"Juudas" by Lauri Haarla is a historical drama written in the early 20th century. Set in Gustavian-era Finland, it portrays a circle of conspirators around General Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten as they prepare to challenge royal power while testing the limits of loyalty, love, and honor. At its center stand the stern idealist Juhana Antti Jägerhorn, the sharp-tongued poet Klick, the vulnerable Beata Kristiina, and the worldly pastor Argillander.The opening of the play unfolds in Seesta manor, where salon wit, patriotic fervor, and private schemes collide. Amid a satirical entertainment mocking court life, Jägerhorn appears to steer the company from frivolity to a secret lodge “Valhalla,” initiating the wily Björnram and denouncing treachery. He vows to save Beata from a forced marriage to her guardian’s son, and the two confess their love. A letter from Sprengtporten announces his command of a foreign legion, prompting Jägerhorn to order clandestine Finnish recruiting as groundwork for a future uprising; the conspirators agree, while the gambler Bierken tries blackmail and is confined. At the start of the second act, Anna Elisabeth is dead, Klick admits a forbidden love for Jägerhorn’s sister Hedvig Maria, Jägerhorn frets over Beata’s silence, rumors swirl of Sprengtporten traveling with the celebrated Isaura, and the bluff soldier von Otter strides in—signaling fresh complications. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
