What is Florante at Laura?
Protagonists:
Laura is a Non-Character In the full script, Laura has almost no dialogue. She is wept over, fought over, rescued, but rarely speaks. Flerida gets one heroic moment (killing the lion to save Aladin), but even that is narrated, not shown. This is a product of its time, but modern readers will find the gender dynamics frustrating.
Aladin, the Muslim prince, hears Florante’s cries, frees him, and shares his own story of losing his love, Flerida, to his own father. This subversion of religious stereotypes is Balagtas’s genius.
Introduction