Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man

This emblematic drama by a classic of Hungarian literature seeks to answer the eternal question of the meaning of human life. Instead, it finds hope in man's will to persist in new and new generations. The Philosophical Play is a mature work by an author whose previous dramatic works were rather mediocre. However, in a tragedy lasting more than four hours, Madách created a monumental work in the context of European drama. It turns to earlier dramas whose authors addressed the great philosophical questions of mankind in allegorical and symbolic form, tried to find the meaning of human history and define man's journey through history as the result of a higher purpose. Formally, the play is reminiscent of Goethe's Faust and is based on the biblical story of the wager made between the Lord and Satan for the soul of Adam's great-grandfather. Madách allows the dreaming Adam to live through the previous human history in different periods and incarnations.