Florante At Laura (lit. "Florante and Laura") is a Filipino epic written by Francisco Balagtas under the name Francisco Baltazar in prison. The work is dedicated to "Selya" and is allegorical to the state of the Philippines under Spanish time as well as the state of Balagtas in prison. The work itself talks about the life of Florante, duke of the Kingdom of Albania, Aladin, prince of Persia (no, not
that one), Adolfo, the evil
Big Bad greedy for power, and Laura, Florante's beloved.
Florante At Laura is written in a peculiar literary form known as
Awit (lit. "Song") - each stanza has four lines with 12 syllables each. There are many more guidelines, such as "each line must be/contain a
figure of speech and a slight pause on every 6th syllable".
- Action Girl: In the few chapters we see her in, Flerida.
- Attempted Rape: Laura gets this. Twice.
- Author Avatar: Florante is Balagtas.
- Author Tract: Basically the whole thing, but special mention goes to the chapter "Pag-Ibig Anakin", which is dedicated to bashing parents who spoil their kids.
- Badass Bookworm: Florante.
- Beginner's Luck: Florante bests Osmalic, a known and fearsome general. It's Florante's first real fight.
- Bedsheet Ladder: How Flerida got out of the castle.
- Beneath the Mask: In his younger days, Adolfo pretended to be sweet, elegant, and smart, never picking a fight. This was not the case.
- Big Bad: Adolfo.
- Bound and Gagged: When Florante comes back after battle because King Linceo gave him a letter saying so, he gets ambushed and this happens.
- Chained To A Tree: How we find Florante in the beginning.
- Creator Breakdown: Gubat na Mapanglaw = Balagtas' state in the prison.
- Deceased Parents Are The Best: Florante's mom and dad, Floresca and Briseo. Floresca was loving and (over?)protective, Briseo was kind, caring, and a paragon of virtue.
- Deus Angst Machina: Flo. Let me count the ways: nearly killed in a School Play, his mom dies, he suddenly becomes general of Albania's army and must separate from Laura and fight, receives a letter saying to return to Albania, is ambushed, thrown in jail, finds out that Briseo and Linceo are killed, finds out that Adolfo has Laura now, banished and chained to a tree in Mordor forest. Wow.
- Distressed Damsel: Laura. So much.
- Evil Always Triumphs In The Middle
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: During the time, Christanity abhorred Muslims. Aladin is a Muslim prince and one of the good guys. To get this past the censors, Balagtas took two lines to mention that Aladin and Flerida was baptised as a Christian at the end.
- Also, he used tons of metaphors and symbols to get the TakeThats against Spain past. For example, Florante being tied to the tree in the beginning is allegorical to Filipinos being captive under Spain.
- Glory Seeker: Hinted to be the reason Adolfo wore his mask back at school.
- Greed: Adolfo's avarice for power and money is his motivation.
- How We Got Here: How the story is told.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Adolfo to Laura. Florante thinks it's consensual, though.
- In Medias Res
- Long Title: The full title, in archaic Tagalog, is "Pinagdaanang Buhay nina Florante at Laura sa Kahariang Albanya: Kinuha sa madlang "cuadro histórico" o pinturang nagsasabi sa mga nangyayari nang unang panahon sa Imperyo ng Gresya, at tinula ng isang matuwain sa bersong Tagalog." *
"The Life of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albania: Culled from a publicly-displayed "cuadro histórico" or painting which describes the events which were occurring during ancient times in the Empire of Greece, and penned by one who enjoys Tagalog verse."
- Love at First Sight: Florante and Laura.
- Mordor: The "Gubat na Mapanglaw" ("Melancholy Forest").
- Manipulative Bastard: Adolfo. He convinced Albania that King Linceo was going to starve them, staged a coup with the support of the enraged citizens, had the court massacred, and declared himself king.
- Near Villain Victory: Adolfo's got the throne, he's got Florante and all the good in Albania banished, he's got Laura. Oh yeah. Then he gets slayed by an arrow.
- Posthumous Character: Briseo, Floresca.
- Revenge: Adolfo's main motivator in the latter part of the book.
- School Play: Back in Athens, they performed Oedipus Rex.
- Shown Their Work: Balagtas was a pretty educated guy. You see that in all the references to Greek mythology he throws in.
- Stepford Smiler: Adolfo, Type 3.
- Take That: Basically a huge one against the Spanish government and the corrupt Church.
- The Archer: Flerida.
- The Good Chancellor: Duke Briseo.
- The Good Guys Always Win: Don't say you weren't expecting it.
- Yandere: Aladin shows signs. He gets two verses where he first contemplates The Power of Love and how it can tear apart even the closest True Companions... then says that since that is so, he doesn't need goodness or kindness and will crush those who come between him and Flerida.
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