Book dossier

Az ember tragédiája

by Imre Madách

A great Hungarian 19th century classic. It is a dramatic work outlining the history and tragedy of mankind from the creation until a futuristic ice age. The Tragedy of Man contains fifteen scenes, with ten historical periods represented. The scenes, their locations, and the identity of the main protagonists in each are as follows. SCENE 1 - In Heaven, immediately following the creation. SCENE 2 - In the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Time. SCENE 3 - Outside the Garden of Eden at the Beginning of Time. SCENE 4 - Egypt, c. 2650 BC. Adam is a Pharaoh, most likely Djoser; Lucifer his Vizier; Eve is the wife of a slave. SCENE 5 - Athens, 489 BC. Adam is Miltiades the Younger; Lucifer is a guard; Eve is Miltiades' wife. SCENE 6 - Rome, c. AD 67. Adam is a wealthy Roman; Lucifer and Eve are his friends. SCENE 7 - Constantinople, AD 1096. Adam is Prince Tancred of Hauteville; Lucifer is his squire; Eve is a noble maiden forced to become a nun. SCENE 8 - Prague, c. AD 1615. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Borbala. SCENE 9 - Paris, AD 1793 (in a dream of Kepler). Adam is Georges Danton; Lucifer is an executioner; Eve appears in two forms, first as an aristocrat about to be executed, then immediately following as a bloodthirsty poor woman. SCENE 10 - Prague, c. AD 1615. Adam is Johannes Kepler; Lucifer is his pupil; Eve is his wife, Borbala. SCENE 11 - London, 19th century. Adam and Lucifer are nameless Englishmen; Eve is a young woman of the middle class. SCENE 12 - A Communist/Technocratic Phalanstery, in the future. Adam and Lucifer masquerade as traveling chemists; Eve is a worker who refuses to be separated from her child. SCENE 13 - Space. Adam and Lucifer are themselves, Eve does not appear in this scene. SCENE 14 - An ice age in the distant future, at least AD 6000. Adam is a broken old man; Lucifer is himself; Eve is an Eskimo's wife. SCENE 15 - Outside Eden at the Beginning of Time.