Az ember tragédiája

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Az ember tragédiája (The Tragedy of Man) is a play written by the Hungarian author Imre Madách. It was first published in 1861. The play is considered as one of the major works of Hungarian literature and is one of the most often staged Hungarian plays today. Many lines have become common quotes in Hungary. The film Angyali üdvözlet is based on the play.

1 Synopsis
- 1.1 Sequence of Scenes
2 Interpretation
3 Staging and Adaptations
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

The main characters are Adam, Eve and Lucifer. After the Fall, the three travel in dream through time to visit different turning-points in human history. Through this, Lucifer tries to convince Adam that life is (will be) meaningless and mankind is doomed. Adam and Lucifer are introduced at the beginning of each scene, with Adam assuming various important historical roles and Lucifer usually acting as a servant or confidant. Eve enters only later in each scene, usually as a historical character. From the 19th century scene on, Adam retreats into an observer role, his political and historical enthusiasm has disappeared.

[edit] Sequence of Scenes

The Tragedy of Man contains fifteen scenes, with ten historical periods represented. The scenes, their locations, and the identity of the main protagonists in each are as follows.

SCENE 1 - In Heaven, immediately following the creation.
SCENE 2 - In the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Time.
SCENE 3 - Outside the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Time.
SCENE 4 - Egypt, c. 2650 BC. Adam is a Pharaoh, most likely Djoser; Lucifer his Vizier; Eve is the wife of a slave.
SCENE 5 - Athens, 489 BC. Adam is Miltiades the Younger; Lucifer is a guard; Eve is Miltiades' wife.
SCENE 6 - Rome, c. AD 67. Adam is a wealthy Roman; Lucifer and Eve are his friends.
SCENE 7 - Constantinople, AD 1096. Adam is Prince Tancred of Hauteville; Lucifer is his squire; Eve is a noble maiden who is forced to become a nun.
SCENE 8 - Prague, c. AD 1615. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Borbala.
SCENE 9 - Paris, AD 1793 (in a dream of Kepler). Adam is Georges Danton; Lucifer is an executioner; Eve appears in two forms, first as an aristocrat who is about to be executed, then immediately following as a bloodthirsty poor woman.
SCENE 10 - Prague, c. AD 1615. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Borbala.
SCENE 11 - London, 1800s. Adam and Lucifer are nameless Englishmen; Eve is a young woman of the middle class.
SCENE 12 - A Communist/Technocratic Phalanstery, in the future. Adam and Lucifer masquerade as travelling chemists; Eve is a worker who refuses to be separated from her child.
SCENE 13 - Space. Adam and Lucifer are themselves.
SCENE 14 - An ice age in the distant future, at least AD 6000. Adam is a broken old man; Lucifer is himself; Eve is an eskimo's wife.
SCENE 15 - Outside Eden at the Beginning of Time.

[edit] Interpretation

Some critics maintain that the true protagonist of the Tragedy is Lucifer himself, being more active than Adam and the Lord combined. Others suggest the controversial portrayal of Eve, the first woman, was prompted by Madách's own unhappy marriage. The relationship between man and woman is portrayed as deeply flawed on the one hand, often leading to sadness and betrayal (notably from the woman's side), while it is on the other hand affirmed as the basic human relationship, and the woman as such is in the end evoked as the element of betterment in the world. These are among the more marginal interpretations, but the role of Hegelian dialectic in the sequencing of scenes is an established fact.

Literary influence, notably from Milton's Paradise Lost and Goethe's Faust, cannot be overlooked. Both have notably contributed to the representation of the Lucifer, that takes characteristics from both Milton's Satan and Goethe's Mephistopheles.

One of the most controversial elements of the play is the final line, spoken by God: "Mondottam, ember, küzdj és bízva bízzál!" (I've told you, Man: struggle and trust!) In different interpretations, this can be seen as either cynical, or else pointing to a "hope beyond all hope". Differently from Paradise Lost, where the Christian hope is clearly spelled out, The Tragedy of Man is not really a Christian play - in fact, it is rather critical of historical Christianity -, though it may have Christian interpretations, notably in its ending.

[edit] Staging and Adaptations

The poem is quite suitable for the stage, albeit a bit lengthy. German, Czech and Polish theaters have staged adaptations. Graphic illustrations created for historic and contemporary printed editions, as well as stage sketches are of outstanding artistic value. A feature-length animated film was domestically produced in the 1970s. A non-animated version entitled Angyali üdvözlet (The Annunciation) was released in 1984, in which children play all the characters.