Florante at Laura Summary and Analysis

Florante at Laura is a famous epic written by Francisco Balagtas during his

imprisonment. The story resonates of true love, friendship, and determination, a likely
comparison to Franciscos own personal issues in his time of grief and hardship. Its notable
themes can be compared to that of Shakespearean sources with the inclusion of tragedy,
protagonist vs antagonist, and social and political conflict. The song/story opens with one of the
main protagonists, Florante, a duke from a kingdom called Albania which had been overtaken by
evil forces. Florante is pitifully tied to a tree while also mourning the death of his father, slain
by the usurper named Count Adolfo. Grief stricken and in a weakened state, Florante was at the
mercy of two starving lions. However, a Persian warrior or Moro of Muslim faith sympathizes
with Florantes misfortune and saves him from this fate. The story now entails the highly
unexpected friendship between two individuals whose religions were in a state of conflict.
Despite denying the aid of the Moro at first, the Persian warrior continues to nurse Florante. The
two eventually become close friends and Florante willingly tells the Persian his story of
hardship.
He begins with his childhood, under the care of both his father Duque Briseo and mother.
Florante was born in Albania, with his childhood mostly uneventful; His Father desired that he
grow up in a harsher world and not in a carefree one. To learn more deeply of the real world,
Florante is sent to Athens and meets his wise mentor Antenor. It is here where Florante also
meets Adolfo, a highly acclaimed student in the academy. As Florante grew up and learned more,
he continued to outshine Adolfo and receive the praise he once had all to himself. Jealousy forces
Adolfo's attempt to kill Florante while they were in the play Oedipus, which was fortunately
stopped by his friend Minandro. Adolfo is sent home, but only a year after, Florante learns of the

Florante at Laura Summary and Analysis

death of his mother. He plunges into intense sadness, but his friend Minandro accompanys him
back in Albania after a few more years of studying; Antenor warns of Adolfos possible heinous
attempts.
Florante returns home to meet his father, but is shortly given messages from Crotona
asking for help against the Muslims in battle. He is quickly appointed to general by King Linceo,
and instantly falls in love when he first lays his eyes on King Linceo's daughter, Laura, for the
first time. Laura seemingly exchanges these feelings as Florante says his farewell to his newly
beloved. Arriving in battle, Florante manages to annihilate Persian troops. The Persian General
Osmalik himself challenges the young man, which ends with Florante as the victor and Crotona
freed once more. Florante and his soldiers are welcomed by the King of Crotona. In his return to
Albania he sees the Persian flag fluttering over the kingdom, a sign of invasion. He and his
troops charge, with Florante heading straight for the jails to free his father, the king and, out of
chivalry, Adolfo. Count Adolfo's jealously grows immensely once again as Florante is praised as
the grand hero and gets closer with the beautiful Laura. In the following events, Florante does
battle with Turkish forces, and is again victorious, but shortly thereafter receives a letter
instructing him to head back immediately to Albania. Upon returning to Albania, he is arrested
while his father and the King are executed by Count Adolfo. To his dismay, Laura was also
forced to give her hand in marriage to Adolfo. He was imprisoned for 18 days and was tied in the
forest, eventually leading to his encounter with his Persian savior, whose name is Aladin.
Aladin then reveals his story to Florante and that he is a Persian warrior-prince that
shared the same battle ground with him. He tells his own tale, and spoke of his love for Flerida, a
woman who was stolen from him by his own father, who desired her too. He was arrested and set
to be beheaded for leaving his troops without his father's instructions, but is eventually just

Florante at Laura Summary and Analysis

exiled, left to wander the forests. It is here that Aladin and Florante encounters two women while
walking through the forest.
The first woman revealed as Flerida, speaks of how she had Aladins father grant Aladin
mercy, yet escapes once after Aladin leaves in exile. The second woman is revealed to be Laura.
At that point, all four lovers meet in the forest, and there is much joy. In a turn of events, Laura
revealed Minandro had come to aid Albania, and freed it from Adolfo. Aldolfo escaped with
Laura on horseback, but is eventually shot through the heart by Flerida, saving Laura from her
captor. Soon after, they all return home, Florante and Laura are declared monarchs of Albania,
while Aladin returns to Persia, and becomes the new sultan after his fathers death. The epic
follows the eventual happy ending as the two kingdoms live in harmony and peace.
This komedya diverts significantly away from the standard storyline of the moro-moro in
Spanish times, precisely because the conflict in focus is between personal affairs, and NOT the
conflict of Muslim and Christianity. The protagonists does not belong to one certain faith. While
the story does incorporate the conflicting times in the two religions, the story eventually ends
with the two kingdoms of different faith living in harmony. What is more significant is the
relationship between Florante and Aladin. Despite their differences, they become close friends,
even when they once shared the battle field of war. Here in this story, the first heroic deed is even
done by a Muslim. This strays far from the standard storyline in which the muslim faith is
usually looked at as the antagonist and eventually taken down in justice usually by those
belonging to Christian faith. The plot of this play can most definitely be useful today in
Philippine and world society by expressing the messages that friendship should have no bounds,
and that evil can lie within any society of people (this is done by the characters of Aladins
Jealous father, and Florantes Jealous rival Adolfo). Even today, there are rising resentment of

Florante at Laura Summary and Analysis

Muslims in the Philippines and the world. People tend to wrongly put the blame of the acts of a
few individuals upon an entire group of people. This should not be the case, as in that group of
people there exists good and decent people as any other society. Differences should be set aside
and we should look not at for what a person is on the outside, but rather on the inside. We should
hold onto hope, and always seek out friendship and love.