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

Felhasznált irodalom

arouses tension, but after a while our selective attention eliminates the noise on the second floor and the main protagonist is forgotten. The moment which we have called "talcing a stand" is the point where an unexpected dramatic situation arises among the characters who have been introduced so far, which triggers a conflict or a series of conflicts. If this conflict does not originate in the protagonists or in their direct relationships, if it is only a "forced" pseudo-problem, then the audience is disengaged from the plot and becomes a distant observer. This is characteristic of the epic. We can sense the interference of the author, or the "finger of God." Or maybe it is we, the spectators, who are taking over the storytelling. Tamás Bécsy, who has been quoted above, also questions the dramatic nature of the Borkman play. He holds that no new conflict is introduced which would prompt a struggle among the protagonists, that is, there is no moment of "taking a stand." Everything has already happened to the protagonists before they mount the stage. Now they simply recount their past. Here is where we join the play, to witness the futher history of the family as it follows directly from their past. I, however, propose to contest Bécsy's argument, given that in the course of the analysis of the play I have found the scene which serves as a point of departure toward genuine dramatic development. I have identified dramaturgical problems elsewhere, but these will be discussed later. On the first floor, the dialogue between the twins reaches a point, where the visitor, Mrs Borkman's twin, Ella, wishes to reclaim the young Erhart Borkman - whom she had raised for 8 years - from his mother. By this time the "exposition" phase of the play has been completed and the struggle for Erhart initiates a series of further conflicts. There is a new conflict between the twins, in addition to the long-standing one concerning Borkman. There is a conflict between Erhart and his biological mother, because the son is ready to break free from maternal rule. Yet another conflict arises between the twins and a third woman, who enters the battle for possession of Erhart. When I reached this point in analyzing the play, it became clear to me that the real protagonists were the women: Mrs Borkman, Ella, and Fanny. The head of the family, Borkman, seems to be alloted the same dramatic function as the ghost of Hamlet's father. It is Borkman, his past actions, which create the foundation of the play. This I consider to be the second impasse in the play not only do we conceal the main character throughout the first act, we also condemn him to being merely a passive 68