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Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
in 1911 "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations". The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. He was a leading member of
La Jeune Belgique ''La Jeune Belgique'' (meaning ''The Young Belgium'' in English) was a Belgian literary society and movement that published a French-language literary review ''La Jeune Belgique'' between 1880 and 1897. Both the society and magazine were founded b ...
group and his plays form an important part of the
Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
movement. In later life, Maeterlinck faced credible accusations of plagiarism.


Biography


Early life

Maeterlinck was born in
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, to a wealthy, French-speaking family. His mother, Mathilde Colette Françoise (née Van den Bossche), came from a wealthy family. His father, Polydore, was a notary who enjoyed tending the
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
s on their property. In September 1874 he was sent to the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
and organized religion. One of his companions at that time was the writer
Charles van Lerberghe Charles van Lerberghe (21 October 1861 – 26 October 1907) was a Belgian author who wrote in French and was particularly identified with the symbolist movement. The growing atheism and anticlerical stance evident in his later work made it popu ...
, the poems and plays of whom went on to act as mutual influences on each other at the start of the Symbolist period. Maeterlinck had written poems and short novels while still studying, but his father wanted him to go into law. After gaining a law degree at the
University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
in 1885, he spent a few months in Paris, France. He met members of the new Symbolist movement; Villiers de l'Isle Adam in particular, who would have a great influence on Maeterlinck's subsequent work.


Career

Maeterlinck instantly became a public figure when his first play, '' Princess Maleine'', received enthusiastic praise from
Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...
, the literary critic of ''
Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...
'', in August 1890. In the following years he wrote a series of symbolist plays characterized by
fatalism Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are t ...
and
mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
, most importantly ''
Intruder Intruder may refer to: Film and television * ''The Intruder'' (1914 film), directed by Wallace Reid * ''The Intruder'' (1933 film), an American film by Albert Ray * ''The Intruder'' (1939 film), ''La intrusa'', an Argentine film by Julio Sa ...
'' (1890), '' The Blind'' (1890) and '' Pelléas and Mélisande'' (1892). He had a relationship with the singer and actress
Georgette Leblanc Georgette Leblanc (8 February 1869, Rouen – 27 October 1941, Le Cannet) was a French operatic soprano, actress, author, and the sister of novelist Maurice Leblanc. She became particularly associated with the works of Jules Massenet and w ...
from 1895 until 1918. Leblanc influenced his work for the following two decades. With the play ''Aglavaine and Sélysette'' (1896) Maeterlinck began to create characters, especially female characters, who were more in control of their destinies. Leblanc performed these female characters on stage. Even though mysticism and metaphysics influenced his work throughout his career, Maeterlinck slowly replaced his Symbolism with a more existential style.Knapp, 87–92. In 1895, with his parents frowning upon his open relationship with an actress, Maeterlinck and Leblanc moved to the district of
Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around wh ...
in Paris. The Catholic Church was unwilling to grant her a divorce from her Spanish husband. The couple frequently entertained guests, including Mirbeau,
Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time among ...
, and Paul Fort. They spent their summers in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. 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. During this period, and up until the Great War of 1914-1918, he was widely looked up to, throughout Europe, as a great sage, and the embodiment of the higher thought of the time. In 1906 Maeterlinck and Leblanc moved to a villa in
Grasse Grasse (; Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region on the French Riviera. In 2017, the c ...
in the south of France. He spent his hours meditating and walking. As he emotionally pulled away from Leblanc, he entered a state of depression. Diagnosed with
neurasthenia Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North A ...
, he rented the Benedictine Abbey of St. Wandrille in Normandy to help him relax. By renting the abbey he rescued it from the desecration of being sold and used as a chemical factory and thus he received a blessing from the Pope. Leblanc would often walk around in the garb 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 expressed sympathy with 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, but largely written in 1906). Stanislavsky's 1908 Moscow production, of extraordinary visual beauty, is still over a century later regularly performed in Moscow, in a shortened version as a children's matinee. After the writing of "The Intelligence of Flowers", he suffered from a period of depression and writer's block. Although he recovered from this after a year or two, he never became so inventive as a writer again. His later plays, such as ''Marie-Victoire'' (1907) and ''Mary Magdalene'' (1910), provided with lead roles for Leblanc, were notably inferior to their predecessors, and sometimes merely repeat an earlier formula. 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 Renée Dahon (1893–1969) was a French actress. Personal life Dahon was born on 18 December 1893. She was described as short (around five feet tall) and slim. Following an eight-year-long affair, Dahon married playwright Maurice Maeterlinck at ...
during a rehearsal of ''The Blue Bird''. She became his lighthearted companion. After having been nominated by
Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...
, a member of the
Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is bes ...
, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1911, which also served to lighten his spirits. By 1913 he had become more openly socialist and sided with the Belgian trade unions against the Catholic party during a strike. 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, the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
placed his ''opera omnia'' on the
Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbid ...
. When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914, Maeterlinck wished to join the
French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...
, but his application was denied due to his age. He and Leblanc decided to leave Grasse for a villa near
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...
, where he spent the next decade of his life. He gave speeches on the bravery of the Belgian people and placed the blame upon all Germans for the war. Although his patriotism and his indifference to the harm he was doing to his standing in Germany do him credit, his reputation as a great sage who stood above current affairs was damaged by his political involvement. While in Nice he wrote ''The Mayor of Stilmonde'' (1918), which the American press quickly labeled a "Great War Play", and which became a British film in 1929. He also wrote ''The Betrothal'' ( fr , Les Fiançailles, 1922), 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, where
Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...
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 the Bee''. After reading the first few pages Goldwyn burst out of his office, exclaiming: "My God! The hero is a bee!" After 1920 Maeterlinck ceased to contribute significantly to the theatre, but continued to produce essays on his favourite themes of occultism, ethics and natural history. The international demand for these fell off sharply after the early 1920s, but his sales in France remained substantial until the late 1930s. Dahon gave birth to a stillborn child in 1925.


