The Cenci: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Cenci: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex dynamics within a wealthy Renaissance family, centered around the malevolent figure of Count Cenci. As a patriarch in his late sixties, Count Cenci embodies arrogance and sadism, exhibiting cruel behavior towards his family, particularly his daughter Beatrice. Beatrice, a sensitive and beautiful young woman, faces the harrowing reality of her father’s sexual assaults, grappling with a dire choice between victimhood and becoming a victimizer herself. The narrative also explores the character of Lucretia, Beatrice’s stepmother, who is both terrified by and complicit in the count's terrors, ultimately participating in a plot to end his life.
Supporting characters like Bernardo, Beatrice's younger brother, represent innocence shattered by familial tragedy, unaware of the conspiracy against their father. Camillo, a cardinal, and Orsino, a priest, contribute to the moral ambiguity of the play, navigating their own interests amidst the unfolding horror. Giacomo, another son, becomes involved in the assassination plot after discovering the extent of his father’s depravity. The interplay of these characters reveals deep themes of power, victimization, and the tragic consequences of familial loyalty, culminating in a poignant exploration of human suffering and moral complexities. This analysis provides insight into the tragic tapestry of relationships and motivations that drive the narrative of "The Cenci."
The Cenci: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Antonin Artaud
First published: Les Cenci, 1964, in Œuvres completes, vol. 4 (English translation, 1964, in Complete Works)
Genre: Play
Locale: Italy
Plot: Historical
Time: The sixteenth century
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. After repeatedly raping Beatrice, he is murdered by assassins hired by Beatrice and Lucretia, but not before arranging for their deaths with the pope, to whom he has willed his entire estate.
Beatrice Cenci, a young, beautiful, and highly sensitive virgin. The only daughter of the wicked count, she is terrified of what he has blatantly threatened to do to her and spends half the play trying to avoid him. After her father rapes her, she is forced either to submit to his repeated assaults or to murder him. Her major revelation in the play is that her only choice is to be a victim or a victimizer and that either choice will send her to eternal damnation. Shortly before she is executed by order of the pope, she realizes that her major crime was in being born.
Lucretia Cenci (lew-KREE-chee-ah), the second wife of the count and the stepmother of Beatrice, Bernardo, and Giacomo. A middle-aged beauty, she is alternately terrified and mystified by her husband's unmotivated sadistic behavior. She, Beatrice, Giacomo, and Orsino conspire to have the count murdered by hired assassins. She slips a sleeping potion into her husband's wine to ready him for the murder. She is executed with Beatrice at the play's conclusion.
Bernardo, the younger brother of Beatrice. He is unaware of the murder conspiracy. Because of his sensitive, artistic nature, he has difficulty believing the degradation taking place in the court. The count spares his life because he wants him to be the surviving sufferer. He is forced by the pope to witness the torture and death of his beloved sister and stepmother. He collapses at the end in a paroxysm of agony.
Camillo (kah-MIHL-loh), a cardinal and papal legate. Although he is completely aware of the count's evil projects, he nevertheless arranges a pardon from the pope for some of his earlier atrocities. He maintains his middle position in case the count is overthrown. Once he arranges for the papacy to become sole heir to the count's property and possessions, however, he permits the family drama to play itself out to its inevitably tragic conclusion.
Orsino (ohr-SEE-noh), a prelate, priest, and conspirator in the plot to murder the count. Middle-aged and desperately in love with Beatrice, he initially plans to support Beatrice in punishing her father for his sexual assaults on her. Once she rejects him, though, he helps to arrange the count's assassination knowing full well that it will destroy the family and he will have his revenge on Beatrice.
Giacomo Cenci (jee-AH-koh-moh), one of the count's elder sons. Once he discovers that his father is raping his sister and that the pope is to inherit the count's considerable holdings, he becomes one of the planners of the count's murder, as he has nothing to lose. He escapes punishment by fleeing the country.