Review
Salman Rushdie's
The Enchantress of Florence is a
phantasmagoria of sights, sounds, characters, and long sentences set in 16
th
century Italy and the Mughal Empire.
The plot centers on a series of stories told by a mysterious interloper to the
Great Akbar. Akbar is a free thinker and a munificent ruler, so the interloper,
Uccello, is able to stay and tell his stories after many of the court believe he
should leave. The story is about the mysterious Enchantress of Florence, whose
personal history greatly interests Akbar.
The telling of stories and the similarities between Akbar's court and the
distant Italy are two of the central themes of the novel: Rushdie opines through
metaphor, character, and plot that humanity is the same regardless of situation
or fashion. The interweaving storylines, one set in Renaissance Italy, the...
Beyond the Book
Akbar the Great
Salman Rushdie did a tremendous
amount of research before
writing
The Enchantress of
Florence, as evidenced
by its six-page bibliography.
Many of the characters are drawn
from history,
the most interesting and prominent
being Akbar
the Great.
As in the book, Akbar the Great
was known to be a wise and
benevolent ruler. He ruled the
Mughal Empire (map),
founded by his grandfather, from
1556 to 1605, taking the throne
at just 13 years of age. He was
a...
