Philippine Literature

FINAL EXAM

Make a reaction paper regarding the story of Florante and Laura from the first to the last chapter.

Florante and Laura are the main characters of the great metrical romance of arguably the greatest
Filipino poet, Francisco Balagtas. Florante is the son of Duke Briseo and Princess Floresca of Albania and
the main protagonist of the romance. Laura is the daughter of King Linceo of Albania and the love
interest of Florante and is later married to him. This is a package deal, because they can’t stand alone on
their own for their cultural meaning stems from them being together, as they symbolize love
overcoming extreme difficulties, even the great divide of culture, family and religion.

Florante at Laura is a story, It is a genius’s work of art. Its lines, stanzas and rhyme had been thoroughly
and meticulously thought. The topic of the story included the fight of Christians and Non-Christian, love,
betrayal, friendship, social reality and many others. The setting is in a foreign land and the content is full
of mystery, making it entertaining to read. The language used and the messages of each stanza is full of
wisdom that not only motivate readers’ mind but also aims to inculcate moral, emotional, social and
religious lessons and values. The story contained profound and strong lexicon and used figure of speech
which requires deep understanding and comprehension. Most of the scene content is in the form of
rhetorical and idiomatic expression, and symbols are often used in behalf of a certain place or to
represent someone’s characteristic in the society. The story revolved around the love story of Florante –
a brave warrior and defender of Albanya – and Laura – the loving and beautiful lover of Florante. The
other characters included Aladin, Princess Floresca, Flerida, Adolfo, Duke Briseo, Menandro, King Linceo,
Antenor, Menalipo, Sultan Ali-adab, Count Sileno, Osmalik and Miramolin.

It is noted that the story starts with the description of the forest – dark, dangerous, very wild and full of
gigantic trees. This is probably done to condition the minds of the reader that the literary work to be
read might convey an aura of sadness and full of uncertain adventures. On the other hand the setting in
the forest might be a symbolic representation of a country that suffers from barbaric colonization.
Furthermore, the setting in the forest conveys emotion such as fear, pity, weakness and uncertainty.
Balagtas also used Albania as one of the setting of his literary masterpiece. Albania is place in Greece.
Found in the north of Yugoslavia, south of Macedonia, east-south of Greece. In the year 1938, almost 80
percent of its population did not have any formal education (Microsoft Encarta Reference Library, 2003).
Balagtas might have used Albania as a setting to deceived Spanish friars’ scrutiny since censor of literary
works that contains propaganda against Spanish colonization was rampant that time. The symbolic
words such as Albania might not be directly compared to Philippines since Albania had a King, Queen
and Duke which Philippines do not have. This indirect comparison is one of the most successful ways to
publish a literary work that contains political message in the times of the Spanish. Persia was also one of
the settings of the story, Persia is a Muslim dominated country in Asia located near Turkey and is
presently now known as Iran. Perhaps Persia must have represented something in the story of which I
could not fathom. The theme of the story such as fight of Christians and Non-Christian, love, betrayal,
friendship, happiness, pain, grief and social reality could be related to past and present issues being
encountered not only by individual people but also by our governments politically, economically and
socially stability. The theme found in the story could be described as the general truth. Which means if
not often it is usually encountered, felt and experience by an individual. The rhymes and measurement
of the lines and stanza adds beauty and creativity to the literary work. I think that if Balagtas used
sentence and paragraph, his work would have been less interesting. The use of such a creative way to
make a literary piece makes the approach of message delivery effective. For example, Biharang balita’y
magtapat, Kung magtotoo ma’y marami ng dagdag is entertaining to read than Ang balita ay minsan lang
tapat at kung totoo man ito ay kadalasang may karagdagang detalye ng naisasali. The emotions in the
story are strong in love, pain and betrayal. Perhaps Balagtas must have strongly felt each emotion during
those times while he is imprison. I sometimes associate Florante and Laura to Romeo and Juliet of
Shakespeare. This is maybe because the two literary works is a love story. Unfortunately like a fairytale
the story end in “happily ever after” making it unrealistic for me. I am not a pessimist but it would have
been nicer if it ends the opposite like Noli me Tangere or El Filibusterismo. Over all, the work of Balagtas
has never been surpassed by other Filipino writer.

Florante, in my own opinion, despite of his description as Narcissus and Adonis by Balagtas may
represent the innocent, oppressed, the defender and the betrayed. His presence in the story may mirror
and characterize the Filipino in those times. Laura, on the other hand may represent the country being
fought by two forces such as Florante and Adolfo. Laura in the story is described as beautiful. Philippines
during those times might be comparable to Laura. Adolfo represents the powerful that uses power to
carry out his evil will. Adolfo might be compared to the oppression given by the Spaniard to the Filipinos.
Other character such as Aladin represent the good Samaritan, Menandro for friendship, Antenor for
wisdom, Sultan Ali-Adab for greediness and selfishness, Miramolin for bravery and Osmalik for death.

The relationship between Florante and Laura is so divine and special because their love for each other
proved that love conquers all. Their love for each mother must set a standard to all of us that we should
fight for the one we love and cherish the most. In the story, even if there were so many obstacles and
problems that came into their lives they still manage to maintain what they have for each other. It
should be an example to all of us of how real love is.