Plagiarism

In 1926 Maeterlinck published ''La Vie des Termites'' (translated into English as ''The Life of Termites'' or ''The Life of White Ants''), an
entomological Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
book that
plagiarised Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...
the book ''The Soul of the (White) Ant'', by the Afrikaner poet and scientist
Eugène Marais Eugène Nielen Marais (; 9 January 1871 – 29 March 1936) was a South African lawyer, naturalist, poet and writer. He has been hailed as an intellectual genius and an Afrikaner hero. His early years, before and during the Boer War Marais w ...
, David Bignell, in his inaugural address as Professor of Zoology at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
(2003), called Maeterlinck's work "a classic example of academic plagiarism". Marais accused Maeterlinck of having appropriated Marais' concept of the "organic unity" of the termite nest in his book. Marais had published his ideas on termite nests in the South African Afrikaans-language press, in ''
Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with ''Beeld'' and ''Volksblad'', it ...
'' (January 1923) and in '' Huisgenoot'', which featured a series of articles on termites under the title "Die Siel van die Mier" (The Soul of the (White) Ant) from 1925 to 1926. Maeterlinck's book, with almost identical content, was published in 1926. It is conjectured that Maeterlinck had come across Marais' articles while writing his book, and that it would have been easy for him to translate Afrikaans into French, since Maeterlinck knew Dutch and had already made several translations from Dutch into French. V. E. d'Assonville, ''Eugene Marais and the Waterberg'', Marnix, 2008, pp. 53–54. It was common at the time, moreover, for worthy articles published in Afrikaans to be reproduced in Flemish and Dutch magazines and journals. Marais wrote in a letter to Dr. Winifred de Kock in London about Maeterlinck that
The famous author had paid me the left-handed compliment of cribbing the most important part of my work ... He clearly desired his readers to infer that he had arrived at certain of my theories (the result of ten years of hard labour in the veld) by his own unaided reason, although he admits that he never saw a termite in his life. You must understand that it was not merely plagiarism of the spirit of a thing, so to speak. He has copied page after page verbally.
Supported by a coterie of
Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cast ...
Nationalist friends, Marais sought justice through the South African press and attempted an international lawsuit. This was to prove financially impossible and the case was not pursued. All the same, he gained a measure of renown as the aggrieved party and as an Afrikaner researcher who had opened himself up to plagiarism because he published in
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...
out of nationalistic loyalty. Marais brooded at the time of the scandal: "I wonder whether Maeterlinck blushes when he reads such things ritical acclaim and whether he gives a thought to the injustice he does to the unknown
Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...
worker?" Maeterlinck's own words in ''The Life of Termites'' indicate that the possible discovery or accusation of plagiarism worried him:
It would have been easy, in regard to every statement, to allow the text to bristle with footnotes and references. In some chapters there is not a sentence but would have clamoured for these; and the letterpress would have been swallowed up by vast masses of comment, like one of those dreadful books we hated so much at school. There is a short bibliography at the end of the volume which will no doubt serve the same purpose.
Whatever Maeterlinck's misgivings at the time of writing, the bibliography he refers to does not include Eugène Marais. Professor V. E. d'Assonville referred to Maeterlinck as "the Nobel Prize winner who had never seen a termite in his whole life and had never put a foot on the soil of Africa, least of all in the Waterberg".
Robert Ardrey Robert Ardrey (October 16, 1908 – January 14, 1980) was an American playwright, screenwriter and science writer perhaps best known for ''The Territorial Imperative'' (1966). After a Broadway and Hollywood career, he returned to his academic tr ...
, an admirer of Eugène Marais, attributed Marais' later suicide to this act of plagiarism and theft of intellectual property by Maeterlinck, although Marais' biographer, Leon Rousseau, suggested that Marais had enjoyed and even thrived on the controversy the attention it generated. Another allegation of plagiarism concerned Maeterlinck's play ''Monna Vanna'', which was said to have been based on
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...
's little-known play ''Luria''.


Later life

In 1930 he bought a
château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...
in Nice, France, and named it ''Orlamonde'', a name occurring in his work ''Quinze Chansons''. He was made a count by Albert I, King of the Belgians in 1932. According to an article published in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1940, he arrived in the United States from
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
on the Greek Liner ''Nea Hellas''. He had fled to Lisbon in order to escape the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
invasion of both Belgium and France. While in Portugal, he stayed in Monte Estoril, at the Grande Hotel, between 27 July and 17 August 1939. The ''Times'' quoted him as saying, "I knew that if I was captured by the Germans I would be shot at once, since I have always been counted as an enemy of Germany because of my play, ''The Mayor of Stilmonde,'' which dealt with the conditions in Belgium during the German Occupation of 1918." As with his earlier visit to America, he still found Americans too casual, friendly and Francophilic for his taste. He returned to Nice after the war on 10 August 1947. He was President of
PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
, the worldwide association of writers, from 1947 until 1949. In 1948, the
French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
awarded him the Medal for the French Language. He died in Nice on 6 May 1949 after suffering a heart attack.


Honours

* 1920: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold. * 1932: Created Count Maeterlinck, by Royal Decree. However, he neglected fulfilling the necessary paper work for registration and the creation was not implemented.


