PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS OF E.-E. SCHMITT’S DRAMA

Abstract

The philosophical foundation of Eric Emanuel Schmitt’s works, the issues of his plays The Hotel Between Two Worlds, Einstein’s Betrayal, and The Guest are investigated in the article. The topics of awareness of death, and the value of life, which are presented as one of the main universal worldview models, acquire a philosophical understanding. The topic of pacifism, the relativity of war and peace, and the theme of war and persecution of the Jewish people are easily interpreted. The author’s position is implemented in character dialogues, and narration, which is a manifestation of the epic nature of the plays. The value of human life and individual responsibility for his/her life is of interest in the play The Hotel Between Two Worlds. This awareness and understanding often come in a situation between life and death. Thus, the author presents the characters as quite engaging: from puppets and shadows to real people, but already beyond the limit of ordinary life. The Hotel Between Two Worlds also presents an unusual approach to the character system: transforming a cardboard dummy through animation and realization into an image, often a caricature. Philosophical understanding of the problem of freedom of choice, war and peace, and pacifism as a worldview guideline is presented in the play Einstein’s Betrayal. These ontological problems are understood by the author through the prism of collective and individual responsibility for the fate of mankind. Faith as an ontological concept, mystical and real at the same time, the relationship between man and God, and people among themselves during the war years are of interest to E.-E. Schmitt in the play The Guest. There is a dialogue between God and a person who is so eager to know him and at the same time violates God’s commandments. The author implements the indicated problems in an unusual form of dialogue organization, epicness of the plays, novel interspersions, and a symbolic system. The fixation of the place of action, dialogue not as a way of communication, but a genre variety in the play Einstein’s Betrayal are complemented by time and space, transformed remarks that change the relationship between the main and secondary text, their unusual design, which contributes to the philosophical understanding of the work. The stage design complements and reveals the philosophical problem of Einstein’s struggles with himself, his doubts and his ideas. The deistic nature of human existence is the basis of the philosophical problems of the play The Guest, which provides a discourse of modern history with the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Epic elements of the play, such as a fairy tale, a parable, a philosophical novel, and a dialogue as a genre become specific features of the work. They help to reveal its philosophical depth and issues.