A History of Hungarian Literature/Chapter 10

by Frigyes Riedl

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LYRIC AND DRAMATIC POETS BEFORE 1848

From its very beginning the nineteenth century was favourable to literature. In the year in which Kazinczy left his prison, a little volume was published containing four hundred short love songs, all of them written in the same form. It was the first volume of poetry to capti­vate the reading public. Young men learned the poems by heart, ladies treasured the volume, and the pieces written in their albums were usually selected from it. The author of the book, Alexander Kisfaludy (1772–1844), was a young man of twenty-eight, who a little while before had been fighting against Napoleon as an officer in the army. Fifteen years later, his younger brother, Charles, also commenced his activity as a writer. The two brothers occupy an important place in Hun­garian literature. They were both leaders and pioneers, fond of embarking on great literary enterprises. Their talents were, however, very different in character, and their activity pursued different lines.

Alexander, the elder, was a lyric poet, while his brother was the first to write original Hungarian dramatic poetry. Alexander, who was of a tranquil and happy disposition, wrote sentimental poems. Charles, who was inclined to melancholy, wrote comedies. The elder brother was a type of the sensible country gentleman. The younger 104 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE races, had kept its political independence the longest. He writes : "It was at sunset that I reached the summit of a hill where Hungary and Transylvania touch one another. I stopped awhile, for both before and behind me there opened a grand view, which nevertheless made my heart ache. To the west I saw my country, with her wide-stretching plains, which I had to leave. To the east lay Transylvania, with a line of dark blue hills in the distance, her undulating surface swelling like the waves of the ocean. "My heart also began to swell at the thought of parting. To take in the picture around me, I threw myself down upon the ground, just on the frontier line; my head and my heart rested on the soil of that dear fatherland which my next step would leave behind. Tears fell from my eyes upon the uttermost sods of my country, and at that moment I resolved that I, a descen- dant of those who had conquered this land, even though a nameless child of the middle class, would work with all my might, even if silently and unobtrusively-I would work like the silkworm, spinning from the substance of my own heart what might serve my ill-starred nation, if aught that I could bring of inspiring word or true deed might prove of service." The youth, who was not less inspired by poetic genius than by fervent patriotism, did actually spin the silken thread of which he had dreamed, and weave it into fabrics of beauty. He was Alexander Kisfaludy, the author of Himfy and one of the pioneers of the nine- teenth century. In 1818, at Athens, a young Hungarian traveller (styled by the Greeks "the English lord" on account both of his wealth and his dress) was musing amid the ruins ALEXANDER KISFALUDY 109 once the forrner "dassic " poets seemed cold and lifeless. There was such an · overpoweri ng, s ou thern warmth, the tru e Provenal atmasphere in these son gs . It was not only a small circle of literary men that took an interest in the book. The wh ole population hailed it with enthu­ siasm. The character of the songs, which Kazinczy called "lyri cal epigrams," is shown by the follawing verse : • In the blue horizon 's beaming, Thee, sweet maid l alone I see ; In the silver wavelets streaming, Thee, sweet maiden l only thee. Thee, in day's resplendent noonlig/Jt, Glancing from the sun afar ; Thee, in midnight's softer moonlight ; Thee, in every trembling star. Wheresoe'er I go, I meet thee : Wheresoe'er I stay, I greet thee ; Following always-everywhere : Cruel maiden l O, forbear l The first part of the book was entitled Yea rning Lot•e, the second Blissful Love. The se cond part did not win so m uch appreciation as t he fi rst, nor did it, perhaps, deserve it. Himfy had then married Liza, and as 11 Himfy " is practicany a pseudonym for K isfaludy, it means that th e poet bimself had married, and happy married love was not so moving a subject as the sorrows of th e hopeless lover. In Kisfaludy's time a new tendency man ifested itself in the selection o f Iiterary themes. Voltaire and his con­ temp oraries had regarded the Middle Ages with contempt as a dark age of superstition and intellectual slavery, the very memory of which ought to be blotted out (écrasez l'injtime). And yet, two or three decades after the deat h o f Voltair e, the Middle Ages became almost fashionable.