Static drama

Maeterlinck's posthumous reputation depends entirely on his early plays (published between 1889 and 1894), which created a new style of dialogue, extremely lean and spare, where what is suggested is more important than what is said. The characters have no foresight, and only a limited understanding of themselves or the world around them. That the characters stumble into tragedy without realizing where they are going may suggest that Maeterlinck thought of man as powerless against the forces of fate, but the kinship is not with ancient Greek tragedy but with modern dramatists such as Beckett and Pinter who bring out human vulnerability in a world beyond our comprehension. Maeterlinck believed that any actor, due to the hindrance of physical mannerisms and expressions, would inadequately portray the
symbolic Symbolic may refer to: * Symbol, something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity Mathematics, logic, and computing * Symbolic computation, a scientific area concerned with computing with mathematical formulas * Symbolic dynam ...
figures of his plays. He concluded that
marionette A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...
s were an excellent alternative. Guided by strings operated by a puppeteer, Maeterlinck considered marionettes an excellent representation of fate's complete control over man. He wrote '' Interior'', ''
The Death of Tintagiles ''The Death of Tintagiles'' (french: La Mort de Tintagiles) is an 1894 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. It was Maeterlinck's last play for marionettes. Maeterlinck dedicated the play to Aurélien Lugné-Poe, a theatre director wh ...
'', and ''Alladine and Palomides'' for marionette theatre. From this, he gradually developed his notion of the "static drama." He felt that it was the artist's responsibility to create something that did not express human emotions but rather the external forces that compel people. Maeterlinck once wrote that "the stage is a place where works of art are extinguished. ... Poems die when living people get into them." He explained his ideas on the static drama in his essay "The Tragic in Daily Life" (1896), which appeared in '' The Treasure of the Humble''. The actors were to speak and move as if pushed and pulled by an external force, fate as puppeteer. They were not to allow the stress of their inner emotions to compel their movements. Maeterlinck would often continue to refer to his cast of characters as "marionettes." Maeterlinck's conception of modern
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
rejects the intrigue and vivid external action of traditional drama in favour of a dramatisation of different aspects of life: He cites a number of classical Athenian tragedies—which, he argues, are almost motionless and which diminish psychological action to pursue an interest in "the individual, face to face with the universe"—as precedents for his conception of static drama; these include most of the works of
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
and
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
' ''
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
'', ''
Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., ...
'', ''
Oedipus at Colonus ''Oedipus at Colonus'' (also ''Oedipus Coloneus''; grc, Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ, ''Oidipous epi Kolōnōi'') is the last of the three Theban plays of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles. It was written shortly before Sophocles's ...
'', and ''
Philoctetes Philoctetes ( grc, Φιλοκτήτης ''Philoktētēs''; English pronunciation: , stressed on the third syllable, ''-tet-''), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea in Thessaly, and Demonassa ...
''. With these plays, he claims:


