The Prisoner of Zenda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Cover to 2nd edition |
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| Author | Anthony Hope |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical, Novel |
| Publisher | Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (January 1, 2000) |
| Released | 1894 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 400 p. (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-14-043755-X (paperback edition) |
| Preceded by | The Heart of Princess Osra |
| Followed by | Rupert of Hentzau |
The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel, by Anthony Hope, published in 1894, telling the story of a man who must impersonate a king, whom he resembles, when the king is abducted by enemies on the eve of his coronation. The villainous character Rupert of Hentzau gives his name to the eponymous sequel novel published in 1898, and which is included in some editions of this novel.
The Ruritania books were extremely popular at the time of their publishing and inspired a host of imitations, including the Graustark novels by George Barr McCutcheon.
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[edit] Plot summary
The protagonist is the Hon. Rudolf Rassendyll, younger brother of the Earl of Burlesdon and (through an ancestor's sexual indiscretion) a distant cousin of Rudolf V, the heir apparent King of Ruritania (a Germanic kingdom situated 'twixt the German and Austrian Empires). King Rudolf is a hard-drinking, feckless playboy, unpopular with the common people, but supported by the aristocracy, the Church, the Army, and the rich classes in general. His political rival is his younger half-brother, Michael, Duke and Governor of Strelsau, the capital city. Michael has no legitimate claim to the throne, because he is the son of their father's second, morganatic marriage: there are hints, about his swarthy appearance and Rassendyll's taunting him as a 'mongrel', that he may be partly Jewish. Michael is regarded as champion of Strelsau's poor working classes, and also is popular with the peasants in the countryside. (The novel seems sympathetic, however, with those who would support the dissolute despot.)
When Michael has Rudolf abducted and imprisoned in the castle in the small town of Zenda, Rassendyll must impersonate the future King at the coronation. There are complications, plots, and counter-plots, among them the schemes of Michael's mistress Antoinette de Mauban, and those of his villainous henchman Rupert of Hentzau, and Rassendyll falling in love with Princess Flavia, the King's betrothed. In the end, the King is restored to his throne — but the lovers must part.
[edit] Literary retellings
Double Star (1956), a novel by Robert A. Heinlein, follows the efforts of actor Lorenzo Smythe, who is hired to act the part of kidnapped statesman John J. Bonforte. He travels to Mars to take part in a crucial ceremony that cannot be postponed (an echo of Rudolph's coronation) and prevents an interplanetary war. The real Bonforte is eventually found, but dies soon afterwards from a drug overdose administered by his kidnappers. Smythe then faces an agonizing choice: either stage Bonforte's death in public and slip back into his old life, or sacrifice his own identity and become the Bonforte he has come to admire greatly.
The 1970 Flashman book Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser, is a pastiche of The Prisoner of Zenda which purports to explain the real story behind the novel. Otto von Bismarck and other historical characters such as Lola Montez are involved in the plot. Royal Flash was released as a movie in 1975. It was directed by Richard Lester and starred Malcolm McDowell as Flashman, Oliver Reed as Otto von Bismarck.
The Zenda Vendetta (Time Wars Book 4) by Simon Hawke (1985) is another science fiction version, part of a series which pits 27th century terrorists the Timekeepers against the Time Commandos of the US Army Temporal Corps. One of the Commandos fills the hero's role, while Antoinette's rôle is filled (after a fashion) by a Timekeeper dominatrix.
After Zenda by John Spurling (1995) is a modern adventure, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, in which Karl, the secret great-grandson of Rudolf Rassendyll and Queen Flavia, goes to post-Communist Ruritania, where he gets mixed up with various rebels and religious sects before ending up as constitutional monarch.
Author Salman Rushdie cited Zenda in the epigraph to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the novel he wrote while hiding incognito in the late 1980s after a fatwa was decreed against him.
[edit] Film and television adaptations
The novel has been adapted many times for film and television.
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) is probably the best-known screen version, starring Ronald Colman as Rassendyll and Rudolph, with Madeleine Carroll as Princess Flavia. Raymond Massey played Michael, while Douglas Fairbanks Jr. portrayed Rupert of Hentzau. The film was directed by George Cukor, supposedly as a discreet criticism of the recent Abdication of Edward the Eighth.
