1 / 27

Hrotsvit

Hrotsvit. and Medieval Drama. Medieval comedy. No scripts of medieval comedy or references to comic performances survive. There is hardly such a thing a medieval drama…. Hrotsvit’s place in history. Medieval drama originated from Easter liturgy as a trope of the Introit

gilda
Download Presentation

Hrotsvit

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Hrotsvit and Medieval Drama

  2. Medieval comedy • No scripts of medieval comedy or references to comic performances survive. • There is hardly such a thing a medieval drama…

  3. Hrotsvit’s place in history • Medieval drama originated from • Easter liturgy as a trope of the Introit • but its development wasn’t linear

  4. HROSWITHA (935-1001) (Hros-uind) Ego clamor validus Gandersheimensis

  5. Works • legends of saints • Six comedies plays • Epic poems

  6. Life (based on prefaces) • Born 935 • aristocrat • exceptionally learned

  7. Gandersheim • Founded in ca. 850 • In 950 becomes a “free abbey” independent of the crown • An impressive library most likely including Terence, Virgil, and Ovid

  8. As a canoness Hrosvit would • Take part in the religious life of the community • Take vows of chastity and obedience, but not poverty • Receive guests, come and go without permission • Own property and have servants

  9. Religious feelings • “He has given me ability to learn—yet of myself I should know nothing. ”

  10. Hrotsvit and Terence • Hrotsvit states that she wants her plays to be read (possibly aloud) instead of Terence, whose text was frequently used in school recitations

  11. Aemulatio • Hrotsvit does not intend to become a dimidiatus Terentius; • She considers her output to be moral superior to Terence from whom she borrows formal devices

  12. DULCITIUS

  13. Christian True beatitude possible after death Contempt for physical pleasure and pain, wealth, prestige Goal: spiritual wedding with God Pagan Enjoyment of external beauty Contempt for spiritual values Goal: enjoyment of life World-views

  14. Diocletian: my power Old religion: ancient religion, the worship of the gods Christianity: ‘a new superstition’ The power belongs to God Virgins: corruption, idolatry Deus omnipotens First Confrontation: Power

  15. Dulcitius: I have been captured by their appearance Dulcitius’ means: Flattery and thereats Outcome: transformation of the outside to reveal this inside Virgins: May God protect us Virgins’ means singing hymns at night prayer, privation Outcome: they remain pure in spite of attempts to defile them First Confrontation: Physical love

  16. Insert: Humiliation of Dulcitius • Humilated in the eyes the girls who witness his rendez-vous with pots and pans • Humiliated in the eyes of his soldiers who take him for a demon • Beaten by the palace guards • Recognized and pitied by his wife • Pitied by Diocletianus

  17. Sisinnius tries to convert them through threats He forbids them to practice their religion When disobeyed, sentences them to death Agapes and Chionia continuously pray to Eternal Father and his Son Ask for death Miracle: Their bodies bear no trace of fire; their spirits ascend to heaven Third Confrontation: Sisinnus (Pain&Death) Part 1: Agapes& Chionia

  18. Sisinnus threatens her with a slow death and rape Hirene is eager to die (the more I suffer, the more I will triumph) and not afraid of rape: voluptas parit poenam Third Confrontation: Sisinnus (Pain&Death) Part 2: Hirene

  19. GRAND FINALE • Soldiers come back and tell Sisennius that two strangers placed Hirene on a top of a mountain • Sisennius and his soldiers quickly hurry up to see what happened; • They kill her with an arrow; dying Hirene speaks of her triumph

  20. Is Dulcitius a comedy? • By ancient standards? • By modern standards?

  21. Aristotle on Comedy • “Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lower type, not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the Ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness which is not painful or destructive. To take an obvious example, the comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not imply pain.”

  22. From Wikipedia • Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. A recognized characteristic of comedy is that it is an intensely personal enjoyment. People frequently don't find the same things amusing, but when they do it can help to create powerful bonds.

  23. From Wikipedia • Mel Brooks on comedy and tragedy: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down an elevator shaft and you die."

  24. Characteristics of Comedy • Play • Humor (something some people find funny) • Happy ending

More Related