Maeterlinck in music

'' Pelléas and Mélisande'' inspired several musical compositions at the turn of the 20th century: * 1897: a suite for orchestra by
William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...
: '' Pelleas and Melisande'' * 1898: an orchestral suite (sometimes described as
incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...
) by
Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...
See: '' Pelléas et Mélisande (Fauré)'' (Op. 80) * 1893–1902: an opera by
Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...
(L. 88, Paris), see ''
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera) ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (''Pelléas and Mélisande'') is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolism (arts), symbolist play Pelléas and Mélisande, of the same name. ...
'' * 1902–1903: a
symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...
by
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
(Op. 5) * 1905: incidental music by
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
(Op. 46), see '' Pelléas et Mélisande (Sibelius)'' Other musical works based on Maeterlinck's plays include: * ''Aglavaine and Sélysette'' ** orchestral prelude by
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...
** orchestral overture by
Cyril Scott Cyril Meir Scott (27 September 1879 – 31 December 1970) was an English composer, writer, poet, and occultist. He created around four hundred musical compositions including piano, violin, cello concertos, symphonies, and operas. He also wrot ...
* ''Aladina and Palomid'' ** opera by Burghauser ** opera by
Osvald Chlubna Osvald Chlubna (July 22, 1893 in Brno – October 30, 1971 in Brno) was a prominent Czech composer. Intending originally to study engineering, Chlubna switched his major and from 1914 to 1924, he studied composition with Leoš Janáček. Until 1953 ...
** opera by
Emil František Burian Emil František Burian (11 June 1904 – 9 August 1959) was a Czech poet, journalist, singer, actor, musician, composer, dramatic adviser, playwright and director. He was also active in Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politics. Early life an ...
* '' Ariane et Barbe-bleue'' ** opera in 3 acts by
Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...
** incidental music by
Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov (russian: Анато́лий Никола́евич Алекса́ндров) (, Moscow – April 16, 1982, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian composer of works for piano and for other instruments, and pianist. His ...
* ''The Betrothal'' ** incidental music by Armstrong Gibbs * '' The Blind'' ** opera by
Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 201 ...
** chamber opera ''Ślepcy'' by Polish composer Jan Astriab after Maeterlinck's ''Les aveugles'' ** opera by Lera Auerbach * ''The Death of Tintagiles'' ** symphonic poem by Charles Martin Loeffler ** incidental music by
Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
** opera by
Lawrance Collingwood Lawrance Arthur Collingwood CBE (14 March 1887 – 19 December 1982) was an English conductor, composer and record producer. Career Collingwood was born in London and attended Westminster Choir School, beginning his musical career as a choirboy ...
** overture by
Carse In Scottish geography, a Carse (the modern form of older Scots ; Scottish Gaelic or ) is an area of fertile, low-lying (typically alluvial) land occupying certain Scottish river valleys, such as that of the River Forth. Carse of Forth The ...
