The Infernal Machine (play)

Last updated
The Infernal Machine
Written byJean Cocteau
CharactersThe Voice, The Young Soldier, The Soldier, The Officer, Jocasta, Tiresias, Ghost of King Laius, The Sphinx, Anubis, A Thebian Mother, Her Son, Her Daughter, Oedipus, The Drunk, The Messenger from Corinth, Creon, The Old Shepherd, Antigone
Original languageFrench
GenreTragedy
Setting Thebes, Greece

The Infernal Machine, or La Machine Infernale is a French play by the dramatist Jean Cocteau, based on the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus. [1] The play initially premiered on April 10, 1934 at the Theatre Louis Jouvet in Paris, France, under the direction of Louis Jouvet himself, with costumes and scene design by Christian Bérard. [2] The Infernal Machine, as translated by Albert Bermel, was first played at the Phoenix Theatre, New York, on February 3, 1958, under the direction of Herbert Berghof, with scenery by Ming Cho Lee, costumes by Alvin Colt, and lighting by Tharon Musser.

Contents

Plot summary

Prologue

The Voice presents a brief prologue and information about events that have occurred before the action of the play takes place. The Voice recounts that a baby is abandoned on a mountainside. The baby, Oedipus, is adopted by the King of Corinth. Oedipus questions the Oracle of Delphi who says he will murder his father and marry his mother. At a crossroads, Oedipus comes to blows with other travelers and unwittingly kills his father, Laius, King of Thebes. After conquering the Sphinx, Oedipus enters Thebes and claims the prize of marrying Queen Jocasta. Again, he unwittingly fulfills the Oracle's prophecy and, in marrying the Queen, marries his mother. After having four children with his mother, everything is brought to light. Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus blinds himself with his mother's brooch. The Voice finishes with: "Before you is a fully wound machine. Slowly its spring will unwind the entire span of a human life. It is one of the most perfect machines devised by the infernal gods for the mathematical annihilation of a mortal."

Act I: The Ghost

While guarding the walls of Thebes, the two soldiers discuss the matter of the Sphinx and what it may be. They continue to their sighting of the Ghost of King Laius, when the Officer arrives. The Officer questions the two about the ghost sighting and leaves them to their duties. Tiresias and Jocasta enter and question the soldiers about the ghost sighting as well. As Jocasta begins to believe more and more, the ghost of King Laius appears. Despite his calls for his wife, he cannot be seen or heard by anyone else. After the cock crows in the dawn, Tiresias and Jocasta exit. After the two leave stage, the ghost of King Laius becomes audible and visible to the two soldiers. Laius struggles, apparently against the gods, to warn the soldiers about Oedipus's and Jocasta's impending doom, but disappears just as he is about to deliver the warning.

Act II: The Sphinx

The Voice is telling us what is about to happen in Act II concurrently with the events in Act I. The Sphinx, disguised as a beautiful girl, and Anubis sit in the outskirts of Thebes arguing about whether they have heard the first or second trumpet call, signalling that the gates of the city have been closed. The Sphinx declares she does not want to kill anymore, but Anubis cautions they must remain obedient to the gods. A mother and her two children cross the Sphinx's path while Anubis hides. The Sphinx and the unwitting mother discuss the situation in Thebes due to the Sphinx, and how some believe the Sphinx is a fabricated tale to act as a scapegoat for the problems in the city. It is revealed that the mother had another son who was killed by the Sphinx. As the mother and her children exit, the second trumpet sounds. Anubis says the Sphinx must stay until the third trumpet blast. At this point, Oedipus enters, while Anubis hides again. The Sphinx and Oedipus discuss the Sphinx and Oedipus' journey thus far. The Sphinx reveals herself to Oedipus, and before asking him the riddle tells him the answer. The Sphinx officially asks Oedipus the riddle, to which he correctly replies, resulting in the death of the Sphinx. As proof of his victory, Oedipus takes the fused head of Anubis and the body of the Sphinx to Thebes to claim his reward.

