Lorenzaccio – Alfred de Musset

"Vice was for me a garment; now it is glued to my skin."

In Renaissance Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzaccio) plays the role of a debauched coward to gain the trust of his tyrant cousin, Duke Alessandro. His secret plan is to assassinate the Duke and restore the Republic. But as he sinks deeper into corruption to maintain his cover, he loses his own soul and realizes that the people are too passive to fight for their freedom.

Musset's romantic drama is a Hamlet-like study of action and identity. It is a pessimistic masterpiece about the loss of idealism and the futility of political sacrifice.