** opera by Nougues ** symphonic poem by Santoliquido ** orchestral prelude by Voormolen * '' Herzgewächse'' (Foliages of the Heart) ** ''Lied'' for soprano with small ensemble by
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
* ''Monna Vanna'' ** opera in 3 acts by Emil Ábrányi ** ''
Monna Vanna ''Monna Vanna'' (russian: Монна Ванна) is an unfinished opera by Sergei Rachmaninoff after a play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Rachmaninoff had completed Act I in short vocal score, with piano accompaniment, and then he went to ask for permiss ...
'', opera in 4 acts by
Henry Février Henry Février (2 October 18756 July 1957) was a French composer. Biography Henry Février was born in Paris, France, on 2 October 1875. He married and had a son, the pianist Jacques Février. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his ...
** ''
Monna Vanna ''Monna Vanna'' (russian: Монна Ванна) is an unfinished opera by Sergei Rachmaninoff after a play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Rachmaninoff had completed Act I in short vocal score, with piano accompaniment, and then he went to ask for permiss ...
'', unfinished opera by
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
** opera in 4 acts by Nicolae Brânzeu * '' L'oiseau bleu'' ** opera by Albert Wolff ** 13 scenes for orchestra by Fritz Hart ** incidental music by Leslie Heward ** incidental music by Engelbert Humperdinck ** overture by Kricka ** incidental music by
Norman O'Neill Norman Houston O'Neill (14 March 1875 – 3 March 1934) was an English composer and conductor of Irish background who specialised largely in works for the theatre. Life O'Neill was born at 16 Young Street in Kensington, London, the youngest son ...
** incidental music by Szeligowski * ''Princess Maleine'' **
overture Overture (from French language, French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Be ...
by Pierre de Bréville ** overture by
Cyril Scott Cyril Meir Scott (27 September 1879 – 31 December 1970) was an English composer, writer, poet, and occultist. He created around four hundred musical compositions including piano, violin, cello concertos, symphonies, and operas. He also wrot ...
** unfinished opera (or incidental music) by Lili Boulanger ** incidental music by Maximilian Steinberg * ''The Seven Princesses'' ** incidental music by Pierre de Bréville ** opera by Vassili Vassilievitch Netchaïev * ''Sœur Beatrice'' ** opera by
Alexander Grechaninov Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲin� ...
** chorus by
Anatoly Liadov Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (russian: Анато́лий Константи́нович Ля́дов; ) was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor. Biography Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, into a family of eminent Russian ...
** opera ''Sor Beatriu'' by Antoni Marquès i Puig ** opera by Dmitri Mitropoulos ** opera by Rasse (composer) ** incidental music by
Erkki Melartin Erkki Gustaf Melartin (7 February 1875, Käkisalmi – 14 February 1937, Helsinki) was a Finnish composer, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. Melartin is generally considered to be one of Finland's most sign ...
* ''Intérieur'' ** opera by
Giedrius Kuprevičius Giedrius Antanas Kuprevičius (born April 8, 1944 in Kaunas) is a Lithuanian composer and music educator. Life Giedrius Kuprevičius graduated from Prof. Eduardas Balsys' composition class at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in 1968. From 1966 to ...


