Theatre
The Fourth Commandment
Das vierte Gebot
Ludwig Anzengruber · 1877
Opening lines
Schön
'n Bast!
Some bast!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
In the houses of a Vienna suburb, families of various conditions raise their children each in their own way. The landlord Hutterer and his wife marry off their daughter Hedwig according to their own views; in the home of the craftsman Schalanter, ruined and prone to drink, the children Martin and Josefa grow up without guidance. From these upbringings arises the question that the title turns around: the commandment orders one to honour one's father and mother, but what do parents owe their children?
Context
Premiered on 29 December 1877 at the Theater in der Josefstadt, the play was published the following year by Rosner, in Vienna. Anzengruber, whose earlier plays were set mostly in villages and small towns, moves the stage in it to the suburbs of the capital and makes of a question of morals, the authority of parents, the matter of a drama. Encyclopaedias class it among the problem plays. An English translation of it appeared in 1912.
Who it is for
Four acts in Viennese dialect, of a darkness that surprises in an author best known for his popular comedies.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as an early example of naturalism; adapted for the screen in 1950 by Eduard von Borsody.
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