The Flame

The Flame is set in Venice and revolves around the passionate and turbulent affair between the main character Stelio Effrena a brilliant and ambitious poet and La Foscarina a celebrated actress whose career is in decline. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the characters and events loosely based on D'Annunzio’s own relationship with the renowned actress Eleonora Duse with whom he had a similarly stormy affair. The story is steeped in themes of art beauty and the tension between creative genius and personal sacrifice. Stelio the protagonist is portrayed as a Nietzschean figure who believes in the power of the artist to transcend the ordinary and achieve greatness. His ambition to create a monumental work of art is intertwined with his relationship with La Foscarina whose love and devotion to him are tempered by her own fears of aging and irrelevance.