The Camellia Lady: Camille - Tapa blanda

Everyone wants to believe in the redemptive power of love. That the purity of an honest love can restore a sex worker’s soul, making her capable of self-sacrifice, might seem unlikely at best, but Alexandre Dumas the younger was indeed very young when he wrote the novel La Dame aux camélias, and aiming high, he managed, by luck or by genius, to hit his target. In adapting his novel for the stage, he created a timeless portrait of two people from different worlds, whose love, by joining their hearts, prevents their union. This translation attempts to capture the colloquial informality of the French dialogue (except in one highly formal scene, III.4, which stands out starkly by contrast) in a way that most former English translations seem actively to avoid. It is also a complete translation. Lines that might be cut from a production are indicated by strike-through. Earlier productions, in many languages, added some material, and there are also numerous plays by the name of Camille which are not translations of Dumas’ play at all but adaptation of the novel by other writers.