There is no remedy against folly
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| Title: | There is no remedy against folly |
| Genus: | A fun tragedy in three sections |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Johann Nestroy |
| Music: | Adolf Müller senior |
| Publishing year: | 1838 |
| Premiere: | November 3, 1838 |
| Place of premiere: | Theater an der Wien |
| Place and time of the action: | The second section takes place seven years later, and the third section thirty years later. |
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There is no remedy for folly is a funny tragedy in three sections by Johann Nestroy . The play was written in 1838 and was premiered on November 3rd of this year in the Theater an der Wien as a benefit evening for the actor Franz Gämmerler .
content
The youth:
Richard Berg fears for his brother Simplicius, who always falls for every crook because of his stupidity and squandered his paternal inheritance. His simple-minded servant Anselm goes along with every nonsense. The flirtatious Aglaja wants to marry Simplicius immediately after seeing her just once. Although he witnessed her cheating on him with Monsieur Narciß, he was cleverly duped by her crocodile tears and the lies of her mother, Frau von Perlthau:
- “Really? Do you have such unworthy suspicions against this angel? She does not survive the blow. " (First section, twentieth scene)
The man:
Seven years later, Simplicius - now a widower - gambled away the rest of the inheritance that Richard had given him in a casino, with only 800 guilders left. The cunning Pachiparoli persuades him that he must marry the rich hemlock's daughter Blandine in order to rehabilitate himself. In fact, hemlock is also broke and is hoping for the rich son-in-law. Patschiparoli gets Simplicius to give away the last of the florins to him. The mutual deception is exposed, hemlock is taken into custody, Blandine flees with her lover Florfeld, Simplicius is the one who has been completely deceived and Patschiparoli sums up calmly:
- “But now my personal safety seems to be on the extreme too. Childish, before they attack me, a skilful somersault will be made across the border. ” (Second section, twenty-fifth scene)
Old man:
Richard will emigrate to his son in America, which sadly affects all of his employees, including Anselm. He believes that all men will chase after his wife Barbara, he wants to marry off his two daughters, but Claire, the elder, must be the first. The completely impoverished Simplicius is the bearer of notes in Patschiparoli's tightrope walker troupe, which he once co-founded with the last of his inheritance. Since he has grown old and has nothing anymore, he is no longer even allowed to play the bajazzo, but has to do henchman services. Despite all the bad experiences, his brother wants to help him with a large sum of money before he leaves. But the incorrigible fool immediately falls in love with the young Claire, persuades her parents Anselm and Barbara to give her to him as a wife and leads the barely 20-year-old to the wedding despite her desperation about it.
- "The parents are on my side and she has to, there is no use! I am beside myself with bliss! " (Third section, twenty-first scene)
Despite all the persuasions of Richard and Florfeld, he remains stubborn and will certainly run into his misfortune again. Richard finally resigns and leaves:
- "It remained a goal and unfortunately I now see it fulfilled what you once prophetically called out to me: Gods themselves fight against stupidity in vain - away!" (Third section, twenty-first scene)
Factory history
There is no evidence of a template for Nestroy's play, but the individual motifs of the plot are traditional set pieces of the old Viennese folk theater . Since the work, like some of his other attempts to bring serious things to the stage, was unsuccessful with the public, he returned from the moralizing folk play based on Ferdinand Raimund's model with the play The fatal Faschingsnacht to his very own area, the farce .
Johann Nestroy played the Simplicius Berg, Wenzel Scholz the Anselm, Alois Grois the Schnapp and Lorenz the coachman, Ignaz Stahl the Hemlock, Friedrich Hopp the Patschiparoli, Franz Gämmerler the Florfeld, Eleonore Condorussi the Aglaja, Nestroy's partner Marie Weiler the Kathi. The beneficiary Gämmerler gave the poet Florfeld.
The original manuscript and the theater manuscripts can no longer be found; the text is based on Vinzenz Chiavacci / Ludwig Ganghofer : Nestroys Gesammelte Werke. (Bonz Verlag, Stuttgart 1890), which can probably be traced back to a theater manuscript.
The original score by Adolf Müller has been preserved, title: There is no remedy against folly. Funny tragedy in 3 acts by Joh. Nestroy. Music by Adolf Müller in 1838. First performed in the k. k. priv. theater a. d. Vienna the 3rd November. 1838. The original title Stupidity has been crossed out. In addition to the sheet music, the score also contains some texts of the vocal pieces.
