In a response to an earlier post, I equated Hans Sachs Nine Carnival Plays to a modern day live viewing of Saturday Night Live. Sachs seems to be well educated from what I have read, but I do not get the impression that he wants us to go deep into the carnival plays. He is very good at touching on social issues, such as religion, drinking and gender differences, but I think the biggest common theme in these carnival plays is the fact that he helps individuals see their own foolishness in everyday life events. For example, in The Wife In The Well, Steffano, the husband starts the play talking about how his wife, Gitta, gets him drunk ever night. This is a little absurd. The husband does not have to drink the wine. Everyone knows that drinking too much is a problem, but Steffano seems to think he is the good guy, although he lets his wife get him drunk every night. Also, if Gitta had not told us she was having an affair, we would never have known. Both of these situations are ironic in the story. Sachs starts off the play in an awkward way, which sets the tone of silliness into motion for the audience. In another play, The Stolen Bacon, the first paragraph says, "at carnival time everybody drinks, gets happy, and like me-gets a little foggy in the head". I really think these plays are just meant to show people the humor in normal events and be entertaining,
Hans Sachs was a protestant and a firm believer in Martin Luther, who wrote 95 Theses in 1517, which was about catholic priests taking money for 'indulgences', and other unethical behavior in the church. Luther is credited for sparking the Protestant Reformation. Sachs did author some controversial writings, but I really think he was just poking fun at the priests in these carnival plays, because at that time in history, everyone knew the catholic priests had a bad reputation.
I also wondered, while reading these plays, if Sachs based some of the story on his own experiences, and I am chuckling a little while writing this. In several of the stories, the women outsmart the men, and the men are even described as simple-minded (Heinz-The Farmer with the Blur). The women are usually conniving, and sometimes evil. I have to wonder if Hans Sachs felt that way about his wife, and also if he ever had to sleep outside because of his writings. I bet he did . . .
I agree when you said he did not want us to get too deep into the plays. They are so short that there is not really enough to dive deep into. We are able to infer certain things here and there but it's hard to go too deep when the plays are only around 350 lines.
ReplyDeleteWhile your views are true, I also think that there are two layers of digesting Han Sachs Nine Carnival Plays. Sure, when being performed, the plays are exaggerated and are meant to be enjoyed for laughter. But when all laughter ceased and all drunks sobered, I think the plays also meant to remind people of the deceitfulness and manipulation around them, cautioning them to stay away from lies and traps in life.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Ms. Chin! What happens when Carnival has passed? Does the laughter at the expense of abused wives/husbands or corrupt priests linger or do things just go back to "normal"?
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