A Maeterlinck Reader BELGIAN FRANCOPHONE LIBRARY Donald Flanell Friedman General Editor Vol. 24 PETER LANG New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford A Maeterlinck Reader Plays, Poems, Short Fiction, Aphorisms, and Essays BY Maurice Maeterlinck Edited & Translated by David Willinger and Daniel Gerould PETER LANG New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Willinger, David. A Maeterlinck Reader: Plays, Poems, Short Fiction, Aphorisms, and Essays by Maurice Maeterlinck / Maurice Maeterlinck Edited by David Willinger, Daniel Gerould p. cm. — (Belgian Francophone Library; vol. 24) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4331-0424-4 ISSN 1074-6757 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/. For information regarding performance rights for plays, contact: David Willinger at [email protected] Cover illustration: Otto Reigbert’s model for a set of a 1912 production of The Blind in Freiburg. Nous sommes très reconnaissants envers le Ministère de la Culture de la Communauté française de Belgique ainsi qu’envers le Premier Conseiller Monsieur Jean-Luc Outers pour la génereuse donation qui a permis la publication de ce livre. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2011 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York 29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006 www.peterlang.com All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in Germany Table of Contents Preface...........................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments..........................................................................................ix List of Illustrations.........................................................................................xi A Maeterlinck Time-Line.............................................................................xiii INTRODUCTION: TWO VIEWS OF AN AUTHOR An Opening on the Unknown and Unknowable........................................1 by Daniel Gerould A Life in Counterpoint to a Work............................................................23 by David Willinger PLAYS Princess Maleine (1889)..........................................................................57 The Intruder (1890)...............................................................................147 The Blind (1890)....................................................................................168 Pelleas and Melisande (1892)...............................................................193 The Death of Tantagiles (1894).............................................................242 POETRY Hot Houses (1889) “Hot House”...........................................................................................267 “Diving Bell”.........................................................................................268 “Glances”...............................................................................................270 SHORT FICTION Onirology (1889)...................................................................................273 FRAGMENTS, PENSÉES, APHORISMS From Small Talk (1890, 1891)...............................................................287 From The Blue Notebook (1888)...........................................................289 From The Life of Bees (1902)................................................................289 From Agenda (1891)..............................................................................289 From Before the Great Silence (1934)...................................................289 MYSTICISM Introduction to Novalis (1895)..............................................................291 Silence (1896)........................................................................................293 vi The Maeterlinck Reader ON THEATRE Confession of a Poet (1890)..................................................................295 Small Talk—The Theatre (1890) ..........................................................296 The Tragedy of Everyday Life (1896)....................................................300 “Preface” to Theatre (1901).................................................................304 Introduction to the Translation of Macbeth (1910)...............................311 INTERVIEW Conversation with Maurice Maeterlinck (1893)...................................315 ENTOMOLOGY Nuptial Flight (1902).............................................................................319 The Morality of the Termite Nest (1926)...............................................327 MEMOIR Oscar Wilde, Intime...............................................................................335 Sources for Translated Materials..................................................................337 Preface The Maeterlinck Reader is addressed both to those with no prior knowledge of the author and also to those already acquainted with some of his works who wish to learn more. Even those who are connoisseurs will, we hope, find unfamiliar material and challenging perspectives. Our aim is to make available in a single volume Maeterlinck’s essential writings in new translations that render the directness and simplicity of the playwright’s style and convey the immediacy of his powerful impact on his contemporaries. Our choices have been guided by a desire to present certain works that are essential and others that are exceptional and break the mold of preconceptions which have accreted to Maeterlinck over time. In addition to the five plays that constitute Maeterlinck’s primary contribution to modern drama, we have included selections of his