Zaire (Voltaire)
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Zaire |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Voltaire |
| Premiere: | August 13, 1732 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
| people | |
|
|
Zaire is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire . According to Voltaire's foreword, the play was written in just 22 days in the summer of 1732 and premiered in Paris on August 13, 1732 . The Zaïre became Voltaire's most enduring stage success. It was only removed from the Comédie-Française schedule in 1931 .
action
Some previous authors saw the Zaïre as an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello . Both pieces only have the theme of raging jealousy in common. The fictitious action takes place in Jerusalem , 24 years after the reconquest by Saladin , in the seraglio of his successor and son Sultan Orosmane. The bride and slave of Orosmane, Zaïre, is actually an unbaptized Christian, but she was brought up in the faith of Islam. Nérestan, a captured French knight, receives money to buy ten Christians, including Zaïre, who have been captured. Orosmane publishes 100 Christian knights, but keeps Zaïre and Lusignan, who has been incarcerated for 24 years . The elderly former Christian king of Jerusalem Lusignan, who has been released from prison, recognizes Zaïre and Nérestan as his lost younger children. He reveals himself to the children and urges Zaïre to profess his fathers' Christian faith. Nérestan is supposed to baptize Zaire at a nightly meeting. Orosmane intercepts the letter for the siblings' appointment, is deceived by the contents of the letter and, in his maddened jealousy, kills the innocent, loving Zaïre. Nérestan reveals the connections to Orosmane and Orosmane kills himself in desperation over Zaire's corpse.
Contemporary reception
The Paris premiere was a great success. After the fourth performance, the author received an ovation. The topic, the unfortunate and fanatical influence of religions and the dramaturgical rhythm hit the zeitgeist. Translations into English (The tragedy of Zara, translated by Aaron Hill in 1736), Italian, Dutch and German followed and made the Zaïre a European success. Voltaire's Zaire was set to music for thirteen operas. Johann Andreas Schachtner (1731–1795) wrote a libretto for Mozart's unfinished opera Zaïde based on the Zaïre . Sarah Bernhardt achieved a much-noticed stage success in the role of Zaïre in 1874 .
Performances
The tragedy Zaïre premiered on August 13, 1732 at the Théâtre français in Paris. With a break in September and October, the piece was resumed in November and saw 31 performances in the first season. The Zaire was charged with 485 performances for most performed work for the stage Voltaire. It was on the regular schedule of the Comédie-Française until 1931 .
Addition
Voltaire preceded the Zaïre with a public letter to a friend and supporter from England, Sir Everard Fawkener (1694–1758). Born like Voltaire in 1694, Fawkener was a silk merchant, politician and diplomat. Voltaire met him immediately after his return from Aleppo and visited him at the ancestral home of the Fawkener in Wandsworth . Voltaire's ostentatious appreciation and cosmopolitan avowal of an English heretic displeased the censors. The Épitre à M. Falkener was presumably suppressed by the censor Rouillé. The Épite only made it into the third unauthorized edition of the Zaïre and was reprinted in the Amsterdam Ledet edition in the same year.
“You, my dear friend, are English, I was born in France. The art lovers, however, are all fellow citizens. The honorable and thoughtful people have almost the same principles and form a single republic. "
Going to press
The first three prints of the Zaïre were published by Jore in Rouen. The pressure of the Zaïre introduced one of Voltaire's innovations for the French language. The word ending ois (like anglois ) was changed to ais (like anglais ).
First editions
- Zayre , tragedy. Representée A Paris / Aux mois d'Aoust, Novembre & Décembre 1732, Imprimée à Rouen, Chez Jore Pere & Fils, et se vend A Paris Chez Jean Baptiste Bauche, à la descente du Pont-neuf, proche les Augustins, à Saint Jean -Baptiste dans le le desert, 1733, (IV), 95 (96.97) S. ( books.google.de ).
- Zayre , tragedy. Representée A Paris / Aux mois d'Aoust, Novembre & Décembre 1732, Imprimée à Rouen, Chez Jore Pere & Fils, et se vend A Paris Chez Jean Baptiste Bauche, à la descente du Pont-neuf, proche les Augustins, à Saint Jean -Baptiste dans le le desert, 1733, (IV), 95 (96.97) p., Same printer with typographical changes and varied ornamentation on the title.
- La Zayre de Monsieur de Voltaire, avec une épitre dedicatoire, Epitre on p. (III – XIV) indented, Rouen, Chez Jore Pere & Fils, 1733, (XIV), 95 p.
literature
- Theodore Besterman : The Fight Begins (1728-1734). In: Voltaire. Winkler, Munich 1971, p. 133 ff.
- Eric van der Schueren: Zaïre. In: Dictionnaire Voltaire. Hachette Livre, 1994, p. 245 f.
- Siegfried Detemple: Voltaire: The works, catalog for the 300th birthday. Berlin 1994, p. 39.
Web links
- Literature on the Zaïre on the website of the Société des Etudes Voltairiennes
Individual evidence
- ↑ René Pomeau, Jean Ehrard: Littérature française (= . Collection littérature française poche Volume 5: De Fenelon à Voltaire. ) Atthaud, Paris, 1989, ISBN 2-7003-0438-1 , page 163.
- ↑ See the detailed table of contents in: Theodore Besterman: The fight begins (1728–1734). In: Voltaire. Winkler, Munich 1971, p. 135.
- ^ Voltaire: The works, catalog for the 300th birthday. Berlin 1994, p. 40.
_-001.jpg){kind=small}