Alzire

Etymology

Alzire is the name of the heroine in Voltaire's 1736 tragic play Alzire, ou les Américains (Alzire, or The Americans). The name was likely adapted from Alzira, the Spanish city, which derives from Arabic al-Jazīra, meaning "the island." Voltaire's use of this name for an indigenous Peruvian princess aligns with his themes of cross-cultural encounter.

Literary Significance

Voltaire's five-act tragedy, set in Lima, Peru shortly after the Spanish conquest, portrays Alzire as an Inca princess caught in a love triangle with the brutal Spanish governor, Don Gusman, and her captive lover, Zamore. Forced by her father to convert to Christianity and marry Gusman, Alzire struggles between duty to her new husband and lingering love for the presumed-dead Zamore. When Zamore kills Gusman, the dying governor forgives him and renounces Alzire, illustrating the play's themes of religion, colonization, and clemency. As the first French tragedy with an Inca setting, Alzire continued a European literary fascination with the "noble savage" and the Americas.

• Meaning: "island" (from Arabic al-Jazīra)
• Origin: Literary coinage by Voltaire, adapted from the city Alzira
• Type: Fictional character name
• Usage regions: Primarily literary (French tragic theater)