Henry IV (Pirandello)
Heinrich IV. (Italian original title: Enrico IV) is a drama in three acts by the Italian Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello . The premiere took place on February 24, 1922 in Milan.
action
The piece takes place in an Italian country house on a day at the beginning of the 20th century. The prehistory is told to the audience mainly in the first act, but also in supplementary fragments in the other acts through the characters' dialogues.
Background: An Italian nobleman, whose real name is never mentioned in the play, took part in a mask parade 20 years ago. He was disguised as the German Emperor Heinrich IV . He had chosen this role because the young woman he loved had chosen the role of Margravine Mathilde von Toscana : he wanted to lie at her feet like Henry IV in Canossa . When his horse shied, he fell in the street, hit his head, and passed out. When he regained consciousness, he believed he really was Henry IV. Since this event, people around him have confirmed his madness by meeting him in medieval costumes and treating him as an emperor.
In the first act, a group of visitors comes to the country house, including a neurologist who is supposed to try to cure Henry IV. The group also includes Marchesa Mathilde, who at that time took part in the move as Mathilde von Toscana, as well as Baron Belcredi, who is her friend, and her daughter Frida. None of them have seen Henry IV in the past 20 years. They talk about the prehistory and choose a disguise in which they want to meet Henry IV. Mathilde makes it clear that she does not want Belcredi to be there at the meeting, but she cannot be brushed off. When the encounter comes, Henry IV suspects him to be an enemy and is difficult to dissuade from this assumption. Heinrich speaks of the fact that he should be helped, that the Pope redeems him from his role. When he looked deep into Mathilde's eyes during his speeches, she was convinced that he recognized her and was talking directly about her and not about her fictional daughter.
In the second act, when Mathilde is alone with the others, she expresses the conviction she gained in the first act, which the others contradict. When Heinrich IV reappears, he tries to make sure of the affection of those around him. It is now up to the viewer whether he wants to follow Mathilde's ambiguous interpretation of the statements of Henry IV. After the visitors have left, Henry IV explains to his servants that he has been healthy for several years and that he can see through the masquerade.
In the third act, Doctor Heinrich IV tries to heal with a kind of shock therapy. In addition, he lets Frida, who looks like her mother 20 years ago and who is now disguised as Mathilde von Toscana, jump out of a picture frame in the semi-darkness of the night, which Heinrich IV actually feels as a shock. In the meantime the servants have informed the others that Henry IV has been healed. But the latter is outraged by the shock he has suffered and becomes so excited that he takes a sword and stabs Belcredi's abdomen. Belcredi is seriously injured and carried out of the hall and a cry from Mathilde suggests that he has succumbed to the injury. Henry IV then says that he is now forced to play his role forever.
Movie
The play was filmed in 1984 under the same title by Marco Bellocchio .
Work editions
- Luigi Pirandello: Six people are looking for an author / Heinrich IV. 1st edition. Fischer Bücherei, Frankfurt / Hamburg 1964 (paperback).