Elektra must bear grief
Mourning Becomes Electra (English title Mourning Becomes Electra ) is October 26, 1931 New York Guild Theater premiered of drama trilogy by Eugene O'Neill . The work is a modern form of Aeschylus' Oresty . It is set in New England, in the Mannon house in 1865/66.
In the external form, O'Neill adheres closely to the ancient Greek model. He takes on the tripartite division of the material and essentially also the Orestie group of people . The three individual dramas are usually not performed individually, but given in an abbreviated form in one evening.
action
1st part "homecoming"
In the first part, General Ezra Mannon (Agamemnon) returns home from the civil war, where meanwhile his wife, the beautiful Christine (Klytämnestra), following her desire, has fallen in love with the young sailing ship captain Adam Brant (Aegisth). This is the son of Ezra Mannon's brother, who was expelled from the family because of his association with an unsuitable girl. The daughter Lavinia (Elektra) recognizes the mother's relationship with Brant, to which she feels drawn. Christine decides to poison her husband Ezra. Lavinia discovered the murder out of double jealousy (attachment to the father and unconscious longing for his younger counterpart Brant). The first part of the trilogy ends with her threat that the murder must be atoned for.
Part 2 "The Hunted"
In the second part, the mother-related Orin (Orest) - afflicted with the classic Oedipus complex - learns from Lavinia of the mother's love for Brant. Jealousy and thoughts of revenge flare up in him. He chooses “duty” although he himself dreams of “blessed love that is not sin”; The object of this love is the mother. He kills Brant out of pathological erotic jealousy and drives his mother to suicide.
Part 3 "The Cursed"
After the death of her mother, a change takes place in Lavinia. She becomes like the mother, beautiful, sensual and desirable. With Orin, she seeks redemption. She flees with him to the South Sea Islands, the symbol of paradisiacal purity. Lavinia takes off her mourning clothes and dreams of love for a natural person. She, the avenger, now wants to live and love. When she wants to leave her brother in order to marry a lover who has previously been rejected, the curse of her house hits herself. Orin falls into a criminal love for her. He tries violently to chain the sister to himself. She rejects him in disgust and drives him to suicide. Lavinia must now accept the full atonement. In contrast to the classic tragedy, in which the ultimate debt is erased with death, Lavinia accepts the curse: “I live alone with the dead to keep their secrets and let them rush me until the curse is erased and the last Mannon will die ”.
interpretation
With his Elektra trilogy, O'Neill was the first to look at great ancient material through the eyes of the 20th century, over a decade earlier than the French Anouilh and Giraudoux .
The drama differs from the ancient model in that a new concept of fate replaces the old one. This term comes from the employment of the poet with the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud .
The revolt of the ancient Greek people against the commandment of the inscrutable gods turns into a puritanical revolt against the " libido " for O'Neill . Just as the ancient man was in a constant battle with the power of inexplicable fate, so today man is in constant conflict with the forces that oppose the invincible “will to love”: State, Church and society.
In some minor characters, O'Neill lets the chorus of Greek tragedy rise again in the form of people from the people. But this choir is no longer the bearer of the public conscience as with Aeschylus, but is used to paint the mood.
Adaptations
The 1947 American feature film Mourning Becomes Electra, starring Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave, directed by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of the play. Both actors were nominated for the Academy Award for these roles .
In 1967 the opera of the same name by Marvin David Levy based on a libretto by William Henry Butler premiered at the New York Metropolitan Opera . The European premiere (Electra must bear mourning) took place on November 22, 1969 in the Dortmund Opera House. German translation: Egon Waldmann. Revised text version: Hans Feldigl and Hans Hartleb. Production: Hans Hartleb. Set designer: Hainer Hill. - Under the musical direction of general music director Wilhelm Schüchter: Günther Wewel, Mannon / Joy McIntyre, Christine / Colette Lorand, Lavinia / Guillermo Sarábia, Orin / Willibald Schwister, Jed / Howard Vandenburg, Brant / Dieter Behlendorf, Niles / Elisabeth Lachmann, Helen .
A television film was shot in 2 parts for the 1st German television station ARD . The German first broadcast took place on November 18, 1970 on ARD. The main actors were Peter Pasetti , Andrea Jonasson , Karl-Michael Vogler and Joachim Ansorge , directed by Peter Beauvais . Jonasson received the Golden Camera for her role .