Nathan the Wise

Nathan the Wise
Recha Welcoming Her Father, 1877 illustration by Maurycy Gottlieb

Nathan the Wise (original German title: Nathan der Weise) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, published in 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. Its performance was forbidden by the church during Lessing's lifetime.

Set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, it describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened sultan Saladin and the (initially anonymous) Templar bridge their gaps between Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Its major themes are friendship, tolerance, relativism of God, a rejection of miracles and a need for communication.

Contents

Ring Parable

The centerpiece of the work is the Ring Parable (German: Ringparabel), narrated by Nathan when asked by Saladin which religion is true: An heirloom ring with the magical ability to render its owner pleasant in the eyes of God and mankind had been passed from father to the son he loved most. When it came to a father of three sons whom he loved equally, he promised it (in "pious weakness") to each of them. Looking for a way to keep his promise, he had two replicas made, which were indistinguishable from the original, and gave on his deathbed a ring to each of them.

The brothers quarrelled over who owned the real ring. A wise judge admonished them that it was impossible to tell at that time – that it even could not be discounted that all three rings were replicas, the original one having been lost at some point in the past; that to find out whether one of them had the real ring it was up to them to live in such a way that their ring's powers could prove true, to live a life that is pleasant in the eyes of God and mankind rather than expecting the ring's miraculous powers to do so. Nathan compares this to religion, saying that each of us lives by the religion we have learned from those we respect.

Background

The character of Nathan is to a large part modeled after Lessing's lifelong friend, the eminent philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Similar to Nathan the Wise and Saladin, whom Lessing makes meet over the chess-board; they both shared a love for the game.[1]

The motif of the Ring Parable is derived from a complex of medieval tales which first appeared in the German language in the story of Saladin's table in the Weltchronik of Jans der Enikel. Lessing probably had the story in the first instance from Boccaccio's Decameron.[2]

Revival

In the early 21st century, the Ring Parable of Nathan the Wise was taken up again in Peter Sloterdijk's Gottes Eifer: Vom Kampf der drei Monotheismen. [3]

More recently the play was adapted into English by Paul D'Andrea, a Robinson Professor of Theater and English at George Mason University, based on a translation by Gisela D'Andrea. This adaptation has been produced in theaters across the United States as well as in Rome, and was broadcast on PBS television. [4]

Notes

  1. ^ Daniel Dahlstrom, Moses Mendelssohn, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 3 December 2002. Accessed online 26 October 2006.
  2. ^ The Decameron consists of ten tales told on each of ten days. The Ring Parable is found in the third tale of the first day, although the characters here are Saladin and Melchisedech (as the wise Jew).
  3. ^ English translation God's Zeal - The Battle of the Three Monotheisms, Polity Pr. (2009). ISBN 9780745645070
  4. ^ Nathan the Wise by Paul D'Andrea after G.E. Lessing, Dramatic Publishing (2005). ISBN 9781583422724

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nathan der Weise — (Nathan the Wise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.    Premiered 1783. One of Lessing s most frequently performed plays in the post World War II period, due largely to its humanitarian subject matter and the sympathetic rendering of its title… …   Historical dictionary of German Theatre

  • Nathan (given name) — Nathan Nathan the Prophet advising king David Pronunciation NAY thǝn Gender Male Origin …   Wikipedia

  • Nathan Alterman — in 1952 Born August 14, 1910(1910 08 14) Warsaw Died March 28, 1970(197 …   Wikipedia

  • Nathan le Sage — Maurycy Gottlieb, Le retour de Nathan accueilli par Recha Nathan le sage (en allemand Nathan der Weise) est le personnage éponyme de la pièce en cinq actes de Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. La pièce est publiée le 14 avril 1779 mais ne sera… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The Decameron — For other uses, see Decameron (disambiguation). The Decameron   …   Wikipedia

  • The Rooster Prince — The Rooster Prince, also sometimes translated as The Turkey Prince, is a Jewish mashal or parable told by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, founder of the Breslov form of Hasidic Judaism. It was first told orally, and later published by Nathan of Breslov …   Wikipedia

  • The Lion King — This article is about Disney s 1994 film. For the franchise, see The Lion King (franchise). For the ferry, see MS Kongshavn. The Lion King …   Wikipedia

  • Nathan Lane — Lane at Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony, Los Angeles, November 2005 Born Joseph Lane February 3, 1956 (1956 02 03) (age 55) Jersey City, New Jersey …   Wikipedia

  • Nathan Isgur — Nathan Isgur, 2000 Nathan Isgur (May 25, 1947 – July 24, 2001) was a theoretical physicist from the U.S. and Canada[1]. Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Nathan Kress — Kress in March 2011 Born Nathan Karl Kress November 18, 1992 (1992 11 18) (age 18) Glendale, California …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”