Earth Spirit (play)

Last updated

Earth Spirit (1895) (Erdgeist) is a play by the German dramatist Frank Wedekind. It forms the first part of his pairing of 'Lulu' plays; the second is Pandora's Box (1904), both depicting a society "riven by the demands of lust and greed". [1] In German folklore an erdgeist is a gnome, first described in Goethe's Faust (1808). Together with Pandora's Box, Wedekind's play formed the basis for the silent film Pandora's Box (1929) starring Louise Brooks and the opera Lulu by Alban Berg (1935, premiered posthumously in 1937).

Contents

In the original manuscript, dating from 1894, the ‘Lulu’ drama was in five acts and subtitled ‘A Monster Tragedy’. Wedekind subsequently divided the work into two plays: Earth Spirit (German: Erdgeist, first printed 1895) and Pandora’s Box (German: Die Büchse der Pandora, first performed 1904). The premiere of Earth Spirit took place in Leipzig on 25 February 1898, in a production by Carl Heine, with Wedekind himself in the role of Dr Schön. Wedekind is known to have taken his inspiration from at least two sources: the pantomime Lulu by Félicien Champsaur, which he saw in Paris in the early 1890s, and the sex murders of Jack the Ripper in London in 1888. [2] The Lulu character may also have been partially inspired by the famed dancer/courtesan Lola Montez, also a woman of humble origin who fabricated an exotic identity.

Plot

In a Prologue, the characters in the drama are introduced by an ‘Animal Tamer’ as if they are creatures in a travelling circus. Lulu herself is described as “the true animal, the wild, beautiful animal” and the “primal form of woman”.

When the action of the play starts, Lulu has been rescued by the rich newspaper publisher Dr Schön from a life on the streets with her alleged father, the petty criminal Schigolch. Dr Schön has taken Lulu under his wing, educated her and made her his lover. Wishing however to make a more socially advantageous match for himself, he has married her off to the medic Dr Goll.

In the first Act Dr Goll has brought Lulu to have her portrait painted by Schwarz. Left alone with him, Lulu seduces the painter. When Dr Goll returns to confront them, he collapses with a fatal heart attack.

In Act Two, Lulu has married the painter Schwarz, who, with Schön’s assistance, has now achieved fame and wealth. She remains Schön’s mistress, however. Wishing to be rid of her ahead of his forthcoming marriage to a society belle, Charlotte von Zarnikow, Schön informs Schwarz about her dissolute past. Schwarz is shocked to the core and “guillotines” himself with his razor.

In Act Three Lulu appears as a dancer in a revue, her new career promoted by Schön’s son Alwa, who is now also infatuated with her. Dr Schön is forced to admit that he is in her thrall. Lulu forces him to break off his engagement to Charlotte.

In Act Four Lulu is now married to Dr Schön but is unfaithful to him with several other people (Schigolch, Alwa, the circus artist Rodrigo Quast and the lesbian Countess Geschwitz). On discovering this, Schön presses a revolver into her hand, urging her to kill herself. Instead, she uses it to shoot Schön, all the while declaring him the only man she has ever loved. She is imprisoned for her crime.

Her escape from prison with the aid of Countess Geschwitz and subsequent career down to her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper in London are the subject of the sequel, Pandora’s Box. It is now customary in theatre performances to run the two plays together, in abridged form, under the title Lulu.

Reception

The play has attracted a wide range of interpretations, from those who see it as misogynistic to those who claim Wedekind as a harbinger of women's liberation. [3] Central to these divergent readings is the ambiguous figure of Lulu herself. Arguably, she embodies not so much the "primal form of woman" (a nebulous and subjective concept) as perceptions – in particular, male perceptions – of that "primal form". It is significant that we never learn Lulu's true name, only the names imposed on her by a succession of lovers. [4] To Schigolch she is "Lulu", an asexual name suggestive of children's earliest speech; significantly, Lulu is canonically only about 15 years of age when the drama begins [5] . To Schön she is "Mignon", the name of the mysterious girl in Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship who pursues the hero with submissive fidelity. To Schwarz she is Eve, mankind's first mother but also alleged agent (in the biblical narrative) of our undoing. Each man, secure in the patriarchal society to which she is a potential affront, finds in her what he wants to see; her own needs, meanwhile, remain obscured. A key stage prop throughout the play (and its sequel) is Schwarz's portrait of Lulu, which depicts her dressed as Pierrot. By further associating his heroine with this "naïve, comic, yet also pathetic" figure, Wedekind reminds audiences of her "essential vulnerability". [6]

Adaptations

The play was adapted for film twice, in 1923 by Leopold Jessner, starring Asta Nielsen, [7] and by Walerian Borowczyk for French television in 1980, starring Anne Bennant. [8] It is currently being adapted for comics by John Linton Roberson. [9] The two Lulu plays were combined for the silent film Pandora's Box (1929) and for Alban Berg's opera Lulu (1937). An Italian version by director Mario Missiroli was made in 1980, starring Stefania Sandrelli. Also in 1980, Michael Feingold adapted the play into Lulu for the American Repertory Theater. [10] In 2011, musicians Lou Reed and Metallica released Lulu , which was a collection of songs written by Reed based on the two Lulu plays. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alban Berg</span> Austrian composer (1885–1935)

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively small oeuvre, he is remembered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century for his expressive style encompassing "entire worlds of emotion and structure".

<i>Lulu</i> (opera) Unfinished opera by Alban Berg

Lulu is an opera in three acts by Alban Berg. Berg adapted the libretto from Frank Wedekind's two Lulu plays, Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora.

