A Maeterlinck Reader

358 Pages·2011·58.898 MB·English

by  Maeterlinck, Maurice(Editor);Gerould, Daniel Charles(Editor);Willinger, David(Editor)

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.