In 1973 the play was performed at the Vienna Volkstheater under Gustav Manker with Herbert Propst (Simplicius Berg), Heinz Petters (Anselm), Brigitte Swoboda (Aglaja), Rudolf Strobl (Patschiparoli, formerly tightrope walker, now croupier), Hilde Sochor (Kathi, head waiter), Walter Langer (hemlock) and Franz Morak (balance) listed.
Contemporary reception
The rejection of this work by the theater critics was pretty unanimous; it was rightly recognized that with this genre the satirist Nestroy had entered a dead end between tragedy and antiquity.
In the nestroy friendly se Wiener Theater Zeitung of Adolf Bäuerle was read on November 5, 1838
- “The idea that a fool is incorrigible, illustrated in this way, cannot have any dramatic effect. Here Simplicius is partly a fool, partly a scoundrel, and with him silliness and worthlessness go almost hand in hand. In this way there is absolutely no interest in him. "
In addition to the play by Nestroys and Scholz, Marie Weiler, who received spontaneous applause for the Quodlibet of the second act (26th scene) and was called out several times with Nestroy, was praised.
The Viennese magazine for art, literature, theater and fashion wrote on November 10th:
- “Actually the tendencies of today's Pièce boil down to the doctrine that inveterate profligacy is incorrigible, and this in any case, may the truth be undeniable, a bleak background, if it is not even dangerous, a good-for-nothing of the most reprehensible kind to wear to make a comic material, on the cheerful side of which one forgets the serious mask of the dramatic Janus head. "
The actors were also highly praised, however, the reception by the audience was unfavorable.
The November 8th collector was similarly negative:
- “Only the current work has not only not satisfied the claims to which the author's name justifies, but it is to be ranked even lower than z. B. ' The Faithless ', ' The House of Temperaments ' u. m. a .; it is mediocre and is flawed in both idea and execution. [...] The hard work of the Pièce deserves praise. "
Later interpretations
Helmut Ahrens notes that Nestroy tried to raise his profile in the entire folk comedy area that Raimund had specified. In this piece he wanted to combine moralizing elements of the popular theater with scenery and dialogues of the farce, which he was only able to do in places. Ahrens laconically notes the plot:
- "In short: everything is free, the stupid remains stupid, the foolish stupid - a melancholy, sad piece."
In Otto Rommel you can read that “only an outspoken intellectual like Nestroy” (quote) can treat such a topic in this way. The main character is presented to the audience without even a hint of understanding sympathy, rather even with triumphant cruelty. This lack of psychological development, however, paralyzes interest in Simplicius' problem.
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, sixth volume, published by Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1926; Pp. 489-600 (text).
- Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Historical-critical complete edition, eighth volume, published by Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1926; Pp. 255-274 (Notes).
- Otto Rommel: Nestroys Works. Selection in two parts, Golden Classics Library, German publishing house Bong & Co., Berlin / Leipzig / Vienna / Stuttgart 1908.
- Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Collected Works. Historical-critical complete edition, third volume, Verlag von Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1948–1949, new edition 1962; Pp. 247-340, 708, 723-725.
Web links
- Contents and list of people on nestroy-stuecke / 38_torheit
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patschiparoli = Paroli, in the Pharaoh game a winning card marked by the player in order to achieve three times the profit, see Paroli game
- ↑ Fitzliputzli = in the then well-known circus of Alessandro Guerra there was an art rider named Filippuzzi ( Hermann Otto [Signor Saltarino]: Artist Lexicon: biographical notes on art riders, tamers, gymnasts, clowns, acrobats ... of all countries and times , Ed. Lintz, Düsseldorf, 1895)
- ^ Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. 6th volume, p. 521.
- ^ Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Volume 6, p. 562.
- ^ Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. 6th volume, p. 598.
- ^ Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. 6th volume, p. 599.
- ^ Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Collected Works. Pp. 248-250.
- ↑ Music collection of the Vienna library in the town hall , call number MH 730.
- ^ Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. 8th Volume, pp. 256-268.
- ↑ KK priv. Theater an der Wien. In: Viennese magazine for art, literature, theater and fashion , November 10, 1838, p. 1079 f. (Online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Helmut Ahrens: I am not auctioning myself off to the laurel. Pp. 201-203.
- ^ Otto Rommel: Nestroys works. S. XLVII.