El Prisionero De Zenda
1894
El Prisionero De Zenda, written by Anthony Hope and first published in 1894, is a novel set in the fictional kingdom of Ruritania. The story follows Rodolfo Raséndil, a distant cousin of the newly crowned King Rodolfo V, who becomes entangled in a political intrigue involving royal impersonation and a power struggle against the Duke of Estrelsau. This adventure novel is notable for its themes of love, duty, and the complexities of identity, influencing the genre of romantic adventure fiction.
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“For my part, if a man must needs be a knave I would have him a debonair knave... It makes your sin no worse as I conceive, to do it à la mode and stylishly.””
— Anthony Hope
“I have an income nearly sufficient for my wants (no one's income is ever quite sufficient, you know).””
— Anthony Hope
“If love were the only thing, Iwould follow you”
— Anthony Hope
“There are moments when I dare not think of it, but there are others when I rise in spirit to where she ever dwells; then I can thank God that I love the noblest lady in the world, the most gracious and beautiful, and that there was nothing in my love that made her fall short in her high duty.””
— Anthony Hope
“God save the King!"Old Sapt's mouth wrinkled into a smile."God save 'em both!" he whispered.””
— Anthony Hope
“But if it be never - if I can never hold sweet converse again with her, or look upon her face, or know from her her love; why, then, this side the grave, I will live as becomes the man whom she loves...””
— Anthony Hope
“A real king's life is perhaps a hard one; but a pretended king's is, I warrant, much harder.””
— Anthony Hope
“Ah! but a man cannot be held to write down in cold blood the wild and black thoughts that storm his brain when an uncontrolled passion has battered a breach for them. Yet, unless he sets up as a saint, he need not hate himself for them. He is better employed, as it humbly seems to me, in giving thanks that power to resist was given to him ....””
— Anthony Hope
“It is my belief that, given the necessary physical likeness, it was far easier to pretend to be king of Ruritania than it would have been to personate my next-door neighbor.””
— Anthony Hope
