About the work
A five-act symbolist verse drama by Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck, first performed on 17 May 1893 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris under the direction of Aurélien Lugné-Poe.
Plot
In the mythical kingdom of Allemonde, Prince Golaud meets the mysterious Mélisande in a forest and marries her. When a silent, never-spoken love grows between her and his younger half-brother Pelléas, Golaud's rising jealousy drives the plot toward catastrophe.
Cultural significance
With its aesthetic of half-light, hint and silence, the play is considered a key work of Symbolist theatre. It inspired, among others, Claude Debussy's opera of the same name (1902) and orchestral works by Gabriel Fauré and Arnold Schoenberg.