Pelléas et Mélisande

Symbolist drama by Maeterlinck, first performed in 1893 and later made into an opera by Debussy (1902). Mélisande, a strange waif, is discovered weeping in the forest by Golaud, widower and son of King Arkel. Impulsively he marries her and brings her back to the royal castle, where she meets his stepbrother, Pelléas. While sitting with Pelléas beside a fountain, she drops and loses the wedding ring Golaud has given her, and this prepares us for their falling in love. The jealous Golaud surprises them in an embrace and kills Pelléas. Mélisande dies.

[S. Beynon John]