History Literature / ThePrisonerOfZenda

A modern reader might sympathize with Black Michael (the King's brother, kidnapper, and attempted usurper of the throne) because the King is introduced as a somewhat irresponsible and flippant individual, and because some quarters of the population prefer Michael to Rudolf. In the book itself, however, Michael is portrayed as cowardly and treacherous, while his supporters among the people are mostly dismissed as being of a "largely criminal" class and King Rudolf is stated to be preferred by other parts of the populace.

''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of {{Ruritania}} is abducted on the eve of his coronation, and the hero, an [[MightyWhitey English gentleman]] on holiday who fortuitously resembles the monarch, is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an attempt to save the situation.

* UnbuiltTrope: Despite being the trope namer for tiny, fictional backwaters Hope's Ruritania is apparently at least a middling sized, reasonably modern (by late 19th century standards) kingdom. Zenda itself has a handsome modern chateau built around the medieval castle, the capital city of Streslau is described by Rassendyll (a Londoner no less) as a "great city" and the narrative even notes the kingdom has played important roles in European history.

* {{Ruritania}}

* HighDiveEscape: Former TropeNamer: Rupert dives into the moat to escape from Zenda, though Rudolf pursues him into the forest. Rupert's final escape comes when he steals a horse from a passing peasant girl.

* {{Ruritania}}: The TropeNamer.

* AffablyEvil, EnigmaticMinion, ReliableTraitor, MagnificentBastard and TheStarscream: All good descriptors of Rupert of Hentzau.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The 1937 Ronald Colman [[Film/ThePrisonerOfZenda film version]] is generally considered to be the best of the cinematic versions and one of the best [[{{Swashbuckler}} swashbucklers]] ever made, though it changes some details, as in introducing Hentzau near the beginning and making Flavia a blonde. It launched the career of DavidNiven (von Tarlenheim) and proved that Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Hentzau) could play a convincing villain.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Michael is a double subversion. He is an aristocrat (Duke of Strelsau and a Prince, if not in line to the throne because his parents' marriage was morganatic). He subverts it by being an evil Duke, since Dukes tend to be good. He then subverts that when it's pointed out that his father specifically gave him a freshy created duchy (which is ruled from the capital city, no less) in the hopes that being the second-most powerful noble in the kingdom would be enough to sate his ambition (it wasn't).

* UnbuiltTrope: Despite being the trope namer for tiny, fictional backwaters Hope's Ruritania is apparently at least a middling sized, reasonably modern (by late 19th century standards) kingdom. Zenda itself has a handsome modern chateau built around the medieval castle, the capital city of Streslau is described by Rassendyl (a Londoner no less) as a "great city" and the narrative even notes the kingdom has played important roles in European history.

* ''Manga/VictorianRomanceEmma'' features an opera adaptation, which is used to parallel the romantic problems a character is having.

* ''Manga/{{Emma}}'' features an opera adaptation, which is used to parallel the romantic problems a character is having.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Michael is a triple subversion, if you can believe that. He is an aristocrat (Duke of Strelsau and a Prince, if ot in line to the throne because his parents' marriage was morganatic). He subverts it by being an evil Duke, since Dukes tend to be good. He then subverts that when it's pointed out that his father specifically gave him a freshy created duchy (which is ruled from the capital city, no less) in the hopes that being the second-most powerful noble in the kingdom would curb his ambition.

* One issue of ''JonSableFreelance'' is a WholePlotReference to ''The Prisoner of Zenda''.

* The 1993 film ''{{Dave}}'', starring Kevin Kline, where Ruritania is replaced by the United States of America.

* The second {{Literature/Flashman}} novel (''Royal Flash'') is a Zenda homage. Given the [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis series' setup]], Flashman claims Hope plagiarized the story from him.

* The Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs novel ''The Mad King'' draws heavily on ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (although moves the setting to WorldWarOne).

* The 1965 film ''TheGreatRace'' has a sequence in which the villain Professor Fate is taken for the imbecillic Prince Frederick Hapnick; Baron von Stuppe plays the Hentzau part, complete with a bungled HighDiveEscape.

* The second {{Flashman}} novel (''Royal Flash'') is a Zenda homage. Given the [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis series' setup]], Flashman claims Hope plagiarized the story from him.

* SureLetsGoWithThat: At some point, someone becomes aware of the King of Ruritania being imprisoned and this reaches England. Everyone there thinks that Rudolf was jailed for making a pass at Black Michael's mistress and a minor international incident occurs to get him released. When he returns, his family assumes that his more serious attitude is from that situation and he lets them believe that.

* HighDiveEscape: Former TropeNamer.

* GentlemanAdventurer: Rudolf is an example of the good version, and the book also has an EvilCounterpart on Michael's side, Detchard, who is a mercenary but just as loyal to Michael as Rudolf is to the King.

[[IReadThatAs Not to be confused with]] VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda.

* The TimeWars novel ''The Zenda Vendetta'', in which time-travelling terrorists murder Rudolf Rassendyll, so one of the heroes -- who fortuitously ''also'' resembles the monarch -- has to impersonate him impersonating the King.