Prologue, Part 1: In the First Circle of Hell

Dante and his guide, the shade of Virgil. They come to a stop, on hearing the groans of those condemned to eternal torment- Dante is seized with fear, but Virgil bids him take heart: pity, not terror is called for here. They continue on their way.

Part 2; In the Pit, by a precipice by cries of anguish.

As they descend, the two travellers are buffeted by strong winds and assailed Virgil explains that this is the place where the souls of those who 'enslaved their reason to their lust' abide. Dante sees a couple clinging to each other even in the raging storm and speaks to them compassionately. They are Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, whose bitterest woe it is 'to remember in our wretchedness old happy times'.

Scene 1. Rimini, in Malatesta's Palace

Lanceotto Malatesta has distinguished himself in war against the Pope's enemies,and a cardinal begs him to take up arms for the Vicar of Christ once again. He consents and gives his troops orders for the coming night. But the sound of trumpets summoning him to battle does not lift his heart as it once did. Since his marriage to Francesca he has been prey to jealousy. He blames above all Francesca's father on whose advice he sent his handsome younger brother Paolo to Ravenna to woo her, not as his proxy but representing himself as the prospective bridegroom. Francesca exchanged vows at the altar with Paolo, and learned only later that her husband is in fact the lame Lanceotto. Lanceotto wants to know for certain whether or not the pair are deceiving him, and sets a trap for them. He commands Francesca to place herself in Paolo's care during his absence. Francesca is an obedient wife. Her duty is sacred but she draws back from Lanceotto's delicate plea for a sign of affection. She does not love her husband and allows him to know it.

Scene 2: A Room in the Palace

Paolo is watching over Francesca as his brother instructed, and is reading aloud to her a story about the love of Sir Lancelot for a married woman. Slyly he relates the situation in the story to their own and confesses his love to Francesca. Francesca rejects his advance; their love for each other is not for a brief moment in this world but for eternity. Reading on, Paolo comes to the passage where Lancelot and his beloved exchange their first kiss, and moment and eternity become one. Now Francesca weakens. In a 'transcendant moment', the 'moment of bliss', Lanceotto's dagger and his curse strike the lovers down. Their shrieks mingle with those of all the damned.

Epilogue; In the First Circle of Hell

Once again, the flocks of the damned rush past Virgil and Dante. The poet falls silent in unending sorrow. The moment becomes eternity, as desired, but an eternity of torment, not bliss. 'No woe more bitter than to remember in our wretchedness old happy times.'

- Sigrid Neef [Translation: Mary Whittall]