Act III: The Wedding Night

The Voice tells us that Oedipus and Jocasta have been married and are now alone in their bridal chamber. Both Oedipus and Jocasta are exhausted from the day of wedding ceremonies. Before it is consummated, Tiresias comes to tell Oedipus he is apprehensive about the marriage. Oedipus is affronted and takes Tiresias by the throat. He peers into the High Priest's eyes and sees his future with Jocasta being healthy and content. Before he sees any further, he is temporarily blinded, presumably by the gods. Oedipus regains his sight, apologizes to Tiresias and reveals that he is the only son of Polybus and Merope of Corinth. Jocasta enters after Tiresias's exit, and the couple discuss the night Jocasta investigated the ghost of King Laius. Oedipus has a nightmare of Anubis attacking him in his sleep, and Jocasta soothes him in an ironically maternal fashion.

Act IV: The King

A messenger from Corinth brings Oedipus news that his father, King Polybus, has died, and his mother Queen Merope is too senile to understand. As well, the messenger tells Oedipus that he was adopted, while Oedipus reveals he killed a man in a carriage many years past. After hearing that Oedipus was adopted, Jocasta exits, while Oedipus processes the new information. When he leaves to talk to his wife, he finds Jocasta having committed suicide. It is revealed that Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta. Antigone enters and says that her mother is dead and that her father has stabbed his eyes. Oedipus sees the ghost of Jocasta, who leads Oedipus offstage.

Departure from Sophocles

The New York Times referred to The Infernal Machine as having taken "characters familiar from Greek tragedy off their pedestals and wittily humanized them while remaining true to Sophocles's plot. Oedipus, instead of a tragic hero, is a cocky, virginal youth whose arrogance is matched by his colossal naïveté. The relationship of Oedipus and Jocasta is treated as an extended Freudian joke. A vain, insecure woman obsessed with age, Jocasta has an eye for handsome young men, while Oedipus is drawn to older women who will cradle him like a child." [3]

Connection to Hamlet

In a Modern Drama article, "The Infernal Machine, Hamlet, and Ernest Jones", Alberta E. Feynman claims that while writing, Cocteau not only referred to the original text of Sophocles, but to William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Feynman holds, "In constructing this new version, Cocteau drew chiefly, but not solely, upon the original myth. He fused the myth of Oedipus with that of another great tragic hero—Hamlet." [4] Several parallels exist between the two plays, including each play opening on the walls of a city, plus striking similarities between the character of Tiresias and Polonius. According to Hamlet and Oedipus by Ernest Jones, both "Cocteau and Shakespeare...depict protagonists driven by the mechanism of the Oedipus complex. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oedipus</span> Mythical Greek king of Thebes

Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polynices</span> Mythological prince of Thebes

In Greek mythology, Polynices was the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia and the older brother of Eteocles. When his father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, he was expelled from Thebes, leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule. Because of a curse put on them by their father Oedipus, the two sons did not share the rule peacefully and died as a result, killing each other in battle for control over Thebes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creon (king of Thebes)</span> Figure in Greek mythology

Creon, is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiresias</span> Blind prophet of Apollo

In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias participated fully in seven generations in Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jocasta</span> Greek mythological Queen of Thebes

In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also rendered Iocaste and also known as Epicaste, was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, and queen consort of Thebes. She was the wife of first Laius, then of their son Oedipus, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene. She was also sister of Creon and mother-in-law of Haimon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laius</span> Greek mythological king of Thebes

In Greek mythology, King Laius or Laios of Thebes was a key personage in the Theban founding myth.

<i>Oedipus Rex</i> Classical Athenian tragedy by Sophocles

Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus (Οἰδίπους), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from Oedipus at Colonus, a later play by Sophocles. In antiquity, the term "tyrant" referred to a ruler with no legitimate claim to rule, but it did not necessarily have a negative connotation.

