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''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by
Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...
, set during the French Revolution.


History

Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
and Realism in the so-called
Vormärz ' (; English: ''pre-March'') was a period in the history of Germany preceding the 1848 March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation. The beginning of the period is less well-defined. Some place the starting point directly after ...
era in German history and literature (1815/1830-1848). The goal of the politically liberal poets of this period was that literature of a sham existence would again become an effective organ for renewing political and social life. They were opposed to the Romantics and against the restoration of the old order from prior to the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. They fought against convention, feudalism and absolutism, campaigned for freedom of speech, the emancipation of the individual, including women and Jews, and for a democratic constitution. They created a trend-poetry and time-poetry – in other words, poetry that dealt with problems of the time and with a commitment to liberal political ideas. Other writers of this trend and period were
Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...
(author of ''Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen'' and ''Atta Troll. Ein Sommernachtstraum''),
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
(author of ''Faust'' and ''Erlkönig'') and Franz Grillparzer (author of ''Weh dem, der lügt''). Büchner was in constant fear of being arrested whilst writing ''Dantons Tod''. It only reached print in 1835 after being heavily cut and having the politics softened by sexual innuendo. Research for the play started in late 1834 and he completed a first version of the complete script in five weeks from mid-January to mid-February 1835. The same year saw a version published by Karl Gutzkow in the ''Literatur-Blatt'' of Eduard Duller's ''Phönix. Frühlings-Zeitung für Deutschland'' and a book-version in Johann David Sauerländer's Phönix-Verlag, including both the original and Duller's version and giving them the subtitle ''Dramatic Scenes from France's reign of terror'' to appease the censor. This makes it the only one of Büchner's plays to be published in his lifetime, albeit in a heavily censored version. For a long time, no theatre dared stage the play; it did not receive its premiere until 1902, long after Büchner's death. This occurred on 5 January, at the Belle-Alliance-Theater in Berlin, in a production by the Vereins Neue Freie Volksbühne.


Analysis

Its use of numerous historical sources and extensive quotations from original political speeches meant that the play was seen in the 20th century as the precursor to documentary theatre. Until 1979 no one had explored the themes and inner connections within Büchner's work between Eros and Violence systematically – that year saw Reinhold Grimm treat it in ''text und kritik, Georg Büchner'', and it was continued in the present ''Georg Büchner Jahrbuch 11'' (2005–2008).


Plot summary

The play follows the story of Georges Danton, a leader of the French Revolution, during the lull between the first and second terrors. Georges Danton created the office of the Revolutionary Tribunal as a strong arm for the Revolutionary Government. With this, to be accused of anything real or imagined was to be condemned to death without trial, proofs, evidence or witnesses. Within months he knew this power was a terrible mistake and fought to have it ended.
Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...
stopped him and used the Tribunal to have Danton and all opposition killed, consolidate his power and slaughter uncounted thousands of French men, women, and children. Ultimately he followed Danton to the guillotine. Witnesses describe Danton as dying bravely comforting other innocents executed with him.


Second act

Danton's friends press him to fight or flee Robespierre's supporters, but Danton does not see any need to do so and does not believe that the French National Convention will dare to act against him. Danton confides the guilt he feels for the September Massacres in his wife Julie. Danton is imprisoned and led before the National Assembly, which is divided – it feels it has no choice but to acquit him. However, Robespierre and Saint-Just reverse its opinion.


Third act

The prisoners discuss the existence of God and life, and an attempt to prove that God does not exist fails. Danton's supporters are transferred to the
Conciergerie The Conciergerie () () is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also included ...
. During this time the revolutionary tribunal arranges for its jury to be made up of honest and faithful men. Danton appears confidently before the tribunal, impressing the public with his willingness for justice to be done. Seeing the hearers' sympathy for Danton, the court is adjourned. The tribunal's members invent a plot to change the public's mind. At the tribunal's second sitting, the people stop supporting Danton, due to his lifestyle. Danton's liberal programme is revealed as unacceptable to the masses.


Fourth act

Danton and his supporters are condemned to death. Danton and his friend Camille Desmoulins exchange thoughts on life and death. Danton's wife Julie, who has pledged to be loyal to him beyond death, poisons herself at their home. The people show themselves to be curious and ironic on Danton's way to the scaffold. When Lucile Desmoulins sees her husband Camille mount the scaffold, she goes mad and resolves to die too, crying "Long live the king!" and thus guaranteeing her own death sentence.