Lulu may refer to:

<i>Pandoras Box</i> (1929 film) 1929 silent film directed by G. W. Pabst

Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, and starring Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer. The film follows Lulu, a seductive young woman whose uninhibited nature brings ruin to herself and those who love her. It is based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wedekind</span> German playwright

Benjamin Franklin Wedekind was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes, is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the development of epic theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Stratas</span> Canadian-American operatic soprano

Teresa Stratas is an operatic soprano and actress from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu. She has now formally retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Lear</span> American operatic soprano

Evelyn Shulman Lear was an American operatic soprano. Between 1959 and 1992, she appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the United States and won a Grammy Award in 1966. She was well known for her musical versatility, having sung all three main female roles in Der Rosenkavalier. Lear was also known for her work on 20th century pieces by Robert Ward, Alban Berg, Marvin David Levy, Rudolf Kelterborn and Giselher Klebe. She was married to the American bass-baritone Thomas Stewart until his death in 2006.

<i>Lulu on the Bridge</i> 1998 American film

Lulu on the Bridge is a 1998 American romantic-mystery drama film written and directed by author Paul Auster and starring Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Willem Dafoe. The film is about a jazz saxophone player whose life is transformed after being shot. After discovering a mysterious stone, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful aspiring actress, but their happiness is cut short by a series of strange, dreamlike events. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>The Glebe</i> (literary magazine) American literary magazine

The Glebe was a literary magazine edited by Alfred Kreymborg and Man Ray from 1913 to 1914. The first issue was published from Grantwood, New Jersey while the rest of the run was published in New York by Albert & Charles Boni. Ten issues were produced, with a circulation of 300. Issue number 5 comprised the first anthology of Imagism: Des Imagistes.

Pandora's Box is a 1904 play by the German dramatist Frank Wedekind. It forms the second part of his pairing of 'Lulu' plays, the first being Earth Spirit (1895), both of which depict a society "driven by the demands of lust and greed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Mazura</span> Austrian opera singer and actor (1924–2020)

Franz Mazura was an Austrian bass-baritone opera singer and actor. He performed at the Bayreuth Festival from 1971 for 25 years and at the Metropolitan Opera for 15 years. He was made a Kammersänger in 1980 and an Honorary Member of the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 1990. He most often played villains and strange characters, with signature roles including Klingsor in Wagner's Parsifal. Mazura took part in world premieres, such as the double role of Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper in the world premiere of the completed version of Alban Berg's Lulu at the Paris Opera in 1979, and as Abraham in Giorgio Battistelli's Lot in 2017. Two of his recordings received Grammy Awards. His voice was described as with dark timbre, powerful and like granite, with perfect diction. His acting ability was described as "well-supplied with vivid imaginative touches, whether deployed in comic roles or characters of inexorable malevolence. Mazura could achieve more impact with a lifted eyebrow or a belligerently thrust chin than many artists could with a ten-minute monologue." He had a long career, appearing at the Staatsoper Berlin the night before his 95th birthday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Földi</span> American opera singer

Andrew Foldi was a Hungarian-American bass baritone and educator whose singing career spanned four decades.

Alice Roberts was a Belgian actress active from the late 1920s to the late 1930s.

Hanna Schwarz is a German mezzo-soprano and contralto singer in opera and concert. In 1976 she performed the roles of Fricka and Erda in the centenary Jahrhundertring production at the Bayreuth Festival, directed by Patrice Chéreau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susanne Lothar</span> German actress

Susanne Lothar was a German film, television and stage actress.

<i>Lulu</i> (1962 film) 1962 Austrian film

Lulu is a 1962 Austrian crime drama film written and directed by Rolf Thiele. The film is an adaptation of Frank Wedekind's Lulu plays—Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box —and stars Nadja Tiller, O. E. Hasse, and Hildegard Knef.

Earth Spirit is a 1923 German silent drama film directed by Leopold Jessner and starring Asta Nielsen, Albert Bassermann and Carl Ebert. It is based on the 1895 play of the same name by Frank Wedekind. It premiered in Berlin on 22 February 1923.

<i>Melusine</i> (Reimann) Opera by Aribert Reimann

Melusine is a 1971 German-language opera by Aribert Reimann, on a libretto by Claus H. Henneberg after Melusine, a 1920 play in four acts by Yvan Goll which transposes the legendary water-spirit to Goll's time. The opera was written for the Schwetzingen Festival, where it premiered in 1971. It was recorded in 2010.

Joan Carroll is an American operatic coloratura soprano who appeared in the title role of Alban Berg's Lulu at the work's US premiere at the Santa Fe Opera in 1963, and often in opera houses in Europe. She premiered vocal music by Aribert Reimann and Wilhelm Killmayer, among others.

Kenneth Riegel was an American opera tenor.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Article "Frank Wedekind" in Banham 1998, pp. 1189-1190).
  2. ↑ Finney 1989, p. 80
  3. ↑ Lewis 1997, p. 29
  4. ↑ Finney 1989, p. 89
  5. ↑ Powers, Steph. 2023. The Wales Arts Review, "Alban Berg’s LULU: Decadence, Decay and Myths of Freedom"
  6. ↑ Skrine 1989, p. 89
  7. ↑ Erdgeist, "1923"
  8. ↑ Lulu, "1980"
  9. ↑ Roberson, John Linton. "Lulu"
  10. ↑ Clay, Carolyn (23 December 1980). "Killing me softly: 'Lulu' knocks 'em dead at the Loeb". The Boston Phoenix. 9 (52).
  11. ↑ Interview with Lou Reed, "It's Maybe the Best Thing Done by Anyone, Ever"

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.