The protégé
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| Title: | The protégé |
| Genus: | Farce with singing in four acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Johann Nestroy |
| Literary source: | Le Protégé , by Joseph-Bernard Rosier (probably) |
| Music: | Adolf Müller senior |
| Publishing year: | 1847 |
| Premiere: | April 9, 1847 |
| Place of premiere: | Theater in the Leopoldstadt |
| Place and time of the action: | The action takes place in the first two acts in a large city, and in the following two acts on one of the Baron Waldbrand's possessions, a day's journey from the city |
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The protégé is a farce with singing in four acts by Johann Nestroy . It was written in 1847 and premiered on April 9th of this year as a "benefit performance" for the author. Although Nestroy himself had described the piece as a farce, it can be classified more in the category of the "serious folk piece ".
content
Gottlieb Herb, a former school assistant, wants to make a career solely through his own work and rejects any kind of protection as unworthy. Even his uncle Pappinger cannot change his mind, Herb even plans to commit suicide because of the constant rejection of his applications.
- "There are many well who proudly call all suicide cowardice - they should try's only nacher want's to talk [...]" (I. Act, 6 th Scene)
The young factory owner's wife Pauline von Waldbrand, to whom Pappinger turns, wants to be Herb "a mysterious, well-hidden hand" and initially sends him 1000 guilders through Nanny . In the case of her husband, for whom she has fearful respect, she intervenes anonymously for Herb and claims that Julie, Herb's beloved, believed dead, wrote the letter. Indeed, thanks to an excellent production process improvement plan, Herb is given the position of factory director. Julie is outraged by Pauline's lie, but remains silent about Waldbrand.
- "My silence is to protect you, but never fordre the confirmation of lying out of my mouth - good-bye." (Act II, 11. Te Scene)
Herb's bypassed competitor Zollfeld intrigued against him by all means and got the workers of the factory on his side. When investigating Zollfeld's machinations, Herb recognizes Pauline as his secret helper and asks Julie to confront her. Since Zollfeld brags about a love affair with Julie, Herb exposes him, making him socially impossible.
- Reichthal: "Mr. v. Zollfeld, we are alien to us for the future. " (IV. Act, 9 th Scene)
Pauline has now written a letter with her confession to Waldbrand, so Julie and Herb try to get the letter before the forest fire. Surprised during the search of Waldbrands desk, the convinced realist plays a somnambulist (sleepwalker) as a last resort and can thus free Pauline from her embarrassment. Since he writes a love letter to Julie in this role, the two find each other again.
- "I am radically cured of it, because I feel too vividly now that just for the greatest happiness one needs a second being to whom one owes it". (IV. Act, 17 th Scene)
Historical background
- "That's why progress has looked at the light,
- Not much happier g'macht the world. " ( Couplet , IV. Act, 10 th Scene)
“The protégé” is a new subject in Nestroy's work, the background of which was the social changes that took place in the 18th century. Harvests destroyed by bad weather (which is why the price of wheat rose from 3 guilders to over 10 guilders in a few months) caused famines with great hardship for the poor, restrictions for the middle class and difficult times for small craftsmen, farmers and traders. At the same time, the upper bourgeoisie had turned into manufacturers who, through the " industrial revolution ", accelerated the decline of small- scale artisan businesses. The workers in the new factories came from the countryside, which Nestroy also emphasized by choosing a peasant name for his workers (Michel, Franz, Sebastian). The weavers' uprising in Silesia in 1844 was a sign of the exploitation of this newly emerging proletariat.
But the poet avoided the role of an advocate of either side, he merely documented the situation with the greatest possible objectivity. On the one hand he denounces the blind belief in progress, on the other hand he criticizes the intellectual phlegm of the new working class.
- Michel: "The new manipulations won't get old with us either."
The role of the reformer Gottlieb Herb is not an agitational, but an enlightening one, for example when he tries to explain the advantages of using machines to factory workers who are angry about innovations - in a very dominant and instructive way:
- “If you yourself admit that you lack insight, then you shouldn't be surprised if you have to listen blindly. If only the coachman can see clearly, then the goal can also be reached with blind horses. "
Nevertheless, Nestroy wrote a political play ahead of its time. In the monologue of Gottlieb Herb even the modern sociopolitical heading covers the "working class" (I. Act, 4 th Scene) - after all, a year before the publication of the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels .
Factory history
A specific template for Nestroy's piece has not yet been established with certainty. The title Protection , originally intended by the author, refers to an identical French work: Le Protégé. Comédie en un acte, mélée de chant (The protégé. Comedy in one act with song) by Joseph-Bernard Rosier (1804–1880), premiered on May 13, 1839 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris . There are similarities between the texts of Nestroy and Rosier, and the female lead (in Nestroy Julie Billdorf, widow - in Rosier Julie de Narbois, jeune veuve ) has a similar name and status. The idea of protection by a woman and intrigue by a competitor , as well as the ending of the two works, reminiscent of the Deus ex machina , are identical, but always frequently used stage set pieces. The tenor in Rosier (light vaudeville theater) and in Nestroy (renunciation of comic comedy with the exception of Pappinger's character) is different. A common as yet unknown source for both pieces is also considered possible as an alternative. The (probably wrong) assumption that Le Protégé sans le savoir (The protégé without his knowledge) by Eugène Scribe was the source, writes Julius Seidlitz in the Humorist of April 12, 1847 (No. 87, p. 346 f.).
Nestroy's work was performed almost every day from April 9th to May 6th, 1847 in the theater in the Leopoldstadt; the last performance in the old theater before the renovation was on May 7th. The first performance took place in the newly opened Carltheater on December 26, 1847 , but there were only eleven performances here, then The Protégé disappeared from the program. From 1853 to 1861 it was played a total of nine times.
