This powerful, eloquent play moves like a Greek tragedy to its inevitable conclusion. Dumas's drama is based on an actual event—the assassination of Duke Alexander of Medici in 1537 by his cousin, Lorenzo. Lorenzino lures his relative to a trap under the pretext of providing him with a woman. He gets close to the Duke by pandering to his lusts, just so that he'll have the opportunity to kill him. His plan ultimately works, but results in the suicide of the woman Lorenzino loves, and the complete discrediting of the assassin in the public eye. Freedom from tyranny comes with a terrible price! A first-rate drama penned two years before The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.