and lavish, operatic setting, it is a multi-layered fiction of deceptive simplicity. For a rich young prince and his loyal companion, Venice promises nothing but unfettered pleasure?until they encounter a mysterious masked Armenian who delivers them a strange prophecy. And when his words prove true, this enigmatic figure develops a deeply sinister influence over them, drawing them into darker forms of ?magic.” As the narrative progresses, it become increasingly unclear whether the apparitions the prince sees are the manifestations of a troubled spirit world or simply an elaborate hoax. Friedrich von Schiller is one of the leading figures of 18th-century German literature, most famous for his dramatic works The Robbers, Mary Stuart, and William Tell.

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