La Mort de César
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| Title: | La Mort de César |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Publishing year: | 1735 |
| Premiere: | August 11, 1735 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
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La Mort de César is a tragedy in three acts by Voltaire . "Caesar's Death" was publicly premiered on August 11, 1735 as a school performance at the Collège d'Harcourt and was published in 1736 in a version improved and authorized by Voltaire.
action
The action takes place in Rome on the Capitol . Marc-Antoine urges César , who is preparing a campaign against the Parthians , to proclaim himself king. César is sure of the support of his army. He reveals to Marc-Antoine that he has chosen Brutus, his natural son, and not his adopted son Octavian, to be his heir and successor. César suggests to the senators that, according to tradition, only a king can defeat the Parthians. Brutus accuses Caesar of tyranny in a concluding discussion. In a secret arrangement, Brutus calls on the senators to kill César. César reveals his paternity to Brutus without dissuading him from his plan. Contrary to the warnings of Brutus and Dolabella , César visits the Senate. Cassius announces the death of César. Marc-Antoine incites the people in his funeral speech and persuades Dolabella to seize power with him.
Literary source and biographical references
Voltaire took part in a performance of Shakespeare's drama " Julius Caesar " during his stay in England (1726-1728) . In 1731 Voltaire inserted a scene from Shakespeare's original in his Discours sur la tragédie .
Performances and contemporary reception
The first private performance took place in 1733 at the Hôtel de Sassange . The first public performance followed as a school performance on August 11, 1735 at the Collège d'Harcourt . The first performance in the Comédie-Française took place on August 29, 1743. Voltaire achieved only a respectable success with his piece, since the critics only recommended it to connoisseurs of the matter.
Going to press
Following the performance at the Collège d'Harcourt , a first version of the tragedy was published in 1735 as a pirated print with the imprint Amsterdam, which Voltaire rejected. After some changes, the censor Prosper Jolyot Crébillon accepted the slightly revised tragedy, which appeared in the first authorized edition in 1736 by Jean Baptiste Bauche in Paris in 1736. A first German bilingual edition followed in 1737 at Feßecker's heirs in Nuremberg .
Addition
In 1736 Voltaire preceded the tragedy with two letters from Francesco Algarotti to the Abbé Franchini. Algarotti got the manuscript to read from Voltaire in 1735 during his visit to Cirey and told his correspondent about the contents.
First editions
- La Mort de Cesar. Tragédie de M. de Voltaire, representée pour la première fois au Collège d'Harcourt le 11 Aoust 1735, première Édition, Amsterdam 1735, 50 pp.
- La Mort de Cesar. Tragédie de M. de Voltaire, representée pour la première fois au Collège d'Harcourt le 11 Aoust 1735, première Édition, Jean-Baptiste Bauche, Paris 1736, 72 pp.
- La Mort de Cesar. Tragedy de M. de Voltaire, Le prix est de vingt quatre Sols, Paris, Josse, 61 pp. [1]
- La Mort de César - The Death of Caesar. Bilingual edition, translated by MJF Scharffenstein, Adam Jonathan Felßeckers Erben, Nuremberg 1737.
literature
- Theodore Besterman: Shakespeare and the Drama (1726–1776). In: Voltaire. Winkler, Munich 1971, p. 113 ff.
- Manuel Couvreur: Mort de César (La). In: Raymond Trousson, Jeroom Vercruysse, Jacques Lemaire (eds.): Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, Paris 1994, p. 137.
- Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire: The Works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 47.