Things are moving quite a bit this week. We go from the Russia of the middle of the XIXe century to revolutionary Paris, passing through the Switzerland of the immediate post-war period.
Wednesday: in the wild animal cage
Carried away by typhus in 1837, at the age of 23, Georg Büchner nevertheless found the time to publish a thesis on the nervous system of the barbel. Plus, what interests us more, three plays: “la Mort de Danton”, “Léonce et Léna”, “Woyzeck”. And a short story: “Lenz”. Four texts of dazzling beauty. We regret all the more that, no doubt for fear of a police search, Wilhelmine Jäglé, his fiancée, threw his drama “Pierre l’Arétin” into the fire, as well as several other manuscripts. It is true that Büchner’s political writings smelled of sulfur. This blaster clearly called the peasants to insurrection. “The Hessian Messenger”, the clandestine newspaper he had founded, bore as an epigraph: “Peace in the cottages, war in the castles”. Extensive program.
The strange thing is that at the very moment when he foments the revolution, Büchner composes “The Death of Danton”, which gives the French Revolution a very unfavorable image. It was probably not his original intention, but, wanting to be a historian as well as a playwright, he seriously researched before writing the play. Twenty percent of the speeches delivered are authentic. Thus, respect for
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