The Florante and Laura by Francisco Balagtas (aka baltazar) is an epic tale about two people who
fall in love.
Florante, the son of the duke of Albania was trapped in the woods. He lost hope of ever escaping
alive. Then, a Persian named Aladin saved him. A flashback overwhelmed Florante:
He was sent to Athens to study. There he had the extremes: Menandro, a loyal bestfriend,
and Adolfo, his mortal enemy. There was once a play where Adolfo and Florante almost got into
fatal conflicts, and soon Florante was sent home. This was because he would take the
position of a leader who would seize all Muslim communities. In one community, held captive was
Laura. There they met, love at first sight. He had a lot more expeditions and Florante and Laura's
love had gone stronger, and stronger, until it came to a point where the king of Albania and his
father, were captured and murdered - a big chance it was because of Adolfo. Laura, on the other hand, was
also captured by Adolfo. Adolfo, envious of Florante, had soon succeeded in reading then ruining
Laura's letter to Florante, saying that she'd rather commit suicide. Menandro came and almost retrieved
Laura for Florante, but Adolfo got away with her. He tried to abuse her in the woods, but
Flerida, the girl Aladin loves (but Aladin's dad stole her), rescued her and killed Adolfo through
the use of an arrow. They ended up with peace, for Adolfo was now gone. The Muslim-Christian war
was soon over and Aladin and Flerida got converted into Christians. And the two couples lived
happily ever after.
*Former name of Florante and Laura is 'The life of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albania'
*Florante and Laura has historical value because of the inspiration it provided for Andres Bonifacio's, Jose Rizal's, and the other authors' works.
*Florante and Laura is considered an allegory by Lope K. Santos
