The Problem of Judith

Our misery is undeserved—we loved her. Judith created her own; she loved herself. — Judith, Act III, scene 1 Judith, written by Jean Giraudoux in 1931, and predecessor of Elèctre (1937), Sodome et Gomorrhe (1943), and Pour Lucrèce (1944), is the only one of his plays which Giraudoux himself labeled...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:TDR : Drama review 1959-05, Vol.3 (4), p.31-41
Main Author: Dirks, Mary Douglas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Divinity
Irony
Playwriting
Priests
Rabbis
Soul
Spiritual love
Theater
Tragic theater
Virginity
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Summary:Our misery is undeserved—we loved her. Judith created her own; she loved herself. — Judith, Act III, scene 1 Judith, written by Jean Giraudoux in 1931, and predecessor of Elèctre (1937), Sodome et Gomorrhe (1943), and Pour Lucrèce (1944), is the only one of his plays which Giraudoux himself labeled a tragedy. Critics of the work have not denied him this label, although views of what constitutes the tragedy differ widely. One of Judith’s translators rather frivolously calls it “a fable of sex and God.” A German writer terms it a tragedy of Nature wronged, with God the Worm, destroyer of all things, as the ultimate villain. It has been called “a magnificent tragedy of spoliation,” as well as “the most profound and the most ambiguous of all of Giraudoux’ plays.“ And finally, Mr. Bert M-P. Leefmans regards Judith as the 20th century’s cry of despair from a sink of iniquity, or, as he puts it: “In Judith … the Fall is total, the beasts take over from mankind, and Judith … chooses, or is forced, merely to survive.“
ISSN:0886-800X
1054-2043
0012-5962
2326-2044
1531-4715
DOI:10.2307/1124648