Blanka of Castile (Grillparzer)
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| Title: | Blanka of Castile |
| Genus: | Tragedy |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Franz Grillparzer |
| Publishing year: | created 1807–1809 |
| Premiere: | 5th November 1958 |
| Place of premiere: | Volkstheater , Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | Xeres de la Frontera, in the second half of the 14th century |
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Etc. |
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Blanka von Kastilien is a youth drama by Franz Grillparzer . Not particularly successful as a play, however, in view of the later important dramas and Grillparzer's beginnings as a poet, it is of significance in terms of literary history.
The historical stuff
The historic Blanka of Castile (1339-1361) was a daughter of Duke Peter I of Bourbon and the sister-in-law of the French King Charles V in 1353 she was married to King Pedro I of Castile. The marriage remained childless. A few days after the wedding, he, who had lived with the noblewoman María de Padilla before he married, had his wife arrested. In this she died eight years after their wedding, presumably of consumption .
There are several legends surrounding Blanka's early death, according to which her husband had her murdered. In some of these legends, her fate is sometimes linked to that of Don Fadrique Alfonso de Castilla (also Trastamara ) (January 13, 1334, Seville - May 29, 1358, Seville) (for Grillparzer: Federigo). This, Grand Master of the Knightly Order of Santiago de Compostela and Lord of Haro, was one of the half-brothers of King Pedro I (and allegedly the twin brother of Don Enrique (Heinrich) de Trastámara , who succeeded Pedro as King of Castile). Don Fadrique was murdered, probably on the orders of King Pedro. Legends were also formed about his death.
The murder of Don Fadrique is the subject of the ballad Spanish Atrids by Heinrich Heine . It is also part of the historical novel The Bastard of Mauleon by Alexandre Dumas , along with the assassination of Blankas . In the opera Maria Padilla (first performance 1841) by Gaetano Donizetti after the tragedy of the same name María de Padilla (first performance 1838) by Jacques-François Ancelot , Blanka only has a silent role in the final act and Don Fadrique does not appear here.
Table of contents
For reasons of state, the French Princess Blanka was married to King Pedro of Castile, although she was secretly engaged to his half-brother Federigo. The angry Pedro, however, has a lover, the lady-in-waiting Maria, to whom he is completely addicted. He has Blanka, whom he has never seen before, imprisoned and plans to kill her. He has entrusted the supervision of her to his half-brother. Federigo tries to win back Blanka, whom he still loves, but although she still loves him too, she wants to remain loyal to her husband despite everything. When Blanka runs into Pedro by chance, he too suddenly discovers his interest in her and becomes jealous of his half-brother. Maria, who also shows an interest in Federigo, intrigues against Blanka in order to hold Pedro, while Federigo tries a rebellion against the cruel rule of the king. Maria wants to do without Pedro in the end, but it is already too late, Blanka and Federigo are murdered.
"Blanka von Kastilien": Grillparzer and his role model Schiller
The historical dramas by Friedrich Schiller and especially Dom Karlos, Infante of Spain , to which Blanka von Kastilien has a whole series of parallels in content, which are clearly due to the role model, are the models for Grillparzer's youth drama, especially the constellation of characters and the plot concerns. Like Carlos with Elisabeth, Federigo is initially engaged to Blanka, who marries his father or his (older) half-brother. Like Elisabeth, Blanka renounces her love and is a loyal wife to the unloved husband. He in turn developed feelings of jealousy towards her former fiancé. There is also a lady-in-waiting (at Grillparzer Maria, at Schiller the Princess of Eboli) who loves Federigo or Don Carlos, but shares the bed with his brother or father. Apart from the fact that the characters do not come close to their role models, Grillparzer's attempt to “copy” Schiller's drama should also be the cause of some inconsistencies. So is z. B. Pedro's behavior is anything but plausible. He is only married to Blanka "per forma", has never seen her, has her imprisoned, plans her murder, but wants her as soon as he happens to meet her, but as a wife, etc. However, there are already some in the figure drawing first references to later works by the poet, e.g. B. in the somewhat ambivalent figures Federigo and Maria.
reception
Blanka von Kastilien was rejected by the Vienna Burgtheater in 1810 as unperformable and is not found in the first edition of Grillparzer's works published by the Burgtheater director Heinrich Laube . It was not until 1958 that the play was premiered at the Vienna Volkstheater, on the initiative of the director Gustav Manker, in a version of the text prepared by him and significantly shortened . This was received very favorably by the audience and critics.
expenditure
- Franz Grillparzer: Blanka von Kastilien , Bergland Verl., 1958
Secondary literature
- Hans Sittenberger: Franz Grillparzer . His life and work. Berlin 1904 (reprinted 2013 Google book )
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Heine: Spanische Atriden In: textlog.de , accessed on March 28, 2017.
- ↑ Alexandre Dumas: The Bastard of Mauléon . From the French by August Zoller . Franckh, Stuttgart 1848, 1-4. Google book ; 5-8. Google book ; 9-11. Google book .
- ↑ a b c GRILLPARZER PREMIERE: O Donna Blanko . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1958, pp. 77-78 ( Online - Nov. 5, 1958 ). (Article about the premiere on November 5, 1958, accessed February 4, 2017)
- ^ Hans Sittenberger: Grillparzer. His life and work, 1904, p. 52 online - Internet Archive