Saul by Vittorio Alfieri

First produced: 1794; first published, 1788 (English translation, 1815)

Type of work: Drama

Type of plot: Tragedy

Time of plot: Eleventh century b.c.e.

Locale: Gilboa, Israel

Principal characters

• Saul, the aging king of Israel
• David, the exiled commander of Saul’s forces
• Jonathan, Saul’s son and friend of David
• Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s wife
• Abner, Saul’s cousin and present commander of his forces
• Ahimelech, the priest of Nob

The Story:

After his famous victories over the Philistines, which began with his triumph over the giant Goliath, David rose to great power in Saul’s kingdom. He became the best friend of Saul’s son and heir, Jonathan, entertained Saul with his music, and married Saul’s daughter, Michal. David’s success and popularity, however, made Saul so jealous and envious that he has driven David from Israel and threatened to kill him if he returns from exile. Saul has fallen from favor with God (Jehovah) because he failed to execute the captured Amalekite king, Agag, but he does not blame himself. Instead, in his madness he has come to fear that David is scheming to assassinate him.

Knowing of the upcoming battle with the Philistines, David slips into the Israelite camp in the night and meets with Jonathan and with Michal, whom he has not seen for a long time. Jonathan informs him that Abner, the king’s cousin and a conniving courtier, is deceiving the insane king and encouraging him to kill David. David’s plan is to abase himself before Saul and beg his pardon, although he knows he has done no wrong.

When Saul appears, he complains about his age and the loss of his champion, but Abner insists that David is the cause of Saul’s misfortunes, along with the now-dead priest Samuel, who had anointed David. The confused Saul has come to hate David, but he still admires his qualities of character. In a dream, Saul has seen Samuel take the crown from Saul’s head and offer it to David, but David refused it and placed it back on Saul’s head. Michal and Jonathan appear before Saul to announce David’s return, and David convinces Saul of his innocence by presenting a piece he cut from Saul’s robe when he was in a cave at En Gedi, his point being that he could easily have killed the king then if he had wanted to.

David shows both modesty and good sense by appealing to Abner to continue in his role as commander, and he offers to act as Abner’s subordinate. When Saul becomes suspicious of David’s sword, which was given to David by priests at the temple, David sings to him as in the old days, and the king is at ease for a while. Saul then once again flies into a rage against David and the priests, and Jonathan cannot convince his father of his friend’s innocence, so David has to hide.

The priest Ahimelech then appears to warn Saul, but the furious king orders Abner to kill him and to massacre the other priests and their families at Nob as well. After that, David cannot fight against the Philistines because the kingdom has become contaminated by Saul’s sinfulness and violence. In the battle the Israelites are soundly defeated and Jonathan is killed. Michal comes to her father as the enemy approaches, but he is hallucinating and sees in her his old enemy Samuel, appealing for the return of David even if it means his own death. At last, Saul orders Abner to take care of Michal and, left alone as the Philistines appear, kills himself by falling on his sword.

Bibliography

Betti, Franco. Vittorio Alfieri. Boston: Twayne, 1984. Presents discussion of Saul that reflects on the title character’s nobility gained through struggle, on the “touching figure of Michal,” and on the play’s theme of the past (Saul’s age versus David’s youth). Notes that in his suicide, Saul demonstrates the power of his will as a hero—neither the Philistines nor God can take credit for striking him down.

Bondanella, Peter, and Julia Conaway, eds. Dictionary of Italian Literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979. Collection of essays includes an informative brief entry on Alfieri by Giancarlo Maiorino. Concludes with comments on Saul, described as “the only character capable of expressing the superhuman passions of Alfieri himself.”

Fido, Franco. “Alfieri and Pre-Romanticism.” In The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, edited by Peter Brand and Lino Pertile. Rev. ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Essay on Alfieri is part of a collection that provides an overview of Italian literature. Describes Alfieri’s work as a link between eighteenth century neoclassicism and nineteenth century Romanticism.

Hallock, Ann H. “The Religious Aspects of Alfieri’s Saul.” Forum Italicum 18 (Spring, 1984): 43-64. One of the most thorough commentaries on the play available in English. Summarizes previous criticism of Saul from autobiographical, politico-philosophical, and psychological perspectives and argues that the fundamental issue of the play is “the nature of man without God.”

Hillary, Richard B. “Biblical Exegesis in Alfieri’s Saul.” South Atlantic Bulletin 38 (March, 1973): 3-7. Focuses on the Old Testament concept of sin as it relates to Saul’s insanity.

Mazzaro, Jerome. “Alfieri’s Saul as Enlightenment Tragedy.” In Tragedy’s Insights: Identity, Polity, Theodicy, edited by Luis R. Gámez. West Cornwall, Conn.: Locust Hill Press, 1999. Analyzes the play, discussing its representation of King Saul, its depiction of the conflict between hero and tyrant, and the relation of pity and fear to the essence of tyranny.

Wilkins, Ernest Hatch. A History of Italian Literature. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974. Presents a chapter on Alfieri that sets him and his work within the context of Italian literature and includes comments on Saul.