• BoWRING, " Poetry of the Magyars." uo

HUNGARIAN LITERATORE Poets discovered new beauties in them and praised th eir religious and chivalric spirit. The new tendency was romanticism. After the ratio nalism of the latter part of the eighteenth century, romanticism carne as a reaction. In France, Chateau briand was the leading representative of the new tendency, which restored the san ctity and veneration of sentiment. In England it was Walter Scott who threw open the íron-bound gates of the mediceval castles to his admiring readers. Autbors began to drop their abstract ideas about man in general, and to lean towards the strongly national features of the Middle Ages. Alexander Kisfaludy went with the stream. His historical tales From the past of Hungary are ch iefiy tales of chivalry. Their psychology is imperfect, but they are told with much vivacity and charm. Kisfaludy spent many years of his life near the 11 H ungarian Sea " as Lake Balaton was then called. Many of the volcanic hills in that district are crowned with the ru ins of fortresses, such as those of Csobáncz, Somló, and Tátika. The sight of them proved a great inspiration to Kisfaludy. But it was not altagether their religious or chivalric spirit that attracted h im to the Middle Ages ; it was rather the fact that it was the time of Hungary's political independence. He was guided by his patriotic sentiments. The life of K isfaludy, judged by ordinary human stan­ dards, was a very fortunate one. He carne of a respected , well-to-do, and infiuential family. Nevertheless, there occurred in his life confiicts in which he was beaten. He was a valiant soldier, but it unfortu nately happened that his army had to contend twice with the genius of perhaps the greatest of military leaders, Napoleon. No wooder then that Kisfaludy's troops lost the day. CHARLES KISFALUDY III Later on, when an old national institution (the right of the nobility to raise troops thernselves for . the country's defence) was attacked in literary works and in the Press, Alexander Kisfaludy tried to defend it. But unluckily for him, the writer with whom he got into controversy was the most brilliant publicist of the century, Louis Kossuth. As an elderly man he saw a young man heginning to acquire a celebrity that put his own into the shade • . As that success was due to the drama, he also tried to write plays, but failed. And the suecessful rival was his own younger brother, Charles Kisfaludy. CHARLES KISFALUDY (1788- I83o), the second of the great reformers of H ongarian literature, was the y ounger brother of Alexander Kisfaludy. The two brothers difiered widely from one another in character, in talent a nd in their outward life. Charles was a thorough bohemian, of a dreamy yet light-hearted disposition. Alexander, on the other hand, had a well-balaneed mind. As a· gentleman farmer he managed his property judiciously, and he was an excellent bushand and father. He was of a cheerful temperament, and it is only in his works that we find him sad and serious, for his life was tranquil .and happy, while that of his brother Charles was restiess and full of adventure. Charles had a profound knowledge of human nature, while Alexander showed bimself an indifferent explorer of it ; his own soul he could reveal in his lyric poetry, but he did not thoroughly understand the souls of other men. The first troubles in Charles' life sprang from a quarrel with his father. His vehemen t and unyieiding disposition caused him to be disowned. Charles, like his brother, became a soldier, and he, too, fought agaiost Napoleon at the hattie of Leoben. But he soon left the army in order to devote himself to painting. He lived for some time in Vienna, gaining a livelihood by his brush, until some "hazy longing," as he describes it, lured him forth again into the wide world. For a year he rambled about in Italy, but in 1817 he returned to Pest, where he lived in very humble circumstances. An honest cobbler gave the young artist shelter, and helped him to sell his pictures. Even as a painter Charles Kisfaludy was a true son of his time; he painted fantastical landscapes, moonlight scenes, or Gothic ruins, in the style of the Viennese school.

But suddenly there came a change in his life; he ceased to work only with the brush, and took up the pen as well. While living at the house of the poor shoemaker he wrote a play, which was performed by a company that had recently arrived at Pest from the country. The effect was electrical. The Tartars in Hungary (1819) was the first Hungarian play that contained real dramatic action. From this time Kisfaludy's career was assured. He wrote one play after another, and they were all acted with increasing success. It was one of the great achievements of his life to create a public interested in the Hungarian drama, which had hitherto remained crude and undeveloped.

In Hungary the course of development of the drama was the same as in other countries. There, too, the Mystery play was the germ from which it sprang, and the drama was originally in the service of the Church—ancilla theologiæ. But in Hungary the development was not continuous, and the secular drama was slow in coming to maturity, because there were very few purely Hungarian towns in the Middle Ages; the greater part of the burgess class was German, and there can be no drama without town life.

