Franziska (play)
Encyclopedia
Franziska is a play by the German dramatist Frank Wedekind
, first produced in 1912. Subtitled "a modern Mystery
in five acts", it presents the heroine as a "female Faust" by way of conscious parody and commentary on episodes from Goethe
’s Faust
.
, in which his wife acts. One of these depicts Christ’s descent into hell
to free the souls of pagan heroes, with Franziska cast as Helen of Troy. Another play-within-the-play is a doggerel composition in rhymed couplets written by their patron the Duke of Rotenburg. The couple’s marital bliss proves short-lived, however, as Franziska begins an affair with the actor Ralf Breitenbach. On discovering this, Kunz makes a botched suicide attempt. In the final Act Franziska finds contentment in rustic surroundings with the painter Karl Almer and her young son Veitralf (named after her two former lovers). When Kunz and Breitenbach visit her in this idyll, she wants nothing from either of them, having learned to live within her own limitations.
’s Faust
, providing German audiences with "irreverent, but affectionate, parody of their national poet." Thus Franziska is Faust
to Veit Kunz’s Mephistopheles
; like Faust, she is actuated by a thirst for "knowledge". Clara’s Place corresponds to the "Auerbach’s Cellar"
episode in Faust I. The character of Sophie recalls the innocent Gretchen, whom Goethe’s Faust seduces and impregnates. The dukedom of Rotenburg is the Emperor’s court in Faust II, with Kunz’s "mystery" plays parodying the "Classical Walpurgisnacht" of Goethe’s play. The conciliatory final scene has been read as "an exaltation of maternal womanhood as a parallel to Goethe’s apotheosis of the active male spirit".
, in November 1912, with Wedekind’s wife Tilly in the title role and Wedekind himself as Veit Kunz. The director was Eugen Robert. The play was mounted again in Berlin a year later, with the same principals, in a production by Max Reinhardt
. It has rarely been seen on German stages since the 1930s. However, international interest was revived by Stéphane Braunschweig’s French-language production in 1995. This in turn led to the play’s English-language premiere at the Gate Theatre, London, in 1998, directed by Georgina Van Welie.
In July 1912 the composer Ferruccio Busoni
had been asked by Wedekind via Karl Vollmoeller whether he would be willing to provide incidental music for Franziska. Busoni considered the proposition, which would have involved composing twelve numbers to be played between the acts, and went as far as preparing a plan for the music and orchestration, of which three sketches (cat. no. BV 260) survive. His own plans already included a Faust project, and he eventually declined the proposal, writing to his wife on 24 July: "It will spoil my own Faust idea for myself." Busoni's "own Faust idea" ultimately became his unfinished opera Doktor Faust
(1924).
Frank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
, first produced in 1912. Subtitled "a modern Mystery
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
in five acts", it presents the heroine as a "female Faust" by way of conscious parody and commentary on episodes from Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
’s Faust
Goethe's Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
.
Plot
Franziska is a restless young woman, bored with living with her mother. Having observed her parents’ married life, she wants no part of marriage. A knock at the window announces the arrival of Veit Kunz, an insurance agent from Berlin, who offers her a bargain. Disguised as a man, she will have two years to enjoy the freedoms of a man and fulfill her ambitions as a musician, at the end of which she will belong to Kunz. There follows a wild nightclub scene set in "Clara’s Place" among a debauched assembly of writers and prostitutes, which gives full rein to Wedekind’s verbal inventiveness. "Franz", as Franziska now styles herself, is by now unhappily "married" to Sophie, a young heiress who is unaware of her true identity. Meanwhile she has become Kunz’s lover and fallen pregnant by him. Sophie’s brother learns that his sister has married a woman and wishes to avenge her lost honor, but when Sophie is told of the truth she shoots herself. Kunz now marries Franziska and starts a new career as a writer of "mysteries"Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
, in which his wife acts. One of these depicts Christ’s descent into hell
Harrowing of Hell
The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed that states that Jesus Christ "descended into Hell"...
to free the souls of pagan heroes, with Franziska cast as Helen of Troy. Another play-within-the-play is a doggerel composition in rhymed couplets written by their patron the Duke of Rotenburg. The couple’s marital bliss proves short-lived, however, as Franziska begins an affair with the actor Ralf Breitenbach. On discovering this, Kunz makes a botched suicide attempt. In the final Act Franziska finds contentment in rustic surroundings with the painter Karl Almer and her young son Veitralf (named after her two former lovers). When Kunz and Breitenbach visit her in this idyll, she wants nothing from either of them, having learned to live within her own limitations.
Relationship to Goethe’s Faust
Throughout the text, Wedekind plays off parallels and contrasts with GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
’s Faust
Goethe's Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
, providing German audiences with "irreverent, but affectionate, parody of their national poet." Thus Franziska is Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
to Veit Kunz’s Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles is a demon featured in German folklore...
; like Faust, she is actuated by a thirst for "knowledge". Clara’s Place corresponds to the "Auerbach’s Cellar"
Auerbachs Keller
Auerbachs Keller is the best known and second oldest restaurant in Leipzig. It was described in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust I, as the first place Mephistopheles takes Faust on their travels....
episode in Faust I. The character of Sophie recalls the innocent Gretchen, whom Goethe’s Faust seduces and impregnates. The dukedom of Rotenburg is the Emperor’s court in Faust II, with Kunz’s "mystery" plays parodying the "Classical Walpurgisnacht" of Goethe’s play. The conciliatory final scene has been read as "an exaltation of maternal womanhood as a parallel to Goethe’s apotheosis of the active male spirit".
Productions
Franziska was first performed at the Kammerspiele, MunichMunich Kammerspiele
The Munich Kammerspiele is a successful German language theatre in Munich. The Schauspielhaus in the Maximilianstrasse is the major stage.-History:...
, in November 1912, with Wedekind’s wife Tilly in the title role and Wedekind himself as Veit Kunz. The director was Eugen Robert. The play was mounted again in Berlin a year later, with the same principals, in a production by Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
. It has rarely been seen on German stages since the 1930s. However, international interest was revived by Stéphane Braunschweig’s French-language production in 1995. This in turn led to the play’s English-language premiere at the Gate Theatre, London, in 1998, directed by Georgina Van Welie.
In July 1912 the composer Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
had been asked by Wedekind via Karl Vollmoeller whether he would be willing to provide incidental music for Franziska. Busoni considered the proposition, which would have involved composing twelve numbers to be played between the acts, and went as far as preparing a plan for the music and orchestration, of which three sketches (cat. no. BV 260) survive. His own plans already included a Faust project, and he eventually declined the proposal, writing to his wife on 24 July: "It will spoil my own Faust idea for myself." Busoni's "own Faust idea" ultimately became his unfinished opera Doktor Faust
Doktor Faust
Doktor Faust is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer himself, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time of his death. His pupil Philipp Jarnach finished it...
(1924).