Peripeteia is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point. The term is primarily used with reference to works of literature; its anglicized form is peripety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theban kings in Greek mythology</span>

The dynastic history of Thebes in Greek mythology is crowded with a bewildering number of kings between the city's new foundation and the Trojan War. This suggests several competing traditions, which mythographers were forced to reconcile.

<i>Thebaid</i> (Latin poem) Latin poem by Statius

The Thebaid is a Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Statius. Published in the early 90s AD, it contains 12 books and recounts the clash of two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, over the throne of the Greek city of Thebes. After Polynices is sent into exile, he forges an alliance of seven Greek princes and embarks on a military campaign against his brother.

<i>Œdipe</i> (opera) Opera by George Enescu

Œdipe (Oedipe) is an opera in four acts by the Romanian composer George Enescu, set to a French libretto by Edmond Fleg. It is based on the mythological tale of Oedipus, as told by Sophocles in Oedipus the King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Necklace of Harmonia</span> Fabled object in Greek mythology

The Necklace of Harmonia, also called the Necklace of Eriphyle, was a fabled object in Greek mythology that, according to legend, brought great misfortune to all of its wearers or owners, who were primarily queens and princesses of the ill-fated House of Thebes.

<i>Oedipus Rex</i> (1967 film) 1967 Italian film

Oedipus Rex is a 1967 Italian film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Pasolini adapted the screenplay from the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles in 428 BC. The film was mainly shot in Morocco. It was presented in competition at the 28th Venice International Film Festival. It was Pasolini's first feature-length color film, but followed his use of color in "The Earth Seen from the Moon" episode in the portmanteau film The Witches (1967).

<i>Oedipus</i> (Seneca)

Oedipus is a fabula crepidata of c. 1061 lines of verse that was written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca at some time during the 1st century AD. It is a retelling of the story of Oedipus, which is better known through the play Oedipus Rex by the Athenian playwright, Sophocles. It is written in Latin.

Polybus is a figure in Greek mythology. He was the king of Corinth whose wife was variously referred to as Periboea, Merope or Medusa, daughter of Orsilochus.

<i>Antigone</i> (1961 film) 1961 film

Antigone is a 1961 Greek film adaptation of the Ancient Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. It stars Irene Papas in the title role and was directed by Yorgos Javellas.

<i>Oedipus rex</i> (opera)

Oedipus rex is an opera-oratorio by Igor Stravinsky, scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin; the narration, however, is performed in the language of the audience.

<i>Oedipus</i> (Euripides) Lost play by Euripides

Oedipus is a play by the 5th-century BCE Athenian dramatist Euripides. The play is now lost except for some fragments. What survives of the play covers similar ground as Sophocles' acclaimed Oedipus Rex, but scholars and historians have found there are significant differences. In Oedipus Rex, the title character blinds himself upon learning his true parentage, accidentally killing his father and marrying his mother Jocasta. In Euripides' play, however, it appears Oedipus is blinded by a servant of his father Laius, Oedipus' predecessor as king of Thebes. Furthermore, Euripides' play implies Oedipus was blinded before it was known that Laius was his father. Also, while in Sophocles' play Jocasta kills herself, remaining fragments of Euripides' play depict Jocasta as having survived and accompanied Oedipus into exile.

In Greek mythology, Merope was a Queen of Corinth, and wife of King Polybus. In some accounts, she was called Periboea.

References

  1. David Bradby. "Cocteau, Jean" in The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, ed. Martin Banham, 1988. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 225 pp. ISBN   0-521-43437-8.
  2. Jean Cocteau, The Infernal Machine & Other Plays, New Directions, 1964. ISBN   978-0811221634.
  3. Stephen Holden, "Review: Cocteau's Humanized Oedipus", The New York Times, 2 Dec. 1990. Accessed 1 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 Feynman, Alberta (May 1963). "The Infernal Machine, Hamlet, and Ernest Jones". Modern Drama. Univ. of Toronto Press. 6 (1): 72–83. doi:10.3138/md.6.1.72. S2CID   194080631.

Further reading