CHARLES KISFALUDY 113 After the Mysteries came the second stage in the history of the drama, the satirical plays, intended for reading and not for acting, dating from the time of the Reformation. The Reformation, like every other revolutionary epoch, was highly favourable to satire. Authors found the dramatic form introduced into literato re during Renais-­ sance times the most suitable for these satires. The best of them is perhaps a play entitled Meinhardt Balassa's Treachery, probably the work of a Unitarian minister. Though a primitive production as a whole, it is remark-­ able for the powerful drawing of its chief character. Balassa was an unprincipled magnate, who sided with the Protestants and Catholics alternately in pursuit of his own selfish ends. The finest and most important scene is that in which Balassa confesses his crimes. The third stage in the development of dramatic litera­- ture is marked by the Morality plays performed at the high schools. These were again a fruit of the Reforma-­ tion. Their authors were the schoolmasters. They were at first written in Latin, but afterwards in Hungarian, and their subjects were taken from the Bible or from ancient history. In the eighteenth century these per-­ formances at the schools were all the acting there was. There was no regular theatre. Yet Bessenyei tried to reform Hungarian literature through the agency of his dramas at a time when there was no possibility of their being performed. At last, in 1790, the first theatre was built at Pest. Members of good families formed a company under the superintendence of Ladislas Kelemen , and then, for the first time, the regular stage was open for the Hungarian tongue. The actors were animated by a sacred enthusiasm ; they considered themselves 114 HUNGARIAN LITERAT ORE the priests oi a cult, that of the national art and language. 41 What shall we play on the first evening ? " asked an actor of Kazinczy, who then held a high post as superin­ tendent of one of the educational districts into which H ungary was divided. "Hamlet, of course," answered Kazinczy. " But who will translate it ?" "I will." "But who will play the leading part ? " " I will," again replied Kazinczy. Though the performance did not take place, the dialogue is charactcristic of the time, wh en the future of the theatre was considered of such importance that a prominent man in the educational world was not unwilling to appear on th e stage. It is true that a few years later the first company was dispersed, but the theatre was founded, and the heginning was an accomplished fact. Several other towns followed the example of Pest. In 1792 th e first permanent theatre, which exists to this day, was established at Kolozsvár. From that theatre there issued companies of actors to create new homes for draroatic art. One of them played at Székesfehérvár, and that company, coming once to the capital, first perforrned the dramas of Kisfaludy with marked success. It is Kisfaludy's merit that he created a sympathetic audience for the Hungarian drama. But he not only created a public, he originated the tru e national comedy. Before his time, comedies were mere imitations or adapta­ tions of foreign plays, but Kisfaludy int roduced Hungarian types and real national life into his comed ies. In his pl ots, he used largely the machinery which was only too wei l known through Kotzebue, Körner, and other playwrights of the heginning of the nineteenth cen tury, namely, misunderstandings and impersonations. One of his types is the genuine, good-natured, but some­ what unpolished and clumsy coun.try •quire, who cnnot CHARLES KISFALU DY us get into line with the réfined babits of good society. The humorous element in Kisfaludy's comedies amuses without sinning against good taste, and their healthy moral tone is unaccompanied by pedantry. Although in some respects the plays are primitive, their attractive way of depicting middle-class society gives them a value even at the prese nt day. Th e humour lies rather in the situations than in the characters. The play of The Rebels is based on a misunderstanding of.the intentions of an amateur dramatic society which desi.res to perform Schiller's Kabale und Liebe. The members intend it as a surprise for some one, and they accordi ngly come and go and correspond in a very mysterious fash ion . That air of mystery draws upon them the attention of the country magistrate, and as in their letters referri ng to the play they speak of death and murder and poison, he intervenes, bringing on a suc­ cession of lively scenes. In The Suitors, again, everything turns upon an imper­ sonation, th e seJfish suitors of a rich girl being received by another girl whom they suppose to be the heiress. The chief character in Disappointments is a seJfish and cunning man who wishes his ch ildre n, a son and a daughter, to marry for money against their inclinations, but whose plans ali miscarry. Though comedy was more congenial to Kisfaludy's temperament, he tried his hand at tragedy. His best known tragedy is [rene. The first suggestion of the plot was given to Kisfaludy by an incident of the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, told in a letter of Mikes. "When the town was taken, among other prisoners they brought a remarkably lovely maiden to the Pash , who gave her to the Sultan. The Suitan was so captivated by her beauty that day after day he neglected his duties for her sake. The viziers began to murmur and to re­monstrate with the Suitan, who by way of reply showed them the beautiful maiden. The pashas and viziers found her a sufficient excuse for the Sultan's remissness, but he, wishing to give evidence of his strength of will, said, 'I will show you that although beauty has temporarily en­slaved me, I am strong enough to tear myself away from my pleasures, and that, being able to command myself, I am fit to command you .' And with that he slew the maiden."

Kisfaludy's play reminds us but slightly of this anecdote, so entirely has he transforrned it. His heroine, Irene, when she falls into the Sultan's power and sees his devoted love, sets her heart upon gaining the Sultan's favour towards her subjugated fellow countrymen, the Greeks. She sacrifices herself for her people. The sacrifice is the greater since Irene had been betrothed to Leo, a young Greek hero, whom she loves even white facing the task before her. But two things happen. The army begins to murmur and to doubt the Sultan's strength when it sees that he has become the slave of his slave, and the tyrant discovers the secret of Irene's love for Leo.

His jealousy and wounded pride urge him to break the spell which binds him, and he stabs Irene to the heart. Some of the scenes display in a striking manner the great­ ness of Irene's patriotism and self-sacrifice, though occa­sionally she is too passive for a tragic heroine. "I shall gladly wither on thy fiery heart," she says to Mohammed, and her fate is rather that of a helpless victim than of a powerful tragic character.