Characters


Georges Danton

He is portrayed as a man, at his ease, with innate hedonism, with respect for the recent successes of the Revolution but doubts as to its other objectives. The atmosphere around Danton is marked by wine, gaming and easy women. This is contrary to the realities of the revolution, characterised by poverty, begging, drunkenness and prostitution (1.5). Danton was once poor and owes his current wealth to a gift from the Duke of Orleans, who tried to bribe his way to the French throne and gave Danton a gift as part of this attempt (S. 74, Z. 1–13). Danton is also portrayed as a hero who stands up against Robespierre's unnecessary killings (Einfach Deutsch; S. 73, Z. 9–12): ''You want bread and he throws out heads. You thirst and he leads you to the guillotine to lick up the blood.'' He even takes his premature death as inevitable, with a death wish: ''Life is evidently a burden to me, please take it away from me, I long to be there to take it off'' (S. 60, Z. 13–14). Danton has a strong bond of love to his wife Julie, without whom he will not die.


Maximilien Robespierre

He is shown as recognising the plight of the people, who admire him as "virtuous" and "the incorruptible". Even he is not always virtuous, as is already visible at the start of the play in his conversation with Danton. Robespierre is accused of killing people in order to distract from the ongoing famine. He is presented both as a man with a social conscience and as one who moves against Danton to convince the people of their own power. Other revolutionaries describe Robespierre's policy as that of a terrorist.


Others

* Louis Legendre, Camille Desmoulins, Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, Lacroix, Philippeau – Dantonist deputies in the National Convention * St Just, Bertrand Barère,
Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois (; 19 June 1749 – 8 June 1796) was a French actor, dramatist, essayist, and revolutionary. He was a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror and, while he saved Madame Tussaud from the ...
– members of the
Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General D ...
*Julie – Danton's wife * Lucile Desmoulins – Camille Desmoulins's wife *Paris – Danton's friend *Marion – a prostitute


Adaptations

*It was the basis for the 1921 German
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
'' Danton'' directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Emil Jannings as Danton. *It was adapted as an opera by Gottfried von Einem, in a work also titled '' Dantons Tod'' and premiered in 1947 at the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
. New Sussex Opera gave the British premiere at the Brighton Festival in 1997. *It was "freely adapted" (incorporating some material from Büchner's '' Woyzeck'') for a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
''Play of the Month'' in 1978 by Stuart Griffiths and director Alan Clarke, with Norman Rodway as Danton and Ian Richardson as Robespierre. *It was adapted by the English playwright
Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter, often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, and David Hare. Early years Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, so ...
in 1982 as ''Danton's Death'', using a translation by Brenton's wife, Jane Fry. *In 2010, Brenton created a new version of the play for a revival at the
Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
, directed by
Michael Grandage Michael Grandage Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1962) is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse ...
and starring Toby Stephens as Danton. *On 13 February 2011,
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
premiered a radio adaptation by Simon Scardifield, with Joseph Millson as Danton and Khalid Abdalla as Robespierre, directed by Jessica Dromgoole.


Bibliography

* Georg Büchner: ''Sämtliche Werke und Schriften''. Bd. 3 in 4 Teilbänden. Danton's Tod. Marburger Ausgabe. Hrsg. v. Burghard Dedner und Thomas Michael Mayer. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000. * Georg Büchner: ''Werke und Briefe''. Münchener Ausgabe. Hrsg. v. Karl Pörnbacher, Gerhard Schaub, Hans-Joachim Simm, Edda Ziegler. 8. Auflage. Hanser, München 2001, S.67–133. * Georg Büchner: ''Schriften und Briefe. Dokumente''. Hrsg. v. Henri Poschmann unter Mitarb. v. Rosemarie Poschmann. Bd. 1. Bibliothek Deutscher Klassiker. Bd 84. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1992, S.11–90. * Gerhard P. Knapp: ''Georg Büchner''. 3. Auflage. Metzler, Stuttgart 2000. * Georg Büchner: ''Dantons Tod''. Ausgabe mit Materialien, ausgewählt von Ulrich Staiger. Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 2007.


References


External links

*
''Dantons Tod'' Büchner's original text (in German)
{{Authority control 1835 plays Plays by Georg Büchner Plays set in the French Revolution Works about Georges Danton German plays adapted into films Plays adapted into operas Plays adapted into radio programs Biographical plays Cultural depictions of Maximilien Robespierre Cultural depictions of Thomas Paine