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Imre Madách published an interesting narrative in a poem. He completed the work of “Tragedy of Man” during his temporary stay in prison, but his work is now an important piece in the Hungarian theatres. The poem contains fifteen scenes including ten historical periods.
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Author: Imre Madách
Genre: a dramatic poem
Pages: 4000 lines about 300 pages
Good reads rating: 4.2 of 5
My Ratings: 7 of 10
Published: 1862
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Language: English
For The Latest Price: The Tragedy of Man
***Warning Spoilers Below This Point***
As a representation of human essence and race and its relation with God and Satan, this is one of the most interesting representations of human psychology. Satan disobeys God and becomes expelled from the Kingdom of God, but Satan grants two wishes that are Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Immortality. Lucifer uses the pride of Adam and the vanity of Eve to entail their expulsion from the heavens. This is the common creationist story within the Abrahamic faith, but this novel has a lot more to say.
Now, the story shifts to Lucifer and Adam when Lucifer puts Adam to sleep and they go on a journey of time. The first visit to ancient Egypt and the cruelty on the slaves during those periods. Here, Adam falls in love with a slave-girl Eve. Adam then asks Lucifer to see a world full of equality and Satan takes him to democratic Greece. He goes through many periods and in each period; he considers previous dreams unwinnable and Eve appears just in time to please Adam and refresh him.
The main role is that of an Adam, and in each dream, Satan acts as his servant. Eve’s character is superficial, and she comes within a historical role but very less often. Adam visits Greece, Rome, Prague, and many other historical places. Eve comes in unique roles such as someone’s wife, a prostitute, a convicted criminal, and many other roles. Adam also attains the role of a King and sometimes the role of a common man with relevance to the period.
He predicted some important events shortly after the writing of this dramatic poem. They published the novel in the 19th century and it clearly expressed the future of Communism in this story. They also show Adam and Eve in space displaying a kind of perception about the scientific nature of the future. At last, it mentions the Ice Age too in the future. Adam then loses all faith in life and wishes to kill himself hopelessly, but then Eve comes and happily announces that she is pregnant. Adam falls on his knees and tells that God has defeated him and the Satan rebukes. Then God wants him to live and strive with pan and have faith in God.
This dramatic poem presents a well-written story and comprises 15 beautiful scenes performed in theatres as well. This poem depicts the life and tragedies of a man perfectly. It receives my ratings of 7 out of 10. Would I re-read this poem? No. Am I glad I read it? Yes.
For The Latest Price: The Tragedy of Man
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