The Tragedy of Man (Hungarian: Az ember tragédiája) is a play written by the Hungarian author Imre Madách. It was first published in 1861. The play is considered to be one of the major works of Hungarian literature and is one of the most often staged Hungarian plays today. Many lines have become common quotations in Hungary. The 1984 film The Annunciation (Angyali üdvözlet) was based on the play, as was the 2011 animated film The Tragedy of Man.
Synopsis The main characters are Adam, Eve and Lucifer. As God creates the universe, Lucifer, the "ancient spirit of denial", decries it as futile, stating that mankind will aspire to be gods, demanding their ownership of the world, because man was created in the image of God. God casts Lucifer out of Heaven but grants his wish: the two cursed trees in Eden, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Immortality. Playing on Eve's vanity and Adam's pride, Lucifer tempts both into sin. After the Fall and expulsion from Eden, Adam is still too proud to admit that he acted wrongly. Instead, he recounts his dreams of human progress and achievement; he feels that now, unencumbered by God's rules, he is ready to pursue his own glory. Lucifer puts Adam to sleep, and the two begin to travel through history. The first period they visit, ancient Egypt, is the realization of Adam's dream of immense human achievements. However, his joy is abruptly cut off when he finds that the pyramids are being built on the backs of slaves (as a later-executed slave points out, "millions for one"). Adam, in the role of a pharaoh, falls in love with Eve, a slave-girl; with renewed hope, he now tells Lucifer to take him to a world where all men live in equality, and Lucifer transports him to democratic Greece. In each period, Adam's previous dreams are exposed as futile, flawed, or unattainable, and Eve appears just in time to refresh Adam's spirit, and the cycle repeats.
Adam and Lucifer are introduced at the beginning of each scene, with Adam assuming various important historical roles and Lucifer usually acting as a servant or confidant. Eve enters only later in each scene, usually as a historical character. Adam is usually engrossed in his role at the beginning of each scene, and only becomes self-aware and aware of Lucifer as his guide near the end. Eve never breaks out of character. From the 19th century, Adam is no longer a leader, but retreats into an observer role, his political and historical enthusiasm having disappeared. Likewise, throughout the dream, Adam is older and older with each passing scene, representing not only his increasing wisdom but also the increasing burden of hopelessness. The final dream scene is in an ice age in the far future. The Sun is dying, civilization has disappeared, and mankind has been reduced to a few scattered savages trying to eke out a living. It is never addressed whether this is truly the future Madách foresaw, or whether this is an elaborate illusion on the part of Lucifer to make Adam lose hope once and for all. Awaking from his dream, Adam declares that the future is hopeless, and that the only course of action now open to him is to kill himself, thereby ending the human race before it begins and preventing all the meaningless suffering the future holds. As he is poised to throw himself from a cliff, Eve finds him, and happily announces that she is pregnant. Adam falls to his knees and declares that God has vanquished him. God rebukes Satan, and tells Adam that regardless of whether he sees hope or not, his task is only to "strive on, and have faith."
Sequence of scenes The Tragedy of Man contains fifteen scenes, with ten historical periods represented. The scenes, their locations, and the identity of the main protagonists in each are as follows. SCENE 1 – In Heaven, immediately following the creation. SCENE 2 – In the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Human History, likely around 75,000 BC. SCENE 3 – Outside the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Human History. SCENE 4 – Egypt, c. 2686-2648 BC. Adam is a Pharaoh, most likely Djoser; Lucifer his Vizier Imhotep; Eve is the widow of a slave. SCENE 5 – Athens, 490-489 BC. Adam is Miltiades the Younger; Lucifer is a city guard; Eve is Miltiades's wife. SCENE 6 – Rome, c. 67 AD. Adam is a wealthy Roman; Lucifer is his friend, Eve is a prostitute. SCENE 7 – Constantinople, 1096-1099 AD. Adam is Tancred, Prince of Galilee; Lucifer is his squire; Eve is a noble maiden forced to become a nun. SCENE 8 – Prague, c. 1608. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Barbara. SCENE 9 – Paris, 1793-1794 (in a dream of Kepler). Adam is Georges Danton; Lucifer is an executioner; Eve appears in two forms, first as an aristocrat about to be executed, then immediately following as a bloodthirsty poor woman. SCENE 10 – Prague, c. 1612. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Barbara. SCENE 11 – London, 19th century. Adam and Lucifer are nameless Englishmen; Eve is a young woman of the middle class. SCENE 12 – A utopist socialist Phalanstery, in the future (most likely in 2000 AD). Adam and Lucifer masquerade as traveling chemists; Eve is a worker who protests when she is separated from her child. SCENE 13 – Space. Adam and Lucifer are themselves, Eve does not appear in this scene. SCENE 14 – An ice age in the distant future, at least 6000 AD. Adam is a broken old man; Lucifer is himself; Eve is an Eskimo's wife. SCENE 15 – Outside Eden at the Beginning of Human History.
Interpretation
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