A brotherly dispute in Habsburg

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Data
Title: A brotherly dispute in Habsburg
Genus: Tragedy in five acts
Original language: German
Author: Franz Grillparzer
Publishing year: 1848
Premiere: September 24, 1872
Place of premiere: Wiener Stadttheater , Vienna
people

A fraternal strife in Habsburg (also: a dispute in the house of Habsburg ) is a play by Franz Grillparzer in five acts from the year 1848. The drama is based on the conflict between Emperor Rudolf II. And his brother and successor Matthias out of the house of Habsburg , where the author has also allowed himself poetic freedom. Like The Jewess of Toledo , the brotherly dispute is one of those works by Grillparzer that were only found in his estate.

After the rejection of his only comedy, Woe to the One Who Lies , 10 years passed before Grillparzer created another drama. The realistic drama about the brotherly quarrel is considered unsuccessful in terms of its dramatic structure. There is little action and more of a character painting of Emperor Rudolf II. Nevertheless, the "brotherly quarrel" was described as "the most important historical-political tragedy of the Germans" ( Hugo von Hofmannsthal ) or "the most important German historical tragedy since Wallenstein ".

Summary

Rudolf II is Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . He is accused of being too inactive and the people think he is insane. Opposite him is his brother Archduke Matthias . At the beginning of the play, the emperor's son, Don Caesar, wants to save Field Marshal Russworm from death. Mathias is always enterprising, but too complacent and vain. He overestimated his abilities, was defeated in the Turkish war and raved about future victories.

The people want peace, but the emperor doesn't. After long discussions, Emperor Rudolf is ousted from the throne by his brother Mathias. Wallenstein's appearance at the end already points to the coming period of the Thirty Years' War .

Table of contents

Act 1: Don Caesar, the son of Emperor Rudolf, wants to save Field Marshal Russworm from an execution. Russworm is incriminated by the Prague citizen Prokop and his daughter. However, he only succeeds in delaying this until he has got news from the emperor. He comes to the emperor, with whom his brother Mathias is already waiting for an audience. Mathias wants to command a regiment in Hungary and is accompanied by Bishop Klesel . The Emperor refuses Don Caesar's request to pardon Russworm. Then Archduke Ferdinand came to the emperor. At first he was happy about the appearance of his nephew, but controversy arose because the emperor hinted at good words about Protestants. Finally, Leopold is introduced to the emperor.

Act 2: Ferdinand, Leopold, Maximilian and Klesel meet around Mathias. They decide to make peace with the Turks behind Rudolf's back. It is also decided to maintain secrecy. In another scene, Prokop and his daughter Lucretia are saved from soldiers by Leopold and Ferdinand.

Act 3: Rudolf learns from Julius that his brother Mathias is crowned King of Hungary and does not understand that he can ally himself with the Protestants. Prokop and his daughter also come and report that Mathias is in the presence of Klesel. Leopold tries to get to the emperor, but he ignores him, and Rudolf Klesel refuses an audience, as Prague is already under attack. Klesel actually wanted to negotiate a peace.

Act 4: Colonel Ramee frees Don Caesar, who was previously held captive by Prokop. Without wanting to, Don Caesar shoots Lucretia and allows himself to be arrested. He is taken to the Tower in Prague, where he is bled for his fits of rage. When he is alone, he removes the bandages. Since the key to the tower is with Julius, the doctors cannot go to him. But after a servant asks for the key and Rudolf learns of the events, the latter takes the key and throws it into a well. Now Maximilian and Ferdinand also come to Rudolf to get him to settle the dispute. But he decides to completely abdicate. After the two have left the room, he suffers a fit of weakness and Julius rushes to his aid.

Act 5: Ferdinand meets Klesel in Vienna and argues with him about his attitude towards Protestants. Ferdinand now believes that Rudolf would have been better for the people. Ferdinand meets Wallenstein, who reports on a riot in Prague. After Mathias has also entered the room, Julius arrives from Prague and reports on the death of the emperor. There is also a conversation between Wallenstein and Ferdinand, in which Wallenstein thinks the war will last thirty years. The play ends with an admission of guilt by Mathias.

Character characteristics

Grillparzer's historical dramas are based on a very careful study of the sources and secondary literature that were already available at the time. In view of the current state of research, however, compromises have to be made here. This also applies to the characteristics of the historical figures.

  • At the center of the tragedy is Emperor Rudolf II, who for Grillparzer is a ruler who is weak-willed because of his understanding of the moral questionable nature of political activity, but who is always aware of his imperial dignity. His adherence to traditional rules and his disgust for any kind of rebellion and revolution correspond to Grillparzer's own convictions. The conflict between the man Rudolf, who does not want to disrupt the traditional holy order of the state through deeds, because these would necessarily entangle him in guilt, like all historical action, and the emperor Rudolf, who endangers this order through his passivity the tragic trigger for the plot of the tragedy, which with the prospect of the Thirty Years' War ends in the chaos that Rudolf actually wanted to avoid through his passivity, but is ultimately a consequence of this.
  • In contrast to his brother Rudolf, Archduke Matthias completely misses an insight into the political situation, although he is ambitious and tries to make a political profile and ultimately bring about the overthrow of his brother, which he also succeeds in, with Cardinal Khlesl Confidante and advisor of "Mephistophelian" format at your side. At Grillparzer, he essentially fails because of his own lack of independence.
  • A secondary thread that is relatively loosely linked to the main plot (through the figure of Rudolf) concerns Don Caesar, a natural son of Rudolf who is also historically documented and who, in an unhappy love-hate relationship, becomes the murderer of the bourgeois girl he desires. Rudolf does not want to know anything about a pardon and executes the death sentence himself, in which he throws away the key and lets Don Caesar bleed to death.

Historical references to the time of origin

Since the piece comes from the poet's estate, it was overlooked for a long time that, with a view to the assumed date of origin between 1825 and 1848, historical references can also be established. In the figure of Emperor Rudolf, Grillparzer draws a ruler who refuses to take political action. Ferdinand I of Austria , who then ruled over the Austrian Empire, did not refuse to take political action, but was considered incapable of governing. With his historical drama, Grillparzer reflects on the situation in the Austrian Empire in the middle of the 19th century.

reception

The preparatory work began by 1825 and ended around 1848. The tragedy was published for the first time in the 1860s, and as a result further revisions were made that were only discovered in the poet's estate. The piece was premiered in Vienna in 1872 .

See also

Secondary literature

  • Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, pp. 891f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugo von Hofmannsthal : Zur Krisis des Burgtheater (1918), in: Reden und Aufzüge , Vol. II, Fischer, Frankfurt / Main 1979, p. 244.
  2. ↑ Dieter Borchmeyer : Power and Melancholy. Schiller's Wallenstein. Athenaeum, Frankfurt / Main 1988, ISBN 3-610-08941-5 , p. 248.
  3. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, p. 891
  4. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, p. 891 and p. 892.
  5. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, p. 891.
  6. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, p. 892
  7. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon . Study edition. Munich, 1988. Vol. 6, p. 891. At least at the Burgtheater in Vienna it was performed again and again into the 20th century.