 He was prominent enough by this time to enjoy some freedom in choosing texts to set to music.He initially asked Francesco Maria Piave (with whom he had already created "Ernani", "I due Foscari", "Macbeth", "Il Corsaro" and "Stiffelio") to examine the play "Kean" by Alexandre Dumas, père, but soon came to believe that they needed to find a more energetic subject.That came in the form of Victor Hugo's controversial five-act play "Le roi s'amuse" ("The king amuses himself").