largely fiction. The historical characters alluded to, members of the Lusignan and Châtillon families, were related to events of the Crusades but not alive at the time of Louis IX.〔Pike (1936) pp. 436-439〕 Although, some Anglophone writers, most notably Aaron Hill and Thomas Lounsbury, have tended to emphasise the plot similarities between ''Zaïre'' and Shakespeare's ''Othello'',〔〔Lounsbury (1902) pp. 78-80. Lounsbury also observes the influence of ''King Lear'' in the character of Lusignan, Zaïre's father.〕 the resemblance is only superficial.〔
Voltaire's play tells the story of Zaïre (Zara), a Christian slave who had been captured as a baby when Cesarea was sacked by the Muslim armies. She and another captured Christian child, Nérestan, were raised in the palace of Orosmane (Osman), the Sultan of Jerusalem. The play opens two years after Nérestan had been granted permission by Osman to return to France to raise a ransom for the other Christian slaves. In his absence, Zaïre and the Sultan have fallen in love. Nérestan returns with the ransom on their wedding day. Although Zaïre does not wish to be released herself, she escorts the elderly Christian prisoner, Lusignan, to the camp of Nérestan and his knights. Lusignan, a descendant of the Christian princes of Jerusalem, recognizes the cross that had been given to Zaïre as a baby and realizes that she and Nérestan are his lost children. Zaïre's brother and father are now horrified at the idea that she will marry a Muslim and adopt his religion. They make her promise to be baptized that night and keep it secret from her future husband until the knights and the freed slaves have departed. Orosmane, already suspicious that Zaïre has asked him to delay their wedding, intercepts a letter from Nérestan with instructions for meeting him and the priest for her baptism. The Sultan believes that she is planning an assignation with her lover and goes to the appointed place himself. He has Nérestan seized and stabs Zaïre to death with his dagger. When he learns the truth, he is overcome with remorse and commits suicide with the same dagger.
In addition to the chief protagonists, the other characters in the play are: Fatime, (Fatima) a slave girl and friend to Zaïre; Châtillon, a French knight; Corasmin and Mélédor, officers of the Sultan; and an unnamed slave. Several writers have noted Voltaire's personal affinity with the character of Zaïre's father Lusignan, who like Voltaire had suffered imprisonment and exile.〔See Carlson (1998) p. 42; Desnoiresterres (1867) p. 470; Bungener (1854) p. 278; and "Philo" (1828) p. 63〕 Voltaire played the role himself when ''Zaïre'' was revived in Madame de Fontaine-Martel's private theatre shortly after its premiere run in Paris, and continued to play it in many private performances over the years.〔 One contemporary account of his portrayal of the character described it as having an "intensity bordering on frenzy".〔Desnoiresterres (1867) p. 470. Original French: "''vivacité qui tenoit de la frénésie''"〕 Voltaire's secretary, Jean-Louis Wagnière, recalled:
"One day ''Zaïre'' was acted in his house, and he was Lusignan. At the moment of recognition (his daughter ), he burst into such a flood of tears that he forgot his part, and the prompter, who was weeping also, could not give him the reply. On this, he composed, on the spot, half a dozen verses, quite new, and very fine."〔Quoted in Bungener (1854) p. 278〕
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