Another of Kisfaludy' s merits was the conversion of CHARLES KISFALUDY Pest into a literary centre by means · of a successful literary enterprise. During the eighteenth century Hun­ garian literary life had no real centre. George Bessenyei lived in Vienna, the very camp of the enemy, like an Iroquois among the Mohicans. Francis Kazinczy lived in the country, and Csokonai at Debreczen, the targest town in Hungary at that time. ln the nineteenth century, however, the popuJation of Buda and Pest began to increase rapidly, that of Pest especially, and soon exceeded that of the other towns. But amidst all the activity there was as yet no tru e literary life. It was Kisfal udy who created it. He began a literary enterprise which was calculated to gather round itself aU the most talented authors. His plans met the favour of the public. Kis­ faludy and his colleagues publisiled an Alma nack which bore the significant name of A.urora. Almanacks were very popular at that time. There were no magazines, and the finest productions of the poets fou nd a place in those silk-bound year-books, illus­ trated with steel engravings and gay with coloured fash ion plates. Round that centre Kisfaludy gathered young autbors of promise, and the pages of those almanacks first made kno wn the name of a youth who afterwards surpassed ali his fello w-workers on the A.urora -Michael Vörösmarty. Several of the steel engravings were prepared by Kisfaludy himself. This book was the first to devote itself exclusively to fiction, and it accomplished a great work by gaining sympathetic readers for the national literature even in those aristocratic eireles from which it had formerly been excluded. •

