His play Largo Desolato came out of this period of despair and from an inner struggle between Havel the artist and Havel the activist. The play features Doctor Henry Foustka, a scientist working in a government institution whose purpose is to be a beacon of truth and stamp out any superstitious or irrational belief from society. Foustka, however, leads a double life, as he carries on a secret interest in the occult.
One evening while Foustka is performing an arcane ritual, an unknown visitor arrives — a hobbled, mysterious old man smelling of a matchstick factory. Noticing his new powers of intellect, Foustka tries to stay ahead on both sides of his double life, though his downfall is assured, as Fistula turns out to be an agent provocateur sent by the government.
Havel also continued his fight for human rights in the years following his release from prison, resulting in more arrests and several shorter stays in jail. In November , a student demonstration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of Czech universities by the Nazis was violently blocked by police. The event was a catalyst which led to unprecedented mass protests against the government.
During a general strike, Havel addressed massive crowds in Prague and, with the Civic Forum, negotiated with the Communist Party and agreed upon the terms of their abdication. In the first few years of independence, the Czechoslovak people considered their playwright-president a hero, but, with the inevitable difficulties involved in such a drastic political and economic transformation, his popularity began to fluctuate at home.
His popularity abroad, however, grew enormously, which proved an invaluable asset to the country in the years following the revolution. After the division of the country into two independent states to which he objected , Havel was elected and served two terms as president of the Czech Republic.
Since the end of his presidency, Havel remained active in humanitarian causes, working together with a number of world leaders and amassing a long list of honorary doctorates and awards. In the fall of , he accepted a residency at Columbia University, which also corresponded to a theatre festival held in New York to mark the occasion of his seventieth birthday at which eighteen of his plays were performed. Paul Wilson. New York: Vintage, The Garden Party. Vera Blackwell. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.
New York: Basic Books, As he was officially banned from publishing in Czechoslovakia for a good deal of his literary career, his plays and essays appeared in various samizdat editions from the time of their writing until the fall of communism in I have listed the first official publication of his major works, with the date of writing, where different, in the entry.
In a few cases, German language editions appeared before official Czech versions; I have, however, focused here only on the original Czech texts and their English translations.
In many cases, the first Czech versions were published by exiled publishers in Europe and the U. I have discussed his most important essays in the entry itself. Citation: Christensen, Andrew G.. The Literary Encyclopedia. Related Papers.
The reception of Havel's early plays in Britain. By Barbara Day. By Yana Meerzon. By Tim West. By Nick Wolterman. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Vol. By Nik Hynek. The Common Sense of the Tea Party. Staging Whiteness Beckett, Havel, Maponya. Villain The Civil Parties. Making a Garden. Montrose Garden Plan. Related Topics vaclav. Separate but Inseparable. Good Theater in Bad Times.
A Cacophony of Voices. Duke University Press W. Main St. All Rights Reserved. Close Modal. This site uses cookies. James Sire provides an introduction and critique of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating figures. Skip to content. In this study, John Keane reveals a Havel so far unseen, dramatising the key moments of joy, misery, triumph and tragedy on which his life has turned.
His life serves as an example of responsible and moral action, even at the cost of much personal suffering.
0コメント