Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)
Tamás Major: An Up-to-Date Tragedy of Man
monotonous rhythm and covering up Madách’s essential message and tormenting life experience: „I told you, man/Struggle and trust!... Be always confident!” which is the sole message of the drama. The question here is whether Man can strive and trust, whether he can still believe that there is sence and meaning in life, after the failure of such a great optimistic struggle in which thousands of people surpassed themselves and dedicated and sacrificed their life if need be — that is, after the failure of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848 which was crushed in shameful defeat — apparently together with its ideals. Speaking about this question, he freely uses history, although obviously it is not Egypt, Athens or Constantinople that matter, and certainly not their historically faithful portrayal, but the basic message; just as in Shakespeare’s case the Holinshed chronicle is irrelevant, whereas very relevant, very important is the question that tormented the author throughout his life, namely, how does the hero of his times relate to his conscience and deeds. The real problem of Hamletian proportions is the relationship between thought and action, and this is the question in the focus of The Tragedy of Man. In the drama both Adam and Lucifer vie with this problem. And the historical tableaus must not be superimposed on the basic message, they may be projected only as a background to extent the dramatic fonflict between the two main characters. At the most recent Tragedy performance to date, it was already recognized that at the end of each historical scene it is Adam and Lucifer — and not the hero of the previous scene: so Pharaoh, Miltiades or Kepler — who sets, out for the new struggle. This was, more over, indicated even externally on the stage: at the end of each scene Adam and Lucifer divested themselves of the historical „period costumes” they wore for the scene. But this was only partial admission of the truth. The entire play — and not only in the historical scenes, but already starting with the Celestial Prologue - serves as a mouthpiece of the fundamental question or message, and Lucifer already in his opening argument with the Lord 52
