The central aim of the article is an intertextual comparison of the experienceof intimate love in the central characters Črtomir and Bogomila, as presented in Prešerenʼs Baptism at the Savica (Ljubljana, 1836) and in the dramatisations with the same title by Zorko Simčič (1953, 1965, 1994) and Dominik Smole (1969, 2003, 2009). In his drama Simčič follows Prešeren's pattern and complements the theme of transcendental love of the young couple, who sacrifice themselves for each other, with the Christian themes of guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation. In Smoleʼs drama, on the other hand, Črtomir and Bogomila are incapable to love; their love is "wild", depersonalized, violent, deprived of pure desire, too weak for self-sacrifice; with their egotism they deny and finally destroy each other.
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