writings in other genres—poetry, fiction, fragment, essay, theory, treatise—that contribute to a deeper understanding of the plays and lead to consideration of the phenomenon of Maeterlinck, as man and artist: an enigmatic subject larger than any of his individual creations. As an author who early in life enjoyed great success, then gradually faded into semi-obscurity, and later made something of a posthumous come- back, Maeterlinck is still a name to be reckoned with, but, we may ask, who reads or performs his plays today? The Belgian writer occupies a contested position in the pantheon of great figures in the field of modern theatre. In our introductions we confront our own ambivalence and explore these issues, discussing why Maeterlinck’s reputation has fluctuated so widely and offering different viewpoints by which his work may be assessed. Ultimately, we wish to show why Maeterlinck deserves of our ongoing attention and the ways in which his plays continue to attract innovative directors who find them worthy of production. The Maeterlinck case exists in a historical context that we present in detail, but we do not hesitate to stress the playwright’s ability to cross over boundaries of time and place and to speak to the present. We bring to the task of interpreting Maeterlinck for twenty-first century readers and theatre-goers a common ardor and complementary approaches. Our shared enthusiasm began in 1980 when in connection with the exhibition, Belgian Art 1880–1914, we presented a production of The Blind at the Brooklyn Museum, David Willinger serving as director and Daniel Gerould as dramaturg. Our interest in Maeterlinck deepened over the years viii The Maeterlinck Reader as our artistic and scholarly pursuits took us repeatedly into the orbit of this quintessentially fin-de-siècle author who had so many points of contact with other artists of the times. Our introductions reflect our avocations. As cultural historian of Belgian art and life, David looks specifically at Maeterlinck’s roots, ethnicity, politics, and the Belgian production history of his plays. As a comparatist of European avant-garde, Daniel considers Maeterlinck’s contributions to the theory and practice of Symbolism and his development as essayist and entomologist. We believe that Maeterlinck’s plays and essays are a part of both literature and the history of theatre. For Maeterlinck poetry and drama were inseparable. This volume is therefore intended for both reader and theatre artist whose spirit may be touched by Maeterlinck’s imaginative powers. ON THE TRANSLATIONS In translating the plays we have sought to find an English idiom that closely matched Maeterlinck’s sober and stripped down language. While he very occasionally throws in an archaism, his is far more often minimal, suggestive, ambiguous, even more self-effacing and undecorated than the language of Beckett. So we have sought to avoid any quality of literariness or faux antiquity that have typified the tone of earlier translations and that, to us tend to betray the style of the originals. His essays have a totally different style in French, tending toward long, subtle and often paradoxical reasoning, a complexity which we have tried to capture at the same time as we’ve nudged them toward clarity in the destination language. Acknowledgments The authors would like to extend gratitude to the following individuals who gave valuable assistance in this work’s successful completion: We are deeply indebted to Maître André Schmidt, representative of the Maeterlinck estate, who was kind enough to grant us rights to the many, diverse works in this volume. Donald Friedman, the series editor, commissioned this project and has cheered us along whenever our energy threatened to flag; it was his belief that reassured us of the book’s importance at every juncture. At the Archives et Musée de la Littérature, in Brussels Saskia Bursens, Corinne Clarysse, and Jean Danhaive were extremely helpful in providing a wealth of documentation; Paul-Etienne Kisters put his rich fund of iconography at our disposal and both generously and expertly advised us on many issues concerning the illustrations. Fabrice Van De Kerkhove, outstanding Maeterlinck scholar, responded promptly and with unexampled erudition to all questions. Marc Quaghebeur, Maeterlinck scholar in his own right, director of the AML, and champion of francophone Belgian culture internationally, assisted us immeasurably in granting us permission to use a plethora of wonderful images. In the Service de Lettres of the Belgian Communauté Française, Joseph Duhamel, Léo Beeckman, and particularly Jean-Luc Outers gave their customary staunch support to this as for all projects Belgian; they stood ready to assist in any task that might ameliorate troublesome situations. Prof. Christian Angelet, President of the Fondation Maurice Maeterlinck in Ghent, extended himself with charming kindness and open-handedness. He and his delightful wife, Jacqueline, were outstanding hosts and expeditors; thanks also to André Capiteyn who assembled a body of material for us to consider, which included the priceless find, “Oscar Wilde, Intime.” Long-standing friends and guardian angels in Ghent, Prof. Jaak and Magda Van Schoor, gave freely of valuable information and hospitality, as they have for thirty years. For help with a number of thorny translation difficulties, we heartily thank Serge Goriely who cagily resolved many enigmas; his thoughtful and informed approach assures us of the fidelity of our choices. Régine Van Belle and Nellie de Saint-Maurice were also kind enough to help us resolve a number of others.