First published in 1886 and long considered one of Hagop Baronian's masterpieces,
Balthazar!
presents a farcical insight into the trials and tribulations of marital life in Constantinople's Armenian upper-class. When Balthazar discovers that his wife, Anush, has been seen with another man, he hires a lawyer to initiate a divorce and appeals to his best friend Gibar to discover her lover's identity. Unbeknownst to the foolish Balthazar, the adulterer is none other than Gibar himself who, determined to protect Anush's reputation, engages in a conspiracy to frame Balthazar in a competing case. What ensues is an outrageous tribunal with tragicomic results.