• How entirely the national language was neglected by the

aristocrats is eleady demoostrated by a httle incident in the lüe of u8 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE The Almanack did indeed prove to be the dawn-the A u rora-of a better future. Charles Kisfaludy was a lyric poet as weil as adramatic author, and his poems mark the commencement of two new genres in H ungarian literature; which were afterwards cultivated with great success by others. One was the style of the popular ballad or romance, developed to perfection by Arany and Petőfi ; the other, the dignified, classical hexameter verse, which became the genre of Vörösmarty. In one of Kisfaludy's poems, entitled Mohcs, where he sings of his country's great loss in the battle, we find hexameters of such classical perfection that Vörösmarty bimself might have written them. It is this poem which brings us to the threshold of the new age of Ii terature (I825-188I). ln the eíghteenth century there arose a new poetical school, which copied the style and metres of the Latin classics. But its productions were cold, and lacked life and the true Hungarian spirit. DANIEL BERZSENYI (1776-I836) was its only representative whose work attai ned to excel lence. Berzsenyi was a Lutheran country gentleman, who passed his wh ole life on his estate. He was of a strong physique and very spirited, yet indined to sentimentalism and so swayed by his emotions that when he first kissed his fiancée he fainted l He was Hungary's greatest exponen t of the grand the Hungarian Palatine, Archduke Joseph. When he once paid a visit to the town of Florence, with a group of attendants, al l of them Hungarian noblemen, he was received at the gates of the town by a deputation, on whose behalf Cardinal Me.z.zofanti, the world­ renowned linguist, greeted the nobiemen in Hungarian. When however, thanks had to be returned, it was fo und that not one among the Hungarian magnates was able to reply in his own native tongue. CHARLES KISFALUDY I15 get into line with the refined habits of good society. The humorous element in Kisfaludy's comedies amuses without sinning against good taste, and their healthy moral tone is unaccompanied by pedantry. Although in some respects the plays are primitive, their attractive way of depicting middle-class society gives them a value even at the present day. The humour lies rather in the situations than in the characters. The play of The Rebels is based on a misunderstanding of the intentions of an amateur dramatic society which desires to perform Schiller's Kabale und Liebe. The members intend it as a surprise for some one, and they accordingly come and go and correspond in a very mysterious fashion. That air of mystery draws upon them the attention of the country magistrate, and as in their letters referring to the play they speak of death and murder and poison, he intervenes, bringing on a suc- cession of lively scenes. In The Suitors, again, everything turns upon an imper- sonation, the selfish suitors of a rich girl being received by another girl whom they suppose to be the heiress. The chief character in Disappointments is a selfish and cunning man who wishes his children, a son and a daughter, to marry for money against their inclinations, but whose plans all miscarry. Though comedy was more congenial to Kisfaludy's temperament, he tried his hand at tragedy. His best known tragedy is Irene. The first suggestion of the plot was given to Kisfaludy by an incident of the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, told in a letter of Mikes. "When the town was taken, among other prisoners they brought a remarkably lovely maiden to the Pash who gave her to the Sultan. The Sultan was so captivated Digitized by Microsoft ® by her beauty that day after day he neglected his duties for her sake. The viziers began to murmur and to re- monstrate with the Sultan, who by way of reply showed them the beautiful maiden. The pashas and viziers found her a sufficient excuse for the Sultan's remissness, but he, wishing to give evidence of his strength of will, said, 'I will show you that although beauty has temporarily en- slaved me, I am strong enough to tear myself away from my pleasures, and that, being able to command myself, I am fit to command you.' And with that he slew the maiden." Kisfaludy's play reminds us but slightly of this anecdote, so entirely has he transformed it. His heroine, Irene, when she falls into the Sultan's power and sees his devoted love, sets her heart upon gaining the Sultan's favour towards her subjugated fellow countrymen, the Greeks. She sacrifices herself for her people. The sacrifice is the greater since Irene had been betrothed to Leo, a young Greek hero, whom she loves even while facing the task before her. But two things happen. The army begins to murmur and to doubt the Sultan's strength when it sees that he has become the slave of his slave, and the tyrant discovers the secret of Irene's love for Leo. His jealousy and wounded pride urge him to break the spell which binds him, and he stabs Irene to the heart. Some of the scenes display in a striking manner the great- ness of Irene's patriotism and self-sacrifice, though occa- sionally she is too passive for a tragic heroine. "I shall gladly wither on thy fiery heart," she says to Mohammed, and her fate is rather that of a helpless victim than of a powerful tragic character. Another of Kisfaludy's merits was the conversion of Digitized by Microsoft ® KÖ LCSEY I2I Kölcsey, like other idealists, was rigid and un practical . He lived in the clouds, creating a world for himself, and carne more and more t o regard the activities of mortals with someth ing like contempt. His indignation as a patriot drove him to extremes of feeling which no other H unga rian poet had ever reached, even in his most embittered moments. I t was natural that such a m an should be profoundly consciaus of the gulf between the actual and the ideal . ln one of his poems, speaking in the character of Zrinyi, the poet tamented the decline of his country. He appeals to Fate to spare Hungary, or the hour of her doo m will soon strike. But Fate answers relentlessly: 11 My law must be fuifilled and the star of the H ungarian s will set because of their misdeeds. O n the banks of the Danube and the Tisza will ari se another nation, s peaking an other tongue, a better an d a happier people." We may imagin e the sufferi ngs of a sensitíve nature, driven to take such despairing views. And it was not merely his own co untry that Kölcsey eriticised so severel y; he was equally dissatistied with the whole of mankind, and yet he loved his fell aw men fervently. One of his poems, Vanilas Va nitatum, i s full of stoical spirit. 