The Prisoner of Zenda has been filmed several other times:
- The Prisoner of Zenda 1913 - Starring James K. Hackett, Beatrice Beckley, David Torrence, Fraser Coalter, William R. Randall and Walter Hale. Adapted by Hugh Ford and directed by Ford and Edwin S. Porter, it was produced by Adolph Zukor and was the first production of the Famous Players Film Company.
- The Prisoner of Zenda 1915 - Starring Henry Ainley, Gerald Ames, George Bellamy, Marie Anita Bozzi, Jane Gail, Arthur Holmes-Gore, Charles Rock and Norman Yates. It was adapted by W. Courtney Rowden and directed by George Loane Tucker
- The Prisoner of Zenda 1922 - Starring Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson, Stuart Holmes, Malcolm McGregor and Barbara La Marr. It was adapted by Mary O'Hara and directed by Rex Ingram.
- The Prisoner of Zenda 1937 - Starring Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor, David Niven and Douglas Fairbanks Jr..
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) - Starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern, Jane Greer, Lewis Stone, Robert Douglas, James Mason and Robert Coote. Stone, who played the lead in the 1922 version, had a minor role in this remake. It was adapted by Edward E. Rose, (dramatization) Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Noel Langley and Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue, originally uncredited). It was directed by Richard Thorpe. It is a shot-for-shot copy of the 1937 film, the only difference being that it was made in Technicolor.
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) - A comic version, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick, Lionel Jeffries, Elke Sommer, Gregory Sierra, Jeremy Kemp, Catherine Schell, Simon Williams and Stuart Wilson. It was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and directed by Richard Quine.
- The Prisoner of Zenda 1984 - BBC adaptation starring Malcolm Sinclair.
The Prisoner of Zenda was adapted into an operetta in 1925 under the title Princess Flavia. It had a score by operetta giant Sigmund Romberg.
It was adapted for Zenda, a 1963 musical that closed on the road prior to a scheduled opening on Broadway.
[edit] Transpositions
The 1965 comedy film The Great Race included an extended Zenda-like subplot, including a climactic fencing scene between Tony Curtis and Ross Martin.
The 1978 Doctor Who serial The Androids of Tara was consciously based on Zenda. It used a similar plot and setting, with the added complication of android doubles of several key characters.
Moon Over Parador, a 1988 movie, set in the fictional Caribbean nation of Parador. Jack Noah (Richard Dreyfuss), an unemployed American actor on vacation in Parador, is kidnapped by Strausman (Raul Julia), the President's chief advisor, and is forced to act as the President's substitute after he dies of a heart attack. With the help of the late President's mistress, Madonna Mendez, he embarks on a series of reforms which win the hearts of the populace by gain the enmity of those supporting the regime. Eventually, he plots to fake his own death (subtituting the original President Alphonse's body, which had literally been kept on ice during this time), in a way that implicates Strausman, allowing him to secretly return to the US while Mendez takes the presidency.
Dave, a 1993 movie, is also set in the modern day United States. It tells the story of a double for the President (Kevin Kline) who is convinced to impersonate him when he has a stroke. The imposter discovers and helps take down corrupt officials in the government -- including the President that he is pretending to be. Sigourney Weaver plays the first lady, whose role echoes that of the Princess in the original.
The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc., a 1996 made-for-television version, is set in the modern-day United States and revolves around a high school age boy who is the heir to a large corporation. It stars Jonathan Jackson, Richard Lee Jackson, William Shatner, Don S. Davis, Jay Brazeau and Katharine Isabelle.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, had two episodes King for a Day (1996) and Long Live the King (1997), which retold Zenda. These served as solo adventures of Hercules' sidekick Iolaus (Michael Hurst).
The anime series El Hazard: The Magnificent World borrows much from the Hope novel. In this series, a boy and his friends are transported to another world where he bears a strong resemblance to a missing princess and reluctantly agrees to impersonate her.
Royal Flash, the second novel in the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser, is more than a mere transposition of the Prisoner of Zenda: it actually claims to be the inspiration for Hope's novel.
[edit] External links
- The Prisoner of Zenda, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Rupert of Hentzau, available at Project Gutenberg.
- The Ruritanian Resistance - fan site
