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4c 1910 THE EURYDICE SYNDROME
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Spa Tobelbad, Summer 1910.
NURSE And
our patients? What do you think of our patients?
GROPIUS Oh…
I'm afraid I haven't paid much attention to them yet.
NURSE Excuse
me, Mister Gropius, am I disturbing you?
GROPIUS No,
no, not at all, sister. Not at all!
NURSE Thank
you. - May I ask how you are today? Are you feeling comfortable
here? Or has anything been bothering you?
GROPIUS Oh
no, sister, on the contrary! Tobelbad strikes me as a wonderful
place.
NURSE Yes,
Tobelbad is a nice place indeed, but I was talking about our
institute. Have you had any problems with our spa you'd like
to share with me?
GROPIUS That's
very sweet of you, sister, but I can't think of anything.
The food's very good, the place is calm and your medical staff
are very professional, very caring. Very discreet …I
must say, I like it here.
NURSE Yes,
yes. - What a pity.
GROPIUS Why
are you asking me all these questions? Do I look disturbed
or unsatisfied in any way?
NURSE Oh,
no! By no means! But to be frank with you, I make a point
of observing the habits of our guests. I hope you won't take
it as an intrusion on your privacy...
GROPIUS Not
at all! I suppose it's part of your responsibility to check
up on the well being of the patients, as you've put it...
NURSE Exactly.
I'm so glad that you understand my obligations. I am really
very grateful to you for your understanding.
GROPIUS Oh!
Nothing could be more natural. After all, it's your work.
NURSE Yes,
yes, indeed it is... But in all honesty, if you don't mind,
I have to say that : ever since you came to our spa, you haven't
been mixing very much with the other guests. .
GROPIUS Yes,
I imagine ,that's the least you could say.
NURSE Indeed...
you've hardly said a word to anybody.
GROPIUS To
tell you the truth, 1909 has been a very turbulent year in
my career as an architect. And On top of that, I've had a
bad cold that's lingered on into the spring from last winter,
and the winter's been pretty hectic too.
NURSE Yes,
I understand.
GROPIUS So
I decided to spend the early summer in your resort. I simply
felt that I needed some rest. That's why I haven't been mixing
much with the others.. I decided to cut down on my socializing.
NURSE I see.
In that case it's my duty to respect your decision. I will
try to find another Orpheus…
GROPIUS Another
»Orpheus«?
NURSE Forgive
me! I was only joking. It's a kind of metaphor. You see, I'm
looking for someone who could be a confidant, a kindred spirit,
to support me in my work. I'm looking for someone young, brilliant
and good-looking to do a certain “good deed”, but
since you need rest ---
GROPIUS Wait!
Wait!! Sister, wait! - May I ask what it is exactly that you
had in mind?
NURSE Did
you ever have the chance to save a drowning person?
GROPIUS No,
I didn't.
NURSE I'm
speaking metaphorically, of course.
GROPIUS Of
course. Who is this »drowning person«?
NURSE It's
a woman. She is an extremely precious creature.
GROPIUS Is
she one of your patients?
NURSE Yes.
She's here for the second time. Sometimes you wonder how such
an attractive, riveting and charming young thing could ever
look so unhappy…
GROPIUS Who
is she?
NURSE Well,
I must ask you to understand that I can't tell you right now.
Unfortunately, in this respect my hands are tied... I'm sure
you understand. I'm sorry, but after what I said about her,
I can't disclose her identity: her husband is too famous.
GROPIUS But
your Orpheus! You wanted me to -
NURSE Yes,
yes, but of course, your own state of health takes priority.
After all, that's why you're here!
GROPIUS I
know, I know, but you just said you were looking for an…
NURSE Oh
no! No! Not if you need your rest so badly…!
GROPIUS Yes,
I do, but…
NURSE You
see, she's not the kind of woman who goes along with the crowd..
On the contrary. Her husband must have an enormous spiritual
engine as opposed to his shriveled physique, to have reduced
this magnificent woman to such a weakened spiritual state.
But I've already taxed your patience for far too long. I've
said too much.
GROPIUS Why
did you say you were looking for an “Orpheus”....
NURSE Well,
in my »leisure time«, so to speak, I've developed
an interesting theory, a theory about feminine frustration.
I call it »The Eurydice Syndrome«. You see, my
friend, it often happens that young, well-equipped and sumptuously
developed women, who marry famous and successful men, are
plunged into the deepest melancholy shortly after they sink
into the routine of married life. Their egocentric and insensitive
husbands forget that these splendidly lavish creatures are
made for love. They commit the unpardonable crime of letting
these wellsprings of life run dry. Their enormous erotic potential
becomes frustrated and degenerates into a neurotic condition.
For such a woman, life becomes a dark tunnel leading straight
down to Hell. And like Eurydice - who needs an Orpheus with
the courage and strength to descend into the dark and lead
her out to the warm light of passion and love - these poor
creatures also long for a helping hand to re-unite them with
the warm light of passion.
GROPIUS You're
astonishing, sister…! - Who is this woman?
NURSE My
dear friend, do you really believe you have the resources
and energy it would take to give new life to a Eurydice? It's
a very risky undertaking. I must warn you that one more wound
could be fatal for her.
GROPIUS I
can imagine.
NURSE But
you said you yourself had gone through such turbulent times...
GROPIUS They
were turbulent in the positive sense of the word.
NURSE Turbulent
in the positive sense?....
GROPIUS Yes,
the last few years have been extremely fruitful for me. You
see, I'm an architect. Last year I was very creative. I invented
an industrial method of building houses.
NURSE An
industrial method of building houses?! What's that?...
GROPIUS Special
factories will produce a series of pre-fabricated elements,
such as panels that can be put together to create walls of
different sizes, or elements that can form ceilings, roofs
or floors. All these elements can be produced in huge quantities,
and can be assembled very quickly in a standardized procedure.
a prefabricated house like that could be built in no time.
NURSE But
who would want to live in “prefabricated houses”?
Do You think rich people who can afford to build their own
villas will be interested in your invention?
GROPIUS I
am not thinking of the rich. I'm thinking of the working classes.
Housing is going to become the crucial problem of the modern
world. This invention will cut down the price of accommodation.
Every working-class family should be able to afford their
own apartment.
NURSE But
what will those houses look like? And our towns, what will
they become? Endless chains of identical prefabricated apartment
houses! Your working-class people may own their homes, but
they won't be able to tell one home from the other! Our beautiful
towns will become an aesthetic disaster! I thought architecture
was an art!
GROPIUS Of
course it's an art, but it's not concerned with art for art's
sake. That notion of art is dead. Art should serve the people.
Our concept of beauty will change. Your beautiful villas reflect
out-of-date rural aesthetics. We are moving towards an urban
society, and we will develop new urban aesthetics. I'm already
thinking of a transparent architecture, of screen-walls, of
inter-penetrating internal spaces ----
NURSE My
friend, if you could put half of your tempestuous heat and
enthusiasm into our Eurydice, I'm sure that unhappy creature
could be saved!
GROPIUS My
God, do you think so?! Then why don't you introduce her to
me?!
NURSE Look
around. You can't miss her. When you see the most solitary,
melancholic and gorgeous woman in the sanatorium - you will
know it's her.
GROPIUS I
can't wait to meet her, sister!
NURSE Come,
I will introduce you .
GROPIUS Who
is she, for God's sake?! Tell me her name!
NURSE (shouts
out of the window into the garden) Madam, may we come down
to see you for a moment; I'd like to introduce you to someone.
NURSE 2 Yes,
sure, please come down!
NURSE Madam,
may I introduce you to Mr Walter Gropius, an architect from
Berlin and a guest in our sanatorium. - Mrs Alma Mahler, wife
of the Director of the Vienna Court Opera House, Gustav Mahler.
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