41 Here is the scripture ; read its pages, and you will find the truth taught by Solomon that all is vanity. Our earth is but an ant-bill and an evanescent phenomen o n. The events of history pass like a sigh. The heroism of the legions was as a hubble. The greatest of hattles is no more than a co ck-fight . Self-sacriticing virtue is but a dream. Th e death of Socrates, or Cato, or Zrinyi was a kind of insan ity. What are knowledge and phi losophy but systematic ignoran ce and chimera ? Faith and hope are mere illusions ; our life is but flame of a candle, and 122 HUNGARIAN LITERATORE death is th e breath by which it is extinguished. Immor­ talily is like the scent of a flower ; when the flower dies its perfume outlasts it for a short time only. We ought not, therefore, to attribute any importance to fate, life, virtue or knowledge. Be firm as a rock, and whatever aspcet fortone may wear for you, know that ali is vain." As in his contemporary, Alfred de Vigny, so in Kölcsey, this rigid stoicism was the result of hyper-sensitiveness. The severity and rigid ity of Kölcsey' s ideal ism showed thernselves also in his criticism. He passed the same judgment upon Csokonai, the author of Dorothy, that Schiller passed upon Bürger, namely, that his style savoured too much of the popular poetry. He also wrote a criticism on Berzsenyi in which he reproached that great poet for using dialect, inflated metaph ors, and complicated metres. Severe criticism was unusual at that time and Berzsenyi was very much hurt ; in fact, Kölcsey's strictures cast a shadow over his whole life. After Berzsenyi's death, Kölcsey sought in his fun eral oration at the Academy to make peace with the dead. " Spirit of the departed," he said, 11 I utter above thy tomb these propitiatory words. But a littie while, and I shall follow thee. We were both but human and why should we be ashamed of it ? The paths of life cross one another, but the tomb is the abode of peace ; our petty interests do not pass its threshold. The man has left us, but the poet is ours for ever." The best known poem of Kölcsey is the Hy mnus. This, and Vörösmarty's A.ppeal became the two Hungarian national anthems. Both poems owed their character to the political situation of the country. Both are full of sadness, yet they both express the h ope that after so much suffer ing Hungary's lot must change for the better. The KÖLCSEY-KATONA 123 first part of the Hy mnus recalls the many blessings or which the nation had to thank God : the fertile and beau tifui country, the wheat-growing plains and vine-elad hills. The Hungarian arms had bee n victaria us over the Turk and had taken the proud city of Vienna. But the nation's wicked ness had araused the wrath of God, and then carne the Tartars and the Turks, as well as internal dissensions, and even from the blood of her heroes there sprang no freedom for the country. The poem e nds with the words : " Have mercy, O God, upon the nation , so long bruised by adversity." In Kölcsey's lyrics there is a great deal, of sentimen­ talism and melancholy, but his spl endid ideals break through the clouds like sunshine. In bim all the ten­ dendes of his age in literatore and politics were eleady manifested. His life and poetry were the truest expression of the idealism which is so characteristic of Schiller. To one of the theatrical companies which o ccasionall y visited Pest, a certain young amateur, a law student, attacbed himself. He played under an assurned name, but his real name was JOSEPH KATONA (179o-I83o), and it was his admiration for its leading actress, Mme. Déry, that induced bim to join the company. Katona was the son of a poor weaver in Kecskemét, and he studied law at the University of Pest . While playing from time to time as an amateur, he began to think of. writing a drama. Among his attempts in that directi on is the tragedy of the Palatine Bánk, or Benedict. Katona p u blished it in 1821, when ali the theatres in Hungary were ringing with the applause of Kisfaludy's comedies. Curiously enough, Katona's play, the best H ongarian tragedy ever written, had no success. Its author, who became Attorney-General, died in 1 83o, nine 124 HUNGARIAN LITERATORE years after the publication of his finest drama, an d nobody knew that the country had lost in him her greatest tragic dramatist. Katona's play of Bdnk ban (the ba nus or palatine Bánk) is a tragedy of the finest type, and its reception was due to certain curious coincidences.• The censor forbade its prodoction on the s1 age because it dealt with the murder of a queen, a dangerous example for subj ects. Not long before, a queen had actually been killed, Marie Antoinette, a relative of the Austrian Emperor. Thus the stage was elosed to Katona's tragedy. But there was anoth ei circu msta nce which miti­ gated agai nst its success. Th e cha:racter of the play was oppose.d to the general tendency and taste of the times. It was an age which liked the polished and graceful in literat ure, and its taste was not satisfied by the rigidly majestic character of the tragedy. Though the patriotic element in it was likely to appeal powerfully to the public, its overpowering tragical element was not duly understood and appreciated. Katona's language displays remarkable force and terseness, but he paid no heed to the i nnova­ tions pf the language reformers, and that fact made an unfavo urable impression upon his critics. And finally we may mention one other circu mstance that had its im­ portance for bim, as for ali other authors. Katona did not belong to any literary group or clique, and conse­ quently remained isolated . Th e historical event which supplied Katona with his

