Among the plays by Hans Sachs, the one that stood out to me the most was The Pregnant Farmer. Today, when a health care professional does not properly explain every element of their patient’s disease and treatment options, the results can include the continued suffering or death of the patient and a lawsuit. It is also wrong of a health care professional to talk to their patients and their relatives like they are stupid, to get upset with the patient when they cannot grasp a concept, and to take advantage of patients. Sachs, however, was able to create a character with these negative traits we see in our physicians today, and probably seen in the 15th century physicians as well, and use them to entertain an audience.
In the play, Isaac says, “he [Kunz] must take the strongest purge possible. He has to drive that filly right out of there.” This is to the extent to which Isaac explains the prescription Isaac is telling Heinz to give to Kunz and how Kunz’s condition of being “pregnant with a filly” will be resolved. Since Kunz is scared for his life and both he and Heinz have no knowledge of medicine, they believe whatever their doctor tells them as most patients do today. Isaac also gets angry with Heinz for not answering his questions the way he wishes him to. For example, when Isaac asks if Heinz’s master had “the urge for a stool”, Heinz misunderstands and believes he said something about school. Isaac gets upset at this and says, “My God! Can’t you understand a word?” These exchanges are what I believe makes the situation funny because the audience is distracted from the trick being played by the Jew on Heinz. Instead of feeling sorry for Heinz, the audience is focused on how Heinz is unintentionally making this doctor and con-man look foolish.
Perhaps, Sachs decided to create this scene because doctors were as ill mannered to their patients as they are today. If this was the case, the audience would have loved seeing a doctor, con-man, or anyone else who thought that they were smarter or better than the common people being made a fool of and teased by a simple-minded farmer.
I find it comedic any time roles are reversed. It is an unexpected event when Heinz makes the doctor look foolish, because generally it would be the other way around. This is similar to the wives outsmarting their husbands in several other plays. Role reversal is a good way to lighten the mood.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating point to bring up (and one I hadn't considered before)! Who usually has the power in the doctor/patient relationship? How (and why) does the text invert this?
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