The miracle of Saint Anthony

"The Miracle of Saint Anthony" by Maurice Maeterlinck is a one-act play written in the early 20th century that delves into themes of life, death, and societal hypocrisy. The story revolves around the unexpected arrival of Saint Anthony, who claims he has come to resurrect Mademoiselle Hortense, a wealthy but recently deceased woman. The play is set in a mundane Flemish household during a funeral, highlighting the stark contrast between the miraculous and the ordinary. In the narrative, Saint Anthony enters a home where the relatives and friends of the deceased are preparing for her funeral. Initially met with skepticism and annoyance from the living, especially from her greedy nephews Gustave and Achille, Saint Anthony insists on reviving Mademoiselle Hortense. The absurdity unfolds as Hortense is resurrected, only to express her disdain for the situation in a comical twist. The guests quickly shift from gratitude to indignation when they realize Hortense’s return to life comes with restrictions, including her inability to speak, which leaves them disillusioned about the true nature of miracