A Stormy Night
A Stormy Night is an 1878 comedy play by Ion Luca Caragiale, and widely seen as a major accomplishment in modern Romanian humor. It was Caragiale's debut as a dramatist, at age 26, after a period of writing for various newspapers—the same age and profession as those associated with the play's protagonist, Rică Venturiano. The work combines elements of farce, sex comedy, and political satire, being a public gesture whereby Caragiale emphasized his break with Romanian liberalism, which was at the time dominant in local political culture. Set in Dealul Spirii neighborhood, south-central Bucharest, A Stormy Night focuses on the nighttime intrusion of Venturiano, a liberal demagogue employed as a government clerk, into the townhouse of Dumitrache Titircă, embodying the more commercially successful layers of the liberal-voting petty bourgeoisie. Titircă's home is revealed to be the scene of an adulterous affair between his wife, Veta, and his assistant, Chiriac—though Caragiale scholars remain divided as to whether Dumitrache is entirely oblivious or a willing cuckold.
The play is rich with symbolism and comedy of language, aligned with the aesthetic values promoted by Junimea literary society and its conservative counterculture. Through Venturiano's lines, the author parodies republicanism and Romantic nationalism, while also taking on, and rendering ridicule, the Latinate spelling norms favored by extreme liberals; through Titircă and his henchmen, he settles scores with the Civic Guard, which he had come to see as a parasitical institution of the liberals' spoils system; through Veta and her sister Zița, he mocks the romantic-themed daydreaming and kitsch aspirations of middle-class housewives. A Stormy Night was first performed at the National Theater Bucharest, in January 1879, becoming extremely successful on its premiere. The original text, used for that production, had four acts; it was later shortened and modified by Caragiale.
Both the original version and the definitive text were topics of enduring controversy, which began violently, on the play's second performance, when the Civic Guard sought Caragiale to have him beaten up; more lenient liberals preferred to ignore it as a harmless farce, while others, though commending Caragiale for his talent, expressed the view that his social critique was exaggerated, unfair, or untimely. The play charmed conservative opinion-makers, including Titu Maiorescu and Mihai Eminescu, and was later also upheld as a masterpiece by the Marxist school of criticism. A Stormy Night remained a staple of Romanian theater, with productions overseen by Caragiale down to his death in 1912; at the time, he was working on a sequel that also mixed in characters from his other major comedy, O scrisoare pierdută, and broadened the scope by also attacking conservatives. His posterity saw a split between "sociological" productions of the play, as recommended by Sică Alexandrescu, and experimental versions by Alexa Visarion, Sorana Coroamă-Stanca, and Mihai Măniuțiu; both visions are occasionally opposed by "innocent" readings of the text, which emphasize the farcical elements.
A Stormy Night inspired a 1930s opéra bouffe by Paul Constantinescu, a 1942 film by Jean Georgescu, and various fragments of prose by Camil Petrescu. The play is heavily reliant on language humor, and as such notoriously difficult to translate—adaptations such as the French one, penned in the 1950s by Eugène Ionesco, include a large dose of lexical inventiveness. The Romanian communist regime encouraged publications and productions of the play throughout the Eastern Bloc and the developing world, where it has acquired a cult following. It was repeatedly used for stagings in Hungarian, done either in Hungary or among the Hungarian Romanian community—it was directed on two occasions by Gábor Tompa, who adopted a median position between experimentalism and the "innocent" repertoire.
Setting
A Stormy Night was completed during the transition from the Principality of Romania, still a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, to an independent and consolidated kingdom. As noted by cultural sociologist Zigu Ornea, this moment marked the "introduction of modern civilization", in which "the antinomy between the new forms and the multi-secular content was an inescapable reality." In this context, Romanian liberalism, centered on the National Liberal Party, had portrayed itself as both the modernizing and the authentically nationalist camp, while also reserving the option to discard the monarchy and establish a republic—this "demagoguery" was meant to both serve and conceal a spoils system, one which Caragiale had witnessed first-hand as a young liberal affiliate, and which had come to deeply resent. As editor of Timpul, which sought to generate a backlash against liberal domination, Caragiale had already complained that the conservative, declining, boyardom was pe dric.Caragiale's "conservative Weltanshauung", only occasionally juxtaposed over party politics, had been informed by Titu Maiorescu and the Junimea society: the Juminist critique of liberalism was, from its inception, centered on exposing the liberals' detrimental influence on the cultural sphere, and in particular on the written and spoken language. Other than taking up this attack on liberal culture, A Stormy Night focuses mainly on the Civic Guard, an urban paramilitary formation that had been established in March 1866—its stated purpose was "to represent at the highest level the nation, the civilian population in its entirety, irrespective of its social standing and wealth, hereby called under arms and ever-ready to defend its country." Originally favored by conservatives such as Dimitrie Ghica, it was thereafter monopolized by the radical-liberal bourgeoisie. In his liberal phase, Caragiale had served in a Guard unit in Bucharest's Armenian Quarter—in one of his humorous memoirs, he recalls having paraded alongside baristas, one of whom still wore an apron underneath his coat. During the Romanian war of independence, both he and Maiorescu resisted pressures to show up for training as Guardists; Caragiale opted to give "repeated monetary contributions" in lieu of service. As noted by
Caragiale's associate Iacob Negruzzi, the Guard was rendered laughable during the war, when the regular Land Forces had displayed bravery on faraway battlefields.
The play is set in an unspecified mahala of Bucharest; its text includes repeated references to shows at "Union", which is in fact actor I. D. Ionescu's beer garden, the Union-Suisse. Dramatist Ion Marin Sadoveanu, dismissing claims that Caragiale was vague in describing nature, suggests that fragments of dialogue help to precisely locate the mahala on an identifiable portion of Dealul Spirii, in the vicinity of a limepit. Museologist Ionel Ioniță argues the same, noting that the Iunion can be reliably located on Calea Victoriei, just north of the present-day Telephones Company Building, whereas the house in which the action takes place is most closely traced to the portion where Izvor Street led into Dealul Spirii. Ioniță argues that this location was chosen to conceal real-life events which inspired Caragiale. According to research carried out in the 1950s by N. Vătămanu, these took place at No 26 Șerban Vodă Highway.
The text contains some unusual geographic detail, combining fiction and reality—for instance, the house is located on a street named after Catiline. While no such street existed, Dealul Spirii was known for its abundance of landmarks named after other figures in the history of Ancient Rome. Literary historian Iulian Boldea, building on earlier observations made by theatrologist Maria Vodă Căpușan, proposes that the Bucharest which emerges from the various verbal clues is a "crooked City" and "labyrinthic space", as dictated by both the needs of the plot and by Caragiale's own infatuation with the "mingle-mangle" of the universe. One cryptic portion of the text lets spectators know that the location is within hearing distance of orologiul de la Stabiliment, which mysteriously sounds off at "20 past 11". According to sociologist Monica Săvulescu, this detail highlights Caragiale's annoyance with haphazardness and "lack of purpose", which he saw as characteristic traits in Romanian culture. "The Establishment" designated an arsenal which was located in the perimeter now occupied by a much larger Palace of the Parliament.
The events of the play can be tentatively dated, based on the fact that the Iunion had opened for the public in early 1876. Clues in the text indicate that they also take place shortly after lăsata secului, which is usually taken to mean "Shrove Tuesday", in February; this is apparently contradicted immediately after by the date of the newspaper editorial, which has 15/27 răpciune—the Old Style and New Style dates for 15/27 September, but using the month's name in the superseded Romanian calendar. Scholars are in disagreement over what to make of the anomaly. Literary critic Florin Manolescu argues that Caragiale took no interest in the date being accurate, and simply used răpciune as an inherently funny word. Essayist and theologian Nicolae Steinhardt opposed this interpretation, proposing instead that lăsata secului refers in this context to 30 August, the last day before another period of fasting—non-canonical in Romanian Orthodoxy, which is the protagonists' religion, but embraced by many Orthodox under the influence of Transylvanian Greek Catholics.
Plot
Act I
Scene I takes place in a ground-floor room, revealed to be part of a house inhabited by Jupân Dumitrache Titircă, nicknamed Inimă-Rea, who is the owner of a lumber yard and a Captain in the Civic Guard; a guardsman's rifle and bayonet hang in the background. The play opens in mid-dialogue, with a discussion between Dumitrache and his younger subordinate Nae Ipingescu, who serves as an ipistat—a corruption of the Greek "epistates" and the proper Romanian epistat, it designates the lowest rank among peacekeeping officers. The Captain angrily recounts that a "vagabond" has apparently been stalking his family—comprising himself, his wife Veta, and his sister-in-law Zița, while they were out celebrating lăsata secului at "Iunion". He believes that the strange young man, whom he describes using a number of class-based insults, was trying to seduce Veta, and notes that they could not lose him as they tried to make their way back home after the show. The episode, as recounted by Dumitrache, ended only because a pack of stray dogs cut off the stranger's path; Titircă attempted to return to the scene with his acolyte and shop assistant, Chiriac, whom he entrusts with defending "my honor as a family man", but the stalker "was no more".Scene II introduces Chiriac: as a Sergent of the Guard, he discusses recruitment business with Dumitrache, and, during the exchange, mentions Zița's troubles with her ex-husband, Ghiță Țârcădău; he is also casually curious about Dumitrache's activities as a night guard, and about whether they would be over by "two after 12". Scene III introduces the boy servant Spiridon, who brings in the newspaper and is then sent to fetch Dumitrache's sword and belt from Veta's room; upon his return, he reveals that Veta is busy sewing Chiriac's uniform. Addressing Spiridon, the Captain expresses admiration for Chiriac's scrupulousness in making sure that Guard regulations are strictly carried out, including when it comes to the night shift, and proposes that the Sergeant should receive a decoration.
In Scene IV, Ipingescu returns to read Dumitrache from the newspaper, called Vocea Patriotului Naționale. They are both impressed by its "combative" and democratic-republican message, though they struggle with the author's unfamiliar language; Ipingescu manages to read aloud the pseudonymous signature, R. Vent, before he is interrupted by sounds of a quarrel between Zița and an unseen male figure. She calls out for Dumitrache's assistance, and they both rush out to her side, sounding off their regulation whistles. Scene V comprises Spiridon soliloquy, revealing that Titircă is mean to his staff, and has threatened the boy with a beating. In Scene VI, he is joined by a flustered Zița. Their dialogue reveals that Spiridon had acted as her courier between her and an unnamed suitor, who agreed to visit her in her house during Dumitrache's night-guard duties; he had asked Spiridon for the house number, and had handed him a love letter for Zița, which she reads aloud. It uses the same difficult language employed by "R. Vent".
Veta appears in Scene VII, alongside Zița and Spiridon—she agrees to let Spiridon leave to Zița's home and fetch her a coat. Zița recounts her meeting with an increasingly violent Țârcădău, but Veta is absent-minded and appears to have been crying. Spiridon briefly enters, whispering to Zița that he could not locate her suitor ; Zița then prepares to bid farewell to her sister, who jadedly replies. When Zița asks that they should return for another show at "Iunion", she snaps back that she has no intention of ever returning there, which makes Zița burst out in tears. In Scene VIII, Veta, alone with Spiridon, inquires about Chiriac, learning that he too appears despondent. As Spiridon leaves, she goes into a soliloquy, revealing that she regards her love for Chiriac as unrequited. Chiriac enters, in Scene IX, and engages her in a heated argument, revealing that he is jealous of the strange man showing up at "Iunion". He believes that Veta has a secret lover—despite her assurances to the contrary. He threatens to kill himself with the bayonet, but Veta finally persuades him of her love; as they embrace, Dumitrache, who has begun his night shift, calls out Chiriac's name from outside. Chiriac rushes to the window to greet his boss, reassuring him that he will be on the lookout for the suspect; he promises to defend Titircă's "honor as a family man".