L'Enfant prodigue
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| Title: | L'Enfant prodigue |
| Genus: | comedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Publishing year: | 1738 |
| Premiere: | October 10, 1736 in the Comédie-Française |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
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L'Enfant prodigue is a 1736 comedy in five acts and in the five-part iambus by Voltaire . The piece premiered on October 10, 1736 and was published in book form in 1738.
action
The action takes place in the French province in cognac . Lise, the daughter of the citizen of Rondon, does not want to marry Fierenfat, the second son of Euphémon's father. She loves Euphémon's son, the older brother, who has been disinherited by his father because of his dissolute lifestyle abroad. On his return he shows remorse and, after his father's forgiveness, can marry Lise.
Literary source and biographical references
Voltaire wrote the L'Enfant prodigue in 1736. Voltaire used the biblical material of the prodigal son to point out a contemporary social problem. Lise, the daughter of a wealthy citizen, is to marry into the nobility of officials. For the sake of her love she rebels against the agreements of the fathers and gets her will through. Voltaire was in the focus of censorship in 1736, not least because of his free-spirited poem Le Mondain . The overt use of a biblical motif in a comedy resulted in numerous amendments from the censor. Even terms with no direct biblical reference such as patriarch and exorcism were banned.
Performances and contemporary reception
The comedy premiered on October 10, 1736 at the Comédie-Française without official naming of the author. Thirty performances in a row prove the extraordinary popularity of the piece. In 1747, L'Enfant prodigue was performed again in the small cabinet rooms of Madame de Pompadour in the Palace of Versailles. Theater and singing games were played in changing rooms with mobile stands until the 18th century. The festival hall was not completed until 1770. Madame de Pompadour took on the role of Lise.
Going to press
L'Enfant prodigue was printed after Beuchot at the end of 1737 and was published by Prault fils in Paris with the year 1738.
Additions
The first edition was preceded by a foreword by the editor, which still denies Voltaire's authorship. Voltaire did not name the title until it was reprinted by Ledet in Amsterdam in 1738.
First editions
- L'Enfant prodigue, Comédie en Vers dissillabes, Représentée sur le Thêatre de la Comédie Française le 10 Octobre 1736 , Paris, Prault fils, 1738, 8 °, (VI), 104, (2) S. online
- L'Enfant prodigue, comédie de M. de Voltaire, en Vers dissillabes, Représentée sur le Thêatre de la Comédie Française le 10 Octobre 1736 , Amsterdam, Ledet et compagnie, 1738, 8 °, (VI), 135 pp.
- L'Enfant prodigue, Comédie en Vers dissillabes, Représentée sur le Thêatre de la Comédie Française le 10 Octobre 1736 , Paris, Prault fils, 1738, 8 °, (VI), 96 p. Online
- L'Enfant prodigue, comédie de M. de Voltaire, en Vers dissillabes, Représentée sur le Thêatre de la Comédie Française le 10 Octobre 1736 , Amsterdam, Ledet et compagnie (recte Rouen), 1739, 12 °, 123 pp.
literature
- Theodore Besterman : The end of the beginning (1723–1725), in: Voltaire, Winkler, Munich, 1971, pp. 80 and 83.
- Éric van der Schueren: L'Enfant prodigue, in: Dictionnaire Voltaire, Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 70.
- Siegfried Detemple: The prodigal son, in: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 53 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Siegfried Detemple: The lost son, in: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 53 f.
- ^ Theodore Besterman : Von Newton bis Friedrich (1734-1738), in: Voltaire, Winkler, Munich, 1971, p. 161.
- ↑ Éric van der Schueren: L'Enfant prodigue, in: Dictionnaire Voltaire, Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 70.