Publication details
Císařův mim Václava Renče: K ideové kostře dramatu
| Title in English | The Emperor’s Mime by Václav Renč: On the Ideological Frame of the Drama |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Studia Słowianoznawcze |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Mass media, audiovision |
| Keywords | Czech literature; the period of the Protectorate; sacred and philosophical drama; Václav Renč; The Emperor’s Mime; analysis |
| Description | The work by Václav Renč (1911–1973), a poet, dramatist and translator, who was sent for a political trial and condemned in the fifties, remains to be undervalued to this day. The study is focused on his best-known play called The Emperor’s Mime (1944). This sacred and philosophical drama about the nature of the human existence is inspired by Lope de Vega’s drama about a Christian martyr, actor Genesius, who was executed by the emperor Dioklecián. Renč’s play deals with a personal maturation and change of the mime Genesius and his conflict of opinions with the emperor, especially. At the same time, he solves a question whether life is based on an invariable order or it is rather full of constant changes. He also touches the relation of life to art. The weak point of the drama is that female characters are not psychologically well worked-out. Nevertheless, it is possible to say that The Emperor’s Mime was not only an important culture event of the time of protectorate but it is also still a valuable and inspiring work of art. |