Samson and Delilah plot
The opera Samson and Delilah by the French composer Camille Saint Saëns is based on the Old Testament story of the battle of the Israelites against the Philistines. The Philistines are the oppressors here, but the people of Israel fight back and have an important asset in the person of Samson. He possesses a God-given power that makes him invincible, until he falls for the charms of the seductive but false Delilah. "In war he is ruthless, but he is a slave in my arms," she sings triumphantly. When she manages to get the secret of his strength from him, Samson seems irrevocably lost. Place of action is Gaza in Palestine. The scenes are set on bare sands, between car wrecks and in dilapidated houses.