“Agnesa Bernauer” by Hebbel in brief
The action takes place between 1420 and 1430. The population of the free city of Augsburg looks forward to the knightly tournament, in which the Duke Albrecht of Bavaria himself, son of the ruler of Munich Ernst of Bavaria, participates. Everyone wants to get to this spectacle, they take places in advance. Agnes, the daughter of the famous barber in the city and the physician Kaspar Bernauer, is going to the tournament without any desire. She had already been visited by one of the girlfriends, who sent her confessor to apologize for the stupid gossip about Agnes. But the girlfriend does not want to apologize, “it’s better to kneel on peas”, because the attention of all knights will belong only to the barber’s daughter. In this case, everyone knows that Agnes always keeps her eyes lowered, like a “nun” or “holy” – yes, “not quite”. It is clear that every guy wants such a girl “
Agnese is sent to the tournament,
A lot of nobles and urban artisans gather at the festival. Albrecht forces his knights to find a girl whose “face is framed with golden curls”. Agnese appears accompanied by her father and, in response to the exquisite and magnificent appeal to her, the duke earnestly notices to his father that the duke has prepared a speech for his bride, and here he learns it, referring to the barber’s daughter. The Duke manages to say a few words to the girl in the absence of her father. He caught
A few minutes later, Albrecht is already explained in love to Agnese and asks her hands for Caspar. He reminds the duke that fifty years ago, for the mere appearance of the tournament, the girl would have been whipped as the daughter of a man from the lowest class. The situation has changed, but the class gap exists. The Duke assures us that after another fifty years of each such angel as Agnes, “they will honor the throne on earth,” and he himself sets an example first. Caspar takes the exhausted daughter.
In the morning, the knights discuss the situation, which for a divided into three parts of Bavaria can lead to a serious political problem. Albrecht is the only heir to the Duke of Ernst. Children from the marriage between Albrecht and Agnes, by their origin, can not claim the throne. The new division of the country will also be inevitable. The knights remind Albrecht of the father, for whom the state’s dynastic interests are above all else, he can deprive the son of the throne. But the duke can not be stopped.
Realizing that the daughter loves the duke, Caspar does not mind marriage, he counts on the prudence of Agnes and the nobility of Albrecht. Agnese wants to make sure that Albrecht will be happy with her, even if the Duke Ernst curse him. But Albrecht is already happy, he “looked” into the eyes and heart of Agnes. They swear in eternal fidelity and the three knights of Albrecht. However, they, like Agnes, do not leave bad forebodings.
Find a priest ready to marry a couple. The wedding takes place on the same evening in a small chapel, secretly. The next morning the duke takes Agnes to his castle in Foburg, presented to him by his deceased mother.
And in the Munich castle, the Duke Ernst bitterly recalls the former greatness of his country, lost by the insanities of some Bavarian princes. Ernst learned about the flight of his son’s bride and has already calculated which of the pledged cities can be redeemed for the money that the bride’s father will pay as a ransom. He heard rumors about the events in Augsburg, so, without taking it seriously, he immediately wooed his son to “the most beautiful bride in Germany,” Anna Braunschweig. The consent has already been received, and the duke is very pleased with this favorable union for Bavaria, which will put an end to the bloody strife. When Chancellor Preizing reports to him about the “secret engagement” of his son, the latter condescendingly notes that “with the hunt or not, immediately or not at once,” but the son will agree with the father.
Happy lovers accidentally find in their castle the jewels of Albrecht’s mother. Son against the wishes of Agnes puts on her a gold diadem – she looks like a real queen in her! But Agnes feels embarrassment and shame, because she appeared here uninvited and feels in the eyes of the old servants “stain” on their master.
Preising tells Albrecht about the meaning of the marriage alliance with Princess Anna. The Duke himself knows this, as well as the fact that his father’s plans can not be destroyed in order to immediately “not stir up half the world.” He considers himself entitled, like any mortal, to choose his own friend. Preising notices that the one who rules over millions of people “one day” must sacrifice them. But for Albrecht “once” is “hourly”, he does not want to give up happiness.
Albrecht goes to the tournament, assuring Agnes that only death can separate them. Before the tournament, the father once again asks his son whether he should be told to make an engagement with Anna. Albrecht refuses, noticing his father that he was in vain before him on his knees. He publicly announces that he bound himself by marriage to the “innocent and kind daughter of a city dweller from Augsburg”. In response, the Duke Ernst loudly announces that he is depriving the son of the crown and ducal mantle, which he left “at the altar,” and the throne heir declares a young Adolf.
Three and a half years pass. Adolf’s parents die. And here sounds a funeral bell for the prince himself. The servant informs Preizinga that the city is blamed for the whole “witch from Augsburg”. The Chancellor understands that the hard times have come. He gets into the hands of a document prepared immediately after the tournament in Regensburg by three judges. It says that Agnes, who is guilty of concluding a “non-conventional” marriage, “in order to avoid grave misfortunes,” the penalty is worthy. ” There is no signature of Ernst. The Duke is discussing this document with the Chancellor. Both understand that if the order of succession is violated, then sooner or later an internecine war is coming. Thousands of people will perish, the people will curse the Duke and the very memory of him. The chancellor is looking for exit options. But the duke counted everything, not excluding the attempts of suicide from his son, and a possible attempt to raise the sword to his father. Both feel it is terrible that a “beautiful and virtuous woman” must perish. But there is no way out, “God wants so, and not otherwise.” The Duke signs the document…
Albrecht drives off to another tournament. Learning about the death of the heir, he expects that his father now presented himself with the “honorary path to retreat,” and cheerfully bids farewell to his wife. She is tormented by vague premonitions.
In the absence of Albrecht, the numerically superior soldiers of Ernst managed to defeat the guard of the castle. Agnes, surrounded by frustrated servants, is taken to prison. Preizing comes to her, who tries to save the unhappy. He convinces Agnes to abandon Albrecht and “take a vow,” Otherwise, the death that awaits behind the threshold of the chamber, “knock at the door.” Agnes is afraid of death, but rejection of the husband is considered a betrayal. Albrecht would prefer to “mourn the deceased” – and Agnes goes to her death, confident of her rightness. The executioner refused to execute the execution, and on the orders of the judge one of the servants pushed Agnes from the bridge into the waters of the Danube. Burning villages burned by Albrecht, who fights with his father’s soldiers, revenge for the death of Agnes. His knights lead captured Ernst and Preising. On all charges of the son Ernst answers, that he was doing his duty. Albrecht tells him not to touch his father, because Agnes is not, and he has no one else to kill. Albrecht himself already draws the warriors to burn Munich. He is stopped by the words of his father, that even then the Bavarians will exactly curse the name of Agnes, and they could also mourn. The father begs the son to look into his own soul, acknowledge his sin and atone for guilt. And Agnes will be internationally recognized as his wife and “the purest of the victims ever brought to the altar of necessity.”
The last hesitation of Albrecht is appalling. But still he takes the ducal rod from the hands of his father. Duke Ernst goes to the monastery.
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