Alzire

play by Voltaire

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June 18, 2026

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Alzire is a tragedy by Voltaire, first staged in 1736. Set in Peru during the Spanish conquest, the play contrasts the moral superiority of a humanitarian approach with brute force. Despite featuring conventional portrayals of "noble savages," the tragedy remained in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française for nearly a century. Voltaire's theatrical works, including Alzire, aimed to teach virtue and humanity, though they often replaced traditional tragic emotions with sentimentality.12

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Voltaire
Life with Mme du Châtelet
…a national tragedy, he brought Alzire to the stage in 1736 with great success. The action of Alzire—in Lima, Peru, at the time of the Spanish conquest—brings out the moral superiority of a humanitarian civilization over methods of brute force. Despite the conventional portrayal of “noble savages,” the tragedy kept…
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…a national tragedy, he brought Alzire to the stage in 1736 with great success. The action of Alzire—in Lima, Peru, at the time of the Spanish conquest—brings out the moral superiority of a humanitarian civilization over methods of brute force. Despite the conventional portrayal of “noble savages,” the tragedy kept…
Read More