Hans Christian Andersen. Two Dramas. The Mulatto and The Moorish Girl.

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) is world renowned thanks to the enduring popularity of his tales and stories. His poetry is loved and respected in his native Denmark. His travel books are popular in Scandinavia, as well as in the English-speaking world thanks to several excellent translations. His novels rank among the best that were published anywhere in Europe in the mid-19th century. They too are available in English translations.

His forty-some stage works run the gamut from light-hearted and whimsical farces to gripping tragedies and melodramas that end happily. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these works remains unknown outside Denmark. They have almost never been translated and are thus known only in Scandinavia or by a handful of non-Danish literary specialists. The two plays in the present volume are a partial remedy to the situation.

The Mulatto. The time is the late 18th century. The young White Frenchwoman, Cecilie, has come to Martinique to take possession of her inheritance, a vast sugar-cane plantation on the island. On their way to the island’s warm baths, Cecilie and Eleonore, the wife of Cecilie’s guardian, La Rebelliere, Cecilie and Eleonore are surprised by a violent storm and are compelled to stay the night at the home of Horatio, a handsome and sophisticated Mulatto. Both women fall in love with Horatio. The three become fast friends during the few weeks of their stay at the hot springs. Cecilie’s guardian, meanwhile, the cruel and cynical plantation owner, La Rebelliere, returns from his visit to the island’s Governor from whom he has received orders to round up all escaped slaves as well as any Blacks whose papers do not prove that they are in fact free. During a nighttime raid, La Rebelliere captures Horatio and several other Blacks. Horatio is seriously injured and taken to the plantation’s infirmary where Cecilie sends him word not to despair. Horatio is to be sold at the next day’s slave market. La Rebelliere, suspecting that his wife, Eleonore, has had an affair with the Mulatto, plans to buy Horatio and whip him to death before his wife’s eyes. Desperate with fear, Cecilie attempts to find some way to free Horatio. Will her efforts succeed? Or will tragedy ensue?

The Moorish Girl. The action takes place in Spain during the late Middle Ages. Raphaella, a poor orphan girl of uncertain origins, has grown up in the camp of Spain’s Christian army. Raphaella hates the Moorish “invaders,” and her life has been devoted to fighting the Moorish forces in southern Spain. The young Christian King of Córdoba is in love with Raphaella and, despite the strenuous objections of the Archbishop of Córdoba, he is determined to marry Raphaella and make her his queen. Although she loves the young Spanish King, Raphaella is determined not to marry him. On the spur of the moment, she marries the impoverished Spanish nobleman, Zavala, and the two flee Córdoba for a hut the mountains. Here she and Zavala have a fateful encounter with the Moorish King and his daughter, Niama: Zavala becomes a traitor to the Spanish Christian cause, and Raphaella‘s origins are revealed. After a decisive victory over the Moors, Raphaella undergoes a change of heart and agrees to marry the Christian King—or does she? The play ends abruptly as the wedding ceremonny takes place.