The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America – February 2023 event

The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America's next meeting is on Sunday, 19th February 2023. The subject will be The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope.

Daphne du Maurier's stories often illuminate the competing dual natures within individual characters, occasionally even with doppelgangers. This has long been recognised as Daphne du Maurier's debt to The Prisoner of Zenda, one of her favourite novels from childhood. The novel spawned an entire genre known as Ruritanian romance.

An early copy of The Prisoner of Zenda

Ruritanian romance is a literature, film and theatre genre comprising novels, stories, plays and films set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, such as the "Ruritania" that gave the genre its name. The stories are typically swashbuckling adventure novels, tales of high romance and intrigue, centred around the ruling classes, almost always aristocracy and royalty. Themes of honour, loyalty and love predominate, and the works frequently feature the restoration of legitimate government after a period of usurpation or dictatorship. The Prisoner of Zenda is the novel that spawned the entire genre known as Ruritanian romance.

Two movies of The Prisoner of Zenda were produced in 1937 and 1952. Attorney Chris Peirson will discuss these films and their influence on the works of Daphne du Maurier. There is always a passionate exchange among our local members about which film version is best. Chris recommends that attendees watch both versions of the movie before the talk.

There is no charge for Daphne du Maurier Society Members and their guests to attend this event, which takes place from 1:00pm until 3:00pm at Mena-Kinney, 5214 Palomar Lane, Dallas, TX 75209.

This event will be available for Society members by ZOOM.

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