Original Hungarian side-by-side the English translation by Peter Zollman. Foremost 19th century Hungarian drama, by Mihály Vörösmarty. Long out of print, now made available again by Sarkett & Associates, Inc. Includes black-and-white illustrations.
Csongor és Tünde is considered by critics the foremost 19th century Hungarian drama but is virtually unknown in the West. Likened to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, its theme is universal: man's quest for happiness and fulfillment.
Many consider this symbolist drama to be remarkably ahead of its time.
A cultural treasure to Hungarians, Vörösmarty's tale has inspired others. Noted composer Leo Weiner (1885-1960) wrote ballet music for Csongor és Tünde, considered by some his magnum opus.
Excerpt on this work from the Oxford History of Hungarian Literature, Lorant Czigany:
"In the second period of Vörösmarty's creative career, the place of the epic was taken over by the drama. He had experimented with plays ever since 1820 when he first became acquainted with Shakespeare, but his youthful efforts show only the author's lack of experience. In 1831, however, he succeeded in creating a masterpiece, Csongor és Tünde (Csongor and Tunde), which surpasses all the dramas that he wrote before or after it. In fact, his reputation as a playwright rests solely on this light-hearted piece. Csongor and Tünde is regarded by many of his critics as the climax of his poetic achievement.
"Basing his plot on a sixteenth-century széphistória, the Árgirus romance, and probably influenced in his treatment of the subject by Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Vörösmarty sets out to explore the possible answers to the questions: Are human beings capable of achieving happiness? Is there a kind of happiness that completely satisfies man? The answer Vörösmarty gives to the ageless question wrapped in the glittering fairy-tale is straightforward: the sole source of human happiness can only be reciprocated love.
"As a philosophy about the meaning of life, Vörösmarty's answer is sincere and devoid of pretensions and, even more remarkable, it ignores the Christian tradition of 'higher' aims or of spiritual compensation in the other world; thus it is a worldly and pagan, if not hedonistic, philosophy."
Early readers say:
"A great service for Hungarian literature to make this seminal work available to the English reading public."
"Wonderful ... Vörösmarty's language is so rich, so beautiful, perhaps the most ornamental among all Hungarian poets. I love him deeply."
See sarkett.com/csongor for an exhautive and fascinating explication of the work.
Students of Hungarian history and culture will likely also be interested in our other classic republication: Stephen Széchenyi and the Awakening of Hungarian Nationalism, 1791-1841 by Dr. George Barany, published by Sarkett & Associates, Inc. (2011), also on Amazon.