• John Arany translated a few scenes of the play into English,

and they were found strikingly similar to the Shakespearean plays. Katona's greatness lay in his power of analysis, which enabled bim to portray faithfully the growth of the passions. His pietore of the tragical development of the soul of Bánk, leading to the inevitable explosion, with its ruinous recoil, will ever remain a masterpiece of dramatic poetry. KATONA theme is in itself strikingly tragic. lmagine a just and noble-minded king who is compelled to leave his country and · fight in foreign lands, and therefore charges his re­ presentative, the palatine and chief judge of the country, with the safegu arding of his kingdom and his queen. While he is away, the over-induiged brother of the queen , with her consent and assistance, seduces the palatine's wife. Simultaneously the most ardent patriots, ernbittered agaiost the foreign queen, wh o, for the sake of her foreign courtiers, neglects and oppresses the H ungarians, fo rm a conspiracy agaiost her. What a conflict of circumstances for the Pal atine ! What contending duties l Which side shall he take ? Duty points to his place by the side of the queen . But she is the enemy of his fatherland and the originator of the offence agaiost his honour. On the other hand, how can he, the repre­ sentative of the king, take the part of the conspirators ? Th is truly dramatic situation attracted many authors. As early as 1 562 Hans Sach s discovered its dramatic possibilities, and wrote a play entitled Ein tragedi, mit zw(Jlf f personen zu sp ielen, Andreas der ungerisch K(Jn ig mit Bankbano seinem getrewen statthalter. Nearly two bundred years later the English writer, George Lillo, 'Yrote a play on. the same subject, called Elmerick, ot Justice Triumphant. Both Lillo and Hans Sach s took their subj ect from Bonfini's Latin History of Hungary. Six years after Katona's play was published, the Austrian poet Grillparzer wrote a tragedy, Ein treuer Diener seines He rrn, also dealing with the story of the palatine. Grill­ parzer knew nothing of Katona's drama. Katona rose far above ali other writers in his treatment of the theme. His drama is a plastic image of the storm­ tossed soul of the noble palatine. u6 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE Si nce the time of Shakespeare, tragedy has become the representation of one dominating passion. Katona, however, in depicting his hero, does not describe the growth of one passion only, but shows how different passions clash with one another, how they lessen or augment each other's force. ln the hero, the bushand and the patriot contend fiercely with the knight and the palatine. The passion which is most purely human is victorious, but wh ite it destroys every obstacle in its path , it involves the hero bimself in disaster. Th e historical event belongs to the thirteenth century. The noble-minded banus, a knight proud and jealous of his honour, was palatine of King Andrew II. The queen, th e Germao Gertrude, was the mother of St. Elizabeth, who inherited her mother's strength of will with out her arrogance. The king was called away to some distant region to put down a rebellion, and in his abse nce the country was ruled by the queen. Her rule was most disastrous. She was a gifted and ambitiou s woman, and had ali the energy and determination of a man . Unfor­ tunately, however, eve n the best of the Hungarians were merely foreigners in her eyes, and she favoured only her own countrymen, the Germans, and, above ali, the members of her own family. On this account a feeling of animosity sprang up agaiost her, and reached a menacing height as th e Hungarians saw how they were tmpoverished, fiouted and oppressed for the sake of foreign intruders. Illegal taxes crushed the people, as more and more m oney was needed for the riotous revels of the Court. Discontent and disaffection daily increased. The pala.tine, the representative of the king, had the greatest difficulty in preventing open revolution, and found equal difficulty in suppressing his own rising .indignation , KATONA Once, when on a visit in the course of his duties to some of the country districts, where he was painfully struck by the misery of the overworked and heavily taxed peasants, and th e manifold signs of political oppression, a message reached him from home, hidding him return without delay, and secretly. Bánk's soul became a prey to the darkest forebodings and he returned with feverish haste. This is the heginning of the drama. Why this mysterious summans ? The reason was indeed a grave one. Not only was the nation threatened, but the palatine's virtuous and beautifut you ng wife Melinda was also in imminent danger. The queen had a dissolute brother, Prince Otto, who persecuted the lady by his advances in her husband's absence. Th e queen, in other respects so energetic, was weak in dealing with her brother, and instead of putting an end to the intrigue, forwarded the princ e's vile plans, and gave a court ball in order that Otto migh t meet Melinda without hindrance. Th e festivity was t its · height when Bánk appeared. He entered by a side door, very few noticing the palatine' s une:xpected return, and learned that there was a c on spiracy agaiost the queen and that the consp irators were to hold a secret meeting that very night. Their pass wo rd was "Melinda." Th e conspirators - had heard of Otto's love for Melinda, an d Bánk was told of it by Petur, a masterly drawn type of the Hungarian nobleman of that day, faultlessly honest, perfectly loyal .to the sacred p erso n of the king, but vialent and ernbittered by oppress ion and the illegal rule of the foreign queen. Two impulses strove for mastery in Bánk's soul. One urged him, as the representative of the king and as the kn ight whose duty it was to guard the queen, to crush the conspiracy. On the other hand, j ealousy, and fear for his own and h i' wife's h9nour, 128 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE tempted him to leave the queen to her fate and to devote hímself to the protection of his wife. As, however, during the festivities, he had been an unseen witness of the dignitied refusal which Melinda had given to Otto, he thought his wife safe for the present, and thus found strength to attend to his duties. His first duty was eleariy to put down the conspiracy : afterwards he would cal l the queen to account for her beh aviour in the matter of Otto's intrigue . Accord ingly he went to the midnight meeting of the conspirators at the house of the banus Pet ur. :Petur, roused to passion, vehemen tly advocated the murder of the queen, but Bánk refused to take any part in such a plot. · ne an swered in these characteristic words : u That Bánk should become a campanion in your dark enterprise would need an offence as great as are his faith and loyalty." But his calmness o nly provoked Petur to a violent outhurst : 1 1 Since no other liberator is left to thec, my fatherland, here l stand, aU alone, ready to become the executioner of that sinfui woman." The rnoment was a crisis in Bánk's life. He thrust aside his perso nal feelings and asserted hímself as the palatine and ch ief j udge of the country. His language breathed a kingly dignity. He knew Petur thoroughly, knew that he was violent, but also that in the depths of his heart he was a loyal subj ect, and th at if Bánk stood up as the repre­ sentative of the king 's person, the rebel would bow before him. When, therefore, he heard Petur's words he cried : "Stay l this traitor to king and country is my prisoner, and l order you to bind him. It is Andrew the king, in my person, who commands here." Strong as was Petur's rebellious mood, still stronger was the feeling of repent­ ance with which he knelt before Bánk, and bowing his head, said 11 My king !" KATONA 129 Bánk's victory was complete, the conspirators aban­ doned their purpose, and Bánk ottered the words, " Oh, Andrew, th ough thou shouldst conquer wh ole realms, thou wilt never gain such a victory as Bánk bath won for thee here ! " Bánk, as a true knight, saved the life of a queen and woman : he stands before us as a radiant image of Hun­ garian ch ivalry and truth. But darkness soon overspread the scene. Bánk learned that Otto, in spite of Melinda's refusal, still continued his attacks, and was devising a cunning plan to obtain his end by violence. He found, too, that the queen, whom he had just saved, had done her best to forward Otto's schemes. A feeling of bitter hatred towards the queen entered Bánk's heart. But perh aps it was not yet too late to save Melinda. The knight who brought the news thought it possible, so Bánk flew to the court. But it was too late l Melinda had fallen a victim to Otto's machinations and had lost her reason. Slowly an awfu l purpose shaped itself in Bánk's mind. He will bimself demand satisfac­ tion of the queen, the ministering demon of Otto. I t is no Ionger the former Bánk, radiant in his loyalty and integrity, who stands before us, but the mortally injured husband, and the subj ect d riven to desperation by the wrongs done to his country. He resolves to be the judge of the demoniacal queen wh o has robbed bim of his wife, and his country of its freedom. The great sce11 e of the tragedy follows. Bánk pro­ ceeded to the queen' s room, burning with suppressed indignation. The poet now has the diffi.cult task of making us understand how so noble and chivalraus a man as Bánk could become the murderer of his queen. l

