Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Cenci is a five-act verse drama written in the summer of 1819 and
inspired by a real Italian family, the House of Cenci. The horrifying tragedy takes place in
Rome in 1599, during Pope Clement /ˈklemənt/ /the/VIII's pontificate. This tragedy has several
interesting and also very intriguing characters and let's start discussing one of the major
characters, in other words, the main antagonist, Count Francesco Cenci.
He is a tyrannical ruler, father, and husband who craves omnipotence and will stop at nothing
to achieve it. The Count represents unchecked and unmitigated /ʌnˈmɪtɪɡeɪtɪd/ power. His
cruelty is maintained by the Church's and the Pope's support and silence in exchange for a
healthy "donation" to the papacy /ˈpeɪpəsi/. Because of his unchecked actions and complete
power, the Count is able to physically and mentally destroy those around him. His desire for
violence reveals his "love" to the "sight of agony." This is why he will send his two sons to their
deaths in Salamanca, as well as rape his own daughter. His compulsive need to maintain power
and self-assurance manifests itself as a willingness to eliminate anything that threatens his
sense of wholeness. As a result, when Beatrice /ˈbɪətrɪs/ threatens the Count publicly at his
banquet /ˈbæŋkwɪt/ to celebrate his sons' deaths, he deliberately insults his daughter's dignity
so that she can no longer oppose him, and Cenci himself satisfies his unchecked bloodlust and
reinforces his supremacy. It is also worth noting that he has no feelings of love or regret, that
he rejoices only in evil and the suffering of others, and that, above all, he does not hide this
horrible and dark side of himself from anyone.
Beatrice Cenci, of course, is the next main character. A girl who is victimized not only by her
father's tyranny but also by the patriarchal /ˌpeɪtriˈɑːkl/ structure of her time's society and
the church's inaction. She begged the nobility and the Pope for assistance, but in vain, the
innocent girl was left alone in this huge universe before her tyrannical father. Besides, it's also
noteworthy that Count's rape is a spiritual, mental, and emotional assault on Beatrice. In
response to this hostile violation, Beatrice exclaims, "Oh what am I / What name, what place,
what memory shall be mine?" NEXT Beatrice's selfhood has been greatly damaged /ˈdæmɪdʒd/
by the Count's actions. It's as if Count's dark side is invading her as well, leading to vengeance
/ˈvendʒəns/ - murdering her father through conspiracy. She accomplishes her goal, but due
to the Pope's decision, she is sentenced to death. And at the end of the tragedy, we see Beatrice,
who has lost consciousness of her own identity, just before she is murdered. Beatrice cries out
as she considers her impending death, questioning her future and the state of reality: If there
should be No God, no Heaven, no Earth in the void world The wide, grey, lampless, deep,
unpeopled world! If all things then should be the father my father’s spirit.
Lucretia, is Cenci's wife, as well as Beatrice's and her brother's stepmother. Her one
distinguishing virtue /ˈvɜːtʃuː/is the maternal love with which she comforts the Count's
children; it is their one refuge /ˈrefjuːdʒ/ from the terrors of their lives and the play's only
island of calm. Despite this, we cannot say that Lucretia is a strong or profound character
because her only distinguishing feature is her weakness. She is constantly being led or pushed,
first by the Count and then by his daughter. She like Beatrice becomes involved in the Count's
death conspiracy, but, unlike her, she lacks the strength of spirit and confesses her guilt.
Camillo is a cardinal close to Pope. Throughout the play, we see him as a passive and impotent
character, but in the first scene, he is in an even less appealing position, as the Pope's lackey,
the intermediary through whom Cenci is blackmailed out of a third of his estates. Camillo, no
matter how well-intentioned he is, cannot buy his innocence with those intentions. He, too,
bears a share of the general guilt resulting from the miscarriage of justice. Such a man may
pique our interest, but he hardly seems capable of arousing our sympathy; yet, this is
unquestionably the case. The Cardinal's guilt, simplicity, lack of awareness, and blind faith in
God and the hierarchy he serves, only add pathos /ˈpeɪθɒs/to his essential goodness. His
power has no meaning, his intentions have no effect: he has no hope for the condemned
Beatrice against the inexorable /ɪnˈeksərəbl/ necessity of the tragic machinery.
Orsino is Beatrice's lover at the start of the play, and despite being ordained as a priest, he is
willing to break his vows for her out of love. After Beatrice informs him that her duty to her
family takes precedence over their love, and after he learns of Cenci's cruel actions, he will
plot to assassinate Cenci in order to win and marry Beatrice. He is a sly /slaɪ/ and savage man
who not only persuades Giacomo to kill his father but also finds two assassins /əˈsæsɪns/ who,
after two failed attempts, finally kill the Count. But, after the count's death, Orsino manages
to escape. That is why he is such a selfish character because instead of supporting his beloved
woman, he abandons her in this fragile /ˈfrædʒaɪl/ and cruel world, where Beatrice has lost
faith in everything and everyone.
In the original, Cenci's sons, Giacomo and Bernardo, are shadowy figures. Shelley does not
make memorable characters out of either of them, but in representing the one as a victim of
senseless oppression and the other as a symbol of ruined innocence, he carefully supports the
position of Beatrice, who is both.
Consequently, I can say that we get to know quite interesting and complex characters in the
play, whose story Shelley has perfectly introduced us to with his poetic talent and skills.
Through them he also perfectly presented a number of problems related to the church, the
patriarchal community, and the tyrant ruler or father.