Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Francesca da Rimini

The following work is a play about the life of Francesca da Rimini as written by George Henry Boker. Da Rimini was a medieval Italian noblewoman originally from Ravenna, known for having been murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of Francesca's affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy.