Fiesco

In Schiller's political tragedy Fiesco, or the Genoese Conspiracy, Genoa in 1547 becomes a glittering trap of masks, desire, and rebellion. Count Fiesco, proud, seductive, and seemingly devoted to pleasure, moves through a city ruled by the brutal Doria family, where private passions and public power are inseparable. Leonora, his wife, loves him fiercely even as she suspects his corruption and dreams that he might be Genoa's liberator; around them, conspirators, creditors, nobles, and assassins all turn politics into a theater of betrayal. At a masked feast of music and wine, Fiesco toys with Countess Julia, humiliates the arrogant Gianettino Doria, and hides his true designs beneath dazzling ease. Verrina, the stern republican, sees through the performance and recoils from what seems like Fiesco's surrender to decadence. Yet the reveler is also a master strategist: he gathers allies, manipulates rivals, and reveals that his reputation for indulgence has concealed soldiers, money, and ships for a coordinated uprising. As the conspiracy deepens, Fiesco faces the corrupting lure of tyranny and resolves to seek Genoese freedom rather than a crown. But Verrina, fearing that liberty may give birth to a new despot, prepares a grim answer, setting the drama on a collision course between patriotism, ambition, and fatal necessity. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.