The Masquerade: a Poetic Drama in Four Acts

The Masquerade, a treasured four-act play by Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov, is a classic work of Russian romanticism. In 1830s St. Petersburg, aristocrat Arbenin and Nina, his wife, attend a masked ball. In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Arbenin convinces himself that his wife is romantically involved with Prince Zvezdich. Arbenin is tragically blinded by jealousy and pride, and then a disaster happens . . . A celebration and examination of a classic work from the Golden Age of Russian culture, the first poetic translation by Russian American professor Alfred E. Karpovich brings The Masquerade to a new, English-speaking audience. A work of great importance, this drama examines the collision between true love and the societal prejudice of honor and dignity. In translation, it casts an inquisitive eye at the state of human dignity in the twenty-first century.