Mérope (Voltaire)
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| Title: | La Mérope Française |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Literary source: | Merope from Scipione Maffei |
| Publishing year: | 1744 |
| Premiere: | February 20, 1743 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
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Mérope , fully entitled La Mérope Française , is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire . The text is an adaptation of the tragedy Merope by Scipione Maffei from 1713 and was written by Voltaire in 1736/1737. The play was premiered in 1743 and published in book form in 1744.
action
The action takes place at the court of Messene . The ex-queen Mérope, grieving for her murdered husband Cresphonte, initially considers the newcomer Egisthe to be the murderer of her son. However, he turns out to be her surviving son. He overthrows and kills the tyrant and usurper Polyphonte, his father's murderer. Egisthe appoints Mérope as Queen of Messina.
Literary source and biographical references
Scipione Maffei had edited the material for the tragedy Merope in 1713 . Voltaire met Maffei in Paris in 1733 and received from him the approval of the constitution of a French version. It was only after the performance of the tragedy Mahomet the Prophet that Voltaire decided to premiere the Mérope, which was completed in 1737.
Performances and contemporary reception
The tragedy premiered at the Comédie-Française . After the first performance, Voltaire who was present was called in front of the curtain by the audience, a novelty in French theater history. With 29 performances in a row, the Mérope was a great success. The proceeds exceeded that of any previous performance of Voltaire's plays. The Mérope was put on the program again in February and March of the following year with an even larger number of visitors.
Going to press
La Mérope Française appeared in several editions in 1744 by Prault fils in Paris.
Additions
Voltaire preceded the tragedy with a note to the reader, the Avis au lecteur , in which he warns against pirated prints, and a dedication letter to Scipione Maffei, the author of the Italian Merope. The tragedy is followed by an intertitle, the Pièces fugitives de littérature : Lettre sur l'esprit ; Nouvelles considérations sur l'histoire and, with its own pagination, the Lettre à M. Norberg, chapelain du roy de Suède Charles XII, author de l`histoire de ce monarque . The latter title also appeared separately.
First editions
- La Mérope Française, avec quelques petites pièces de Litterature , Paris, Chez Prault fils, Libraire, Quai de Conty, vis- àvis la descente du Pont-Neuf, à la Charitè, M. DCC. XLIV, 8 °, XXIV (II), 116 (II), 16 p. [1]
literature
- Theodore Besterman : Herr und Gelehrter (1742–1746), in: Voltaire, Winkler, Munich, 1971, p. 227 ff.
- Éric van der Schueren: Mérope, in: Dictionnaire Voltaire, Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 131.
- Siegfried Detemple: The French Merope, in: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 71 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire: Die Werke, catalog for the 300th birthday, Berlin, 1994, p. 71.
- ^ Siegfried Detemple: The French Merope, in: Voltaire: The works. 300th birthday catalog. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 71.
- ^ Theodore Besterman: Herr und Gelehrter (1742–1746), in: Voltaire, Winkler, Munich, 1971, p. 228.
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