As he made his way to the palace two circumstances added to his grief, the grief of the patriot and of the husband. He saw Count Michael, his wife's brother, together with his own little son, being dragged to prison, and in the queen's hall he met Melinda, whose mind was wandering. The queen discerned the storms raging in the heart of Bánk, and to cut short his reproaches, com­menced the attack in order to drive him to self-defence. "Is this an honourable thing which you have done?" she asks. "You have left your duty and come hither secretly like a thief in the night. You have sinned agaiost your own dignity and mine also. ls it h onour­ able?" Bánk answered with bitter defiance. "No, it is not honourable. My honour has been destroyed by the destruction of Melinda. It has been taken from me together with my brother Michael and my son. " And then, with growing vehemence, he reproached the queen for the evil she had done in the country. In vain Gertrude, who gradually began to realise the imminent danger of the situation, cried, "Subject! Bondsman!" Bánk retorted with dignity, "No! I am your judge and your superlor here." Gertrude, seeing that her regal dignity had no weight with Bánk, appealed to his knighthood and demanded the consideration due to a woman. But her words merely awakened in Bánk contempt for a woman who had lent her aid to her brother in his nefa­rious intrigue. Otto appeared unexpectedly for a moment, but seeing Bánk, he tied. This added to the palatine's wrath. The queen, perceiving that she was entirely in Bánk's power, and divining his purpose, resolved to kill him. She gped a dagger, intending to stab Bánk, and he, observing the motion, snatched it from her hand and stabbed her. The deed was no sooner done than Bánk KATONA fully realised its horror. He s tood as though turned to stone, and the dagger dropped from his hand. The noise awoke Bánk from his stupor, and he said : " Do not applaud, my country, thine avenger is trembling. " And the queen ? The proud, ambitious woman, so eager for power at any cost, on the threshold of death, forgot her crown, her glory, her dignity ; human feeling prevailed and sh e thought only of her children . On the verge of the grave, it is the mother who speaks . " My children l Where are my children ? To die with out seeing them l Andrew l My children !" Now that the king's representative bimself had mur­ dered the queen, there was nothing to prevent the open rebellion of the nobles. At length th e king returned, to find ernbittered hatred, and revolution, around the dead body of his wife. What remained for bim to do ? He would fain have chastised the wrongdoers, but how could he punish, wben the murdered woman had so many crimes to atone for ? The conspirators were imprisoned, and Petur, in accordance with the law of those times, was tied to a horse's tail and dragged to death. But the chief culprit was Bánk, the palatine. What was to be his fate ? He appeared before the king, a stony expression in his fac e and the calmness of despair in his heart. " It is I who killed the queen . Petur and al i the others are innocent." He felt the horror of his ueed, but tried to justify it to his own soul. Th e justification gave bim strength and pride. There follows an admirable scene, where . Bánk is crushed because his deed is shown him in a new light. Hitherto h e felt that he had acted as a judge and not as a murderer, and that every honest man would have done as he did, for he never doubted that the queen 132 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE had a hand in Otto's crime. But Bánk now saw all men turn from him as from a murderer. He heard, stirred to th e depths of his souJ, Petur, even when dying, cry out, " Lo ng live the king. " And at last Bánk learned that he was deceived after all. The queen, though formerly indulgent to Otto in his illicit courtship, was entirely innocent of the crime itself, Otto having given her an opiate to get her out of the way. So aU Bánk's fictitious notions caneern ing a just punishment were exploded. He, the highest judge in the land, a cowardly m urde rer l The king's representative a traitor to his king l He, the blameless knight, the destroyer of an unprotected woman l He was crushed to the earth. But one more blow fell on bim. The dead body of Melinda, slain by th e hired assassins of Otto, who had chosen this means of ave nging Bánk's deeds, was carried in. Bánk cried out, " My punishment is utter annihilation. In the wh ole universe is no loss but mine, no orph an but mine own child." At first the king contem­ piated punisbing Bánk, but the others looked with pity on the crushed and broken man, and said, " O King l Punish­ ment would be bnt mercy to him." The king recognised that a mightier J u dge had taken the rod from his hand, and felt that he would not have dared to punisb like this. He became' reconciled with the nation an d declared, 44 Better that the queen sh ould have fallen , if she were guilty, than that the country should." Th e only mercy which Bánk eraved was permission to bury his unhappy wife.