Kovács Ferenc: Olvasópróba előtt (Skenotheke 1. Budapest, 1996)

Felhasznált irodalom

becoming the chosen one was a mere accident. It is necessary to underscore the fact that she was chosen. She herself did not have the option to choose, and neither could she, later on, decide her own fate. She received everything ready-made, shaped by fate or by the lives and lots of those around her. As a result of her husband's fraud, she lost the good name of her family, as well as the family home - a part of her heritage - and her son, all of which became her sister's "property." Although it could have been worse, still it was bad enough. According to accepted human norms, she should have been grateful to her sister for allowing her to stay in the family mansion, for bringing up her son in prosperity, and for providing for her day-to-day livelihood. Even a healthy psyche would protest in the face of such overbearing benevolence and utter dependence, and Gunhild's soul is far from healthy. Ever since her childhood, she has played second fiddle to her twin sister. Because of her marriage, her ambitious husband, and her forced, needlessly extravagant life style, she could temporarily get the upper hand on Ella. Gunhild's desire to further increase her superiority, however, led to still more inordinate expenditures and indirectly contributed to her husband's embezzlement. For 16 years everything has been dark and hopeless for her. Her sole remaining resource is her faith in her son, as well as the incommensurably selfish expectation that he should reestablish the honour of the family and redeem Borkman's failure with his own career. In order to achieve this objective, she keeps her son completely under her thumb, demanding absolute obedience and acquiescence in all matters. To realize her goal, she resorts to incessant regimentation and reprimands. She fights a losing battle because Erhart has already tasted freedom, unselfish love, and independence from his parents in his aunt's house. Besides, the natural withdrawal of the young from the older generation is also on Erhart's side. GUNHILD'S relationship to her husband is saturated with hate

; she relates with enmity to Ella and with contempt to those who are socially inferior to her. Her character is exclusively negative, her role as described in the text - and on the basis of a one-night story - is extremely difficult to mold into shape. Neither is the structure of the dialogue dramatic enough. It is therefore the actress's personality which decides the character's success, dramatic authenticity, and relationship to its fellow characters. It is very easy to spoil this role. ELLA'S nature is basically generous, caring, and loveable. She is feminine and dignified. She has a keen sense of reality and a good working knowledge of human nature. She is constant: once abandoned by her lover she does not marry anybody else. We are given to expect that her appearance after 16 years marks a showdown with Borkman, her one49