Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)
Endre Gellért: "I hear, I hear the coming epoch's song"
ferian dreams were all disillusioning, but when Adam dreams of the future, of the revolution, on his own, he refers to it as „majestic” - something grand and spectacular. He regrets that he had to wake up. The second Prague scene is the core of the Tragedy. It represents the creed of Madách who espoused the bourgeois ideals of freedom. The political speeches and articles he wrote after the War of Independence and his public activities all demonstrated this. But capitalism distorts these great ideals. Adam is bound to become disenchanted with the vanity fair in London. It is with a bitter taste in his mouth that he leaves London and goes on toward the future: There is no contest when defenseless men Must stand against armes rivals face to face. There is no independence when men starve, Unless they bear another person’s yoke. That is a dog fight for the marrow bone. Instead of this I want a commonwealth Which frightens not, bur heartens and defends, Where men cooperate with all their strength - Sciense, alone, can plan a state like that Which will be guided by wise intellect. I feel and know this state will come some day — Lucifer, lead me to this world, I pray! Now Lucifer leads Adam into the distorted world of a supposed utopistic socialism — the Phalanstery. After some onesidedly but still realistically protrayed historical scenes follows a series of visions - the Phalanstery, Space, and an Eskimo world of snow and ice. Lucifer, prompted by growing impatience, rushes headlong toward his goal, taking big leaps in space and time: and, in this realm of phantasy, the poet, too, can let his fancy stream, for he is no longer bound by historical truth. In opposition to the view that the historical dream scenes have nothing to do with reality, it should be asserted that Madách’s aim was contrary to this interpretation. Lucifer does not lie in 47