Works


Poetry

* ''Serres chaudes'' (1889) * ''Douze chansons'' (1896) * ''Quinze chansons'' (expanded version of ''Douze chansons'') (1900)


Drama

* ''La Princesse Maleine'' ('' Princess Maleine'') (published 1889) * ''L'Intruse'' (''
Intruder Intruder may refer to: Film and television * ''The Intruder'' (1914 film), directed by Wallace Reid * ''The Intruder'' (1933 film), an American film by Albert Ray * ''The Intruder'' (1939 film), ''La intrusa'', an Argentine film by Julio Sa ...
'') (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) * ''Intérieur'' ('' Interior'') (published 1894; first performed 15 March 1895) * ''La Mort de Tintagiles'' (''
The Death of Tintagiles ''The Death of Tintagiles'' (french: La Mort de Tintagiles) is an 1894 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. It was Maeterlinck's last play for marionettes. Maeterlinck dedicated the play to Aurélien Lugné-Poe, a theatre director wh ...
'') (published 1894) * ''Aglavaine et Sélysette'' (first performed December 1896) * ''Ariane et Barbe-bleue'' (''Ariane and Bluebeard'') (first published in German translation, 1899) * ''Soeur Béatrice'' (''Sister Beatrice'') (published 1901) * ''Monna Vanna'' (first performed May 1902; published the same year) * ''Joyzelle'' (first performed 20 May 1903; published the same year) * ''Le Miracle de saint Antoine'' (''The Miracle of Saint Antony'') (first performed in German translation, 1904) * ''L'Oiseau bleu'' ('' The Blue Bird'') (first performed 30 September 1908) * ''Marie-Magdeleine'' (''
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...
'') (first performed in German translation, February 1910; staged and published in French, 1913) * ''Le Bourgmestre de Stilmonde'' (first performed in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, 1918; an English translation was performed in Edinburgh in 1918; published 1919) * ''Les Fiançailles'' (published 1922) * ''Le Malheur passe'' (published 1925) * ''La Puissance des morts'' (published 1926) * ''Berniquel'' (published 1926) * ''Marie-Victoire'' (published 1927) * ''Judas de Kerioth'' (published 1929) * ''La Princess Isabelle'' (published 1935) * ''Jeanne d'Arc'' (''Joan of Arc'') (published 1948) * '' L'Abbé Sétubal'' (published 1959) * ''Les Trois Justiciers'' (published 1959) * ''Le Jugement dernier'' (published 1959) * ''Le Miracle des mères'' (first published in book form 2006)


Essays

* ''Le Trésor des humbles'' ('' The Treasure of the Humble'') (1896) * ''La sagesse et la destinée'' (''Wisdom and Destiny'') (1898) * ''La Vie des abeilles'' (''The Life of the Bee'') (1901) * ''Le temple enseveli'' (''The Buried Temple'') (1902) * ''Le Double Jardin'' (''The Double Garden'', a collection of sixteen essays) (1904) * ''L'Intelligence des fleurs'' (''The Intelligence of Flowers'') (1907) * ''La Mort'' (''Our Eternity'', first published in English, incomplete version entitled ''Death'', 1911; in enlarged and complete version in original French, 1913) * ''L'Hôte inconnu'' (first published in English translation, 1914; in original French, 1917) * ''Les Débris de la guerre'' (1916) * ''Le grand secret'' (''The Great Secret'') (Fasquelle, 1921;
Bernard Miall (Arthur) Bernard Miall (1876-1953) was a British translator and publisher's reader. Life Arthur Bernard Miall was born in Croydon in 1876. He published a poem in the '' Yellow Book'' in 1897, and published a couple of volumes of poetry in the 189 ...
trans., 1922) * ''La Vie des termites'' (''The Life of Termites'') (1926) Plagiarized version of ''Die Siel van die Mier'' (The Soul of the White Ant) by Eugene Marais (1925) * ''La Vie de l'espace'' (''The Life of Space'') (1928) * ''La Grande Féerie'' (1929) * ''La Vie des fourmis'' (''The Life of the Ant'') (1930) * ''L'Araignée de verre'' (1932) * ''Avant le grand silence'' (''Before the Great Silence'') (1934) * ''L'Ombre des ailes'' (''The Shadow of Wings'') (1936) * ''Devant Dieu'' (1937) * ''La Grande Porte'' (1938) * ''L'Autre Monde ou le cadran stellaire'' (''The Other World, or The Star System'') (1941)


