Mahomet second
Encyclopedia
Mahomet second is an unfinished tragedy
in one act and five scenes in prose
, written by French
playwright Pierre de Marivaux
circa 1733 and first published in the journal Mercure de France
in 1747.
, another supporter of prose
in tragedy
. After a talk abour versification, he decided to answer empirically by writing Mahomet second, despite the failure a decade before of his Annibal
.
No-one managed to convince him to complete this tragedy
whose topic had already been used by Vivien de Châteaubrun in a play which was performed eleven times at the Comédie-Française
in 1714.
imperial family and converted to Islam
after being kidnapped by the Turks, becomes a favourite of Mahomet second
. The sultan
sent him to fellow prisoner Greek princess Irène to tell her that her father and brother are alive, and that he intends on marrying her. She refuses the sultan's offer and despises Ibrahim for submitting himself to the Turks. Mahomet, who wanted to marry his sister to Ibrahim, then decides to wed her to Lascaris, and expects Irène to be grateful and accept to marry him. He frees Théodore and Lascaris in front of Irène, and the act ends with Roxane and Lascaris professing love for each other.
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
in one act and five scenes in prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
, written by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
playwright Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
circa 1733 and first published in the journal Mercure de France
Mercure de France
The Mercure de France was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group....
in 1747.
Origin
Marivaux used to attend the Marquise de Lambert's literary salon with Antoine Houdar de La MotteAntoine Houdar de la Motte
Antoine Houdar de la Motte was a French author.He was born and died in Paris. In 1693 his comedy, Les Originaux, was a complete failure, and so depressed the author that he contemplated joining the Trappists. Four years later he began writing texts for operas and ballets, e.g...
, another supporter of prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
in tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. After a talk abour versification, he decided to answer empirically by writing Mahomet second, despite the failure a decade before of his Annibal
Annibal (Marivaux)
Annibal is a play by French playwright Pierre de Marivaux....
.
No-one managed to convince him to complete this tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
whose topic had already been used by Vivien de Châteaubrun in a play which was performed eleven times at the Comédie-Française
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
in 1714.
Characters
- Ibrahim
- Irène
- Mahomet
- Roxane
- Théodore, Irène's father
- Lascaris, her brother
Plot
Ibrahim, a prince from the Komnenoi dynasty allied to the GreekByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
imperial family and converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
after being kidnapped by the Turks, becomes a favourite of Mahomet second
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...
. The sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
sent him to fellow prisoner Greek princess Irène to tell her that her father and brother are alive, and that he intends on marrying her. She refuses the sultan's offer and despises Ibrahim for submitting himself to the Turks. Mahomet, who wanted to marry his sister to Ibrahim, then decides to wed her to Lascaris, and expects Irène to be grateful and accept to marry him. He frees Théodore and Lascaris in front of Irène, and the act ends with Roxane and Lascaris professing love for each other.
Bibliographie
Frédéric Deloffre, "Ensembles associatifs et critique d’attribution : une application au cas de Marivaux", Études de langue et de littérature françaises offertes à André Lanly, pp. 451-456. Nancy: Université de Nancy, 1980.- Henri Lagrave, "Mahomet second : une tragédie en prose, inachevée, de Marivaux", Revue d’Histoire Littéraire de la France, n. 71, pp. 574-584, 1971.