Johann Nestroy played Gottlieb Herb, Wenzel Scholz played Buchbinder Pappinger, Alois Grois played Baron Waldbrand, Ignaz Stahl played foreman Hebler.
A personal handwriting Nestroys with temporary censorship contains 172 pages of text, in which only the appearance monologue (I Act, 2 te Scene) and the song, together with introduction (IV. Act, 10 th Scene) are missing. A title page with the missing performance monologue has been preserved. The personal score of Adolf Müller, with the songs of I Act, 2 te Scene and IV. Act, 10 th scene is also available.
Contemporary reception
In the Viennese press landscape the play was commented extensively and often, in April and May 1847 alone about 30 times.
The contemporary reviewer wrote in the April 12th edition (No. 83, p. 386 f.), Among other things, that Nestroy had described “the light and dark side of popular life” , “but without referring to the meanness and cynicism” of his to come back to earlier works. The plot is a bit poor, but the characters are drawn "fresh, strong and determined" .
In the Sunday papers of April 11th (No. 15, pp. 119 f.) It was argued in a similar way that Nestroy had again shown that he was one of the few contemporary authors to be able to create a real Viennese folk piece. He would only find the jokes at the expense of the newspapers dispensable and the end would slide into the typical Vaudeville style.
Eduard Breier wrote in the Viennese magazine for art, literature, theater and fashion on April 10th and 12th that Nestroy had "torn himself away from the nod and all ambiguities, hurled all previous antics from himself." However, he also criticized the " comic " end to the somnambulistic Gottlieb Herb, but generally praises the text as " a model of wealth of thought and Nestroy's word combination " .
In Wanderer , Nestroy was confirmed to be “not just a folk writer, but a folk teacher” , who lives up to this reputation through the seriousness of the main character and the avoidance of hatefulness and ambiguities, as well as the abundance of contemporary allusions.
In these and other reviews it was pointed out that the audience received the new Nestroy with some astonishment, as they thought this was “not your Nestroy” , but the poet soon succeeded in convincing the audience. Some times, particularly evident in Henry Joseph Adami in the Wiener Theater Zeitung of Adolf Bäuerle , is drawn to the almost tragic role of plaster laundress Nanni, which would have been more deserving of the connection with Herb than the not very lovable drawn Pauline. Herbs figure was also seen in the theater newspaper as that of a “modern 'Faust' from the people who carry his 'Mephisto' around in himself” .
literature
- Helmut Ahrens : I'm not auctioning myself off to the laurel. Johann Nestroy, his life. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7973-0389-0 .
- Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel : Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Historical-critical complete edition, seventh volume, Verlag von Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1926, pp. 107–238 (text).
- Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Historical-critical complete edition, eighth volume, Verlag von Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1926, pp. 356–392 (notes).
- John RP McKenzie (Ed.): Johann Nestroy, Pieces 24 / II. In: Jürgen Hein, Johann Hüttner , Walter Obermaier , W. Edgar Yates : Johann Nestroy, Complete Works, Historical-Critical Edition. Franz Deuticke Verlagsgesellschaft, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-216-30575-9 .
Web links
- Content in nestroy.at/nestroy-stuecke/58
- Historical perspectives on Nestroy's The Protégé. In: Hubert Ch. Ehalt, Jürgen Hein, WE Yates: Behind the scenes of pre- and post-march: social upheavals and theater culture at Nestroy. Contributions to the Nestroy Symposium as part of the Vienna Lectures February 23, 2000. facultas.wuv / maudrich, 2001, ISBN 3-85114-663-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ means Vienna
- ↑ the name should indicate the forest-destroying exploitation of excessive charcoal production for the first iron works
- ↑ derived from cardboard or paperboard ( Viennese for paste )
- ↑ derived from lever (physics)
- ↑ from the Italian fumo (smoke), in Vienna meaning false pride ("Der hat an Fum" = he is conceited)
- ↑ derived from the relay ( doorstep ), the location for gossiping
- ↑ Facsimile of the theater slip of the world premiere in: John RP McKenzie (Ed.): Johann Nestroy, Pieces 24 / II. P. 417.
- ↑ Adolph Schmidl, Oesterreichische Blätter for Literature and Art, Volume 4, p. 366.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 23.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 52.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 90.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 107.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. Pp. 91-96.
- ^ A b John RP McKenzie (Ed.): Johann Nestroy, Pieces 24 / II. Pp. 63-65.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 19.
- ↑ Helmut Ahrens: I am not auctioning myself off to the laurel. Pp. 277-282. (for the paragraph "Historical background"; with the exception of the passages identified by other footnotes)
- ↑ jeune veuve = young widow (French)
- ↑ Facsimile of the theater ticket for this performance in: John RP McKenzie (Ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. P. 418.
- ↑ Manuscript collection of the Vienna library in the town hall , call number IN 34.523
- ↑ Manuscript collection of the Vienna library in the town hall, call number IN 33.365
- ↑ Music collection of the Vienna Library in the City Hall, signature MH 893
- ↑ Facsimile of the couplet notes in: John RP McKenzie (Ed.): Johann Nestroy, Pieces 24 / II. Pp. 425-431.
- ^ John RP McKenzie (ed.): Johann Nestroy, pieces 24 / II. Pp. 143-266. (for the entire chapter "Contemporary Reception")
- ^ Eduard Breier: Das Lokalstück, Nestroy and his "protégé" I .. In: Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode , No. 72, April 10, 1847, p. 286 f. (Online at ANNO ). . Das Lokalstück, Nestroy and his “protégé” II. In: Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode , No. 73, April 12, 1847, pp. 290 f. (Online at ANNO ).