Memoirs

*''Bulles bleues'' (1948)


Translations

*''Le Livre des XII béguines'' and ''L'Ornement des noces spirituelles'', translated from the Flemish of Ruusbroec (1885) *''L'Ornement des noces spirituelles de Ruysbroeck l'admirable'' (1891) *''Annabella'', an adaptation of
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's ''
'Tis Pity She's a Whore ''Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (original spelling: ''Tis Pitty Shee's a Who'' 'ore'') is a tragedy written by John Ford. It was first performed or between 1629 and 1633, by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first publ ...
'' (performed 1894) *''Les Disciples à Saïs'' and ''Fragments de Novalis'' from the German of
Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (), was a German polymath who was a writer, philosopher, poet, aristocrat and mystic. He is regarded as an idiosyncratic and influential figure o ...
, together with an ''Introduction'' by Maeterlinck on Novalis and German Romanticism (1895) *Translation and adaptation of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' (performed 1909)


See also

* The 100th anniversary of Maurice Maeterlinck's greatest contemporary success, his play '' The Blue Bird'', was selected as the main motif of a high-value collectors' coin: the Belgian 50 euro Maurice Maeterlinck commemorative coin, minted in 2008. *
Belgian literature Because modern Belgium is a multilingual country,Dutch, French and German are legally the three official languages in Belgium, seeBelgium, European Union/ref> Belgian literature is often treated as a branch of French literature or Dutch literatur ...
*''Le Bourgmestre de Stilmonde'' (The Burgomaster of Stilemond) was translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos and performed several times in Britain between 1918–1927.


Notes


References


Further reading

* W. L. Courtney, ''The Development of M. Maeterlinck'' (London, 1904) * M. J. Moses, ''Maurice Maeterlinck: A Study'' (New York, 1911) * * E. Thomas, ''Maurice Maeterlinck'', (New York, 1911) * J. Bethell, ''The life and Works of Maurice Maeterlinck'' (New York, 1913) * Archibald Henderson, ''European Dramatists'' (Cincinnati, 1913) * E. E. Slosson, ''Major Prophets of To-Day'' (Boston, 1914) * G. F. Sturgis, ''The Psychology of Maeterlinck as Shown in his Dramas'' (Boston, 1914) * P. McGuinness, "Maeterlinck and the making of Modern Theatre" (Oxford, 2000)


External links

* The Social Significance of Modern Drama; Monna Vanna
Analysis of the play by Maurice Maeterlinck
* * *
Works by Maurice Maeterlinck
at
The Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several f ...
*
List of Works
* Transcript of th


Video clips from four different productions of Maeterlinck's works


* ttp://pen-international.org/ PEN International* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeterlinck, Maurice 1862 births 1949 deaths Writers from Ghent Belgian fantasy writers Belgian male dramatists and playwrights Belgian Nobel laureates Belgian poets in French Counts of Belgium Ghent University alumni Modernist theatre Nobel laureates in Literature People involved in plagiarism controversies Symbolist dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century Belgian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Belgian poets 20th-century Belgian poets Belgian male poets Belgian essayists Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique