Maurice+Maeterlinck




 * Maurice Maeterlinck** (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949) was a Belgian [|playwright], [|poet] and [|essayist] who wrote in French. He was awarded the [|Nobel Prize in Literature] in [|1911] . The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. His plays form an important part of the [|Symbolist] movement.

Maeterlinck was born in [|Ghent], [|Belgium] to a wealthy, French-speaking family. His father, Polydore, was a notary who enjoyed tending the [|greenhouses] on their property. His mother, Mathilde, came from a wealthy family. In September 1874 he was sent to the [|Jesuit] College of Sainte-Barbe, where works of the French [|Romantics] were scorned and only plays on religious subjects were permitted. His experiences at this school influenced his distaste for the [|Catholic Church] and organized religion. He had written poems and short novels during his studies, but his father wanted him to go into law. After finishing his law studies at the [|University of Ghent] in 1885, he spent a few months in [|Paris], [|France]. He met some members of the new [|Symbolism] movement, [|Villiers de l'Isle Adam] in particular, who would have a great influence on Maeterlinck's subsequent work.
 * Early Life **

Maeterlinck instantly became a public figure when his first play, [|//Princess Maleine//], received enthusiastic praise from [|Octave Mirbeau], the literary critic of [|//Le Figaro//] in August 1890. In the following years, he wrote a series of [|symbolist plays] characterized by [|fatalism] and [|mysticism], most importantly [|//Intruder//] (1890), [|//The Blind//] (1890) and [|//Pelléas and Mélisande//] (1892). He had a relationship with the singer and actress [|Georgette Leblanc] from 1895 till 1918. Leblanc influenced his work for the following two decades. With the play //Aglavaine and Sélysette// Maeterlinck began to create characters, especially female characters, more in control of their destinies. Leblanc performed these female characters on stage. Even though mysticism and metaphysics influenced his work throughout his career, he slowly replaced his Symbolism with a more existential style. In 1895, with his parents frowning upon his open relationship with an actress, Maeterlinck and Leblanc moved to the district of [|Passy] in Paris. The Catholic Church was unwilling to grant her a divorce from her Spanish husband. They frequently entertained guests, including Mirbeau, [|Jean Lorrain], and [|Paul Fort]. They spent their summers in [|Normandy]. During this period, Maeterlinck published his //Twelve Songs// (1896), [|//The Treasure of the Humble//] (1896), //The Life of the Bee// (1901), and //Ariadne and Bluebeard// (1902). In 1903, Maeterlinck received the Triennial Prize for Dramatic Literature from the Belgian government. In 1906, Maeterlinck and Leblanc moved to a villa in [|Grasse]. He spent his hours meditating and walking. As he emotionally pulled away from Leblanc, he entered a state of depression. Diagnosed with [|neurasthenia], he rented the [|Benedictine Abbey of St. Wandrille] in [|Normandy] to help him relax. Leblanc would often walk around in the dress of an abbess; he would wear roller skates as he moved about the house. During this time, he wrote his essay "The Intelligence of Flowers" (1906), in which he discussed politics and championed [|socialist] ideas. He donated money to many workers' unions and socialist groups. At this time he conceived his greatest contemporary success: the [|fairy play] [|//The Blue Bird//] (1908). He also wrote //Marie-Victoire// (1907) and [|//Mary Magdalene//] (1910) with lead roles for Leblanc. With the exception of //The Blue Bird//, critics did not praise these plays and considered Leblanc no longer an inspiration to the playwright. Even though alfresco performances of some of his plays at St. Wandrille had been successful, Maeterlinck felt that he was losing his privacy. The death of his mother on 11 June 1910 added to his depression. In 1910 he met the 18-year-old actress Renée Dahon during a rehearsal of //The Blue Bird//. She became his lighthearted companion. Winning the [|Nobel Prize for Literature] served to heighten his spirits, as well. By 1913, he was more openly socialist and sided with the Belgian trade unions against the Catholic party during a strike. [|[8]] He began to study mysticism and lambasted the Catholic Church in his essays for misconstruing the history of the universe. By a decree of 26 January 1914, his //opera omnia// were placed on the [|Index Librorum Prohibitorum] by the [|Roman Catholic Church]. When [|Germany] invaded Belgium in 1914, Maeterlink wished to join the [|French Foreign Legion], but his application was denied due to his age. He and Leblanc decided to leave Grasse for a villa near [|Nice], where he spent the next decade of his life. He gave speeches on the bravery of the Belgian people and placed guilt upon all Germans for the war. While in Nice he wrote //The Mayor of Stilmonde//, which was quickly labeled by the American press as a "Great War Play." He also wrote //The Betrothal//, a sequel to //The Blue Bird//, in which the heroine of the play is clearly not a Leblanc archetype. On 15 February 1919 Maeterlinck married Dahon. He accepted an invitation to the [|United States]. [|Samuel Goldwyn] asked him to produce a few scenarios for film. Only two of Maeterlinck's submissions still exist; Goldwyn didn't use any of them. Maeterlinck had prepared one based on his [|//The Life of a Bee//]. After reading the first few pages Goldwyn burst out of his office, exclaiming: "My God! The hero is a bee!" By the 1920s, Maeterlinck found himself no longer in tune with the times. His plays of this period (//The Power of the Dead//, //The Great Secret//, //Berniquel//) received little attention. Dahon gave birth to a stillborn child in 1925.
 * Career **

//La Princesse Maleine// ([|//Princess Maleine//]) (published 1889) //L'Intruse// ([|//Intruder//]) (published 1890; first performed 21 May 1891) //Les Aveugles// ([|//The Blind//]) (published 1890; first performed 7 December 1891) //Les Sept Princesses// (//The Seven Princesses//) (published 1891) // [|Pelléas and Mélisande] // (published 1892; first performed 17 May 1893) //Alladine et Palomides// (published 1894) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Intérieur// ([|//Interior//]) (published 1894; first performed 15 March 1895) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//La Mort de Tintagiles// ([|//The Death of Tintagiles//]) (published 1894) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Aglavaine et Sélysette// (first performed December 1896) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Ariane et Barbe-bleue// (//Ariane and Bluebeard//) (first published in German translation, 1899) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Soeur Béatrice// (//Sister Beatrice//) (published 1901) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Monna Vanna// (first performed May 1902; published the same year) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Joyzelle// (first performed 20 May 1903; published the same year) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Le Miracle de saint Antoine// (//The Miracle of Saint Antony//) (first performed in German translation, 1904) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//L'Oiseau bleu// ([|//The Blue Bird//]) (first performed 30 September 1909) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Marie-Magdeleine// ([|//Mary Magdalene//]) (first performed in German translation, February 1910; staged and published in French, 1913) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Le Bourgmestre de Stilmonde// (first performed in [|Buenos Aires], 1918; published 1919) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Les Fiançailles// (published 1922) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Le Malheur passe// (published 1925) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//La Puissance des morts// (published 1926) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Berniquel// (published 1926) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Marie-Victoire// (published 1927) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//Judas de Kerioth// (published 1929) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//La Princess Isabelle// (published 1935) <span style="margin-bottom: 1.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; mso-text-indent-alt: -.5in; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">//L'Autre Monde ou le cadran stellaire// (//The Other World, or The Star System//) (1941) //Jeanne d'Arc// (//Joan of Arc//) (published 1943)
 * List of Plays **

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 * Source For All The Above**

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 * Links **

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http://www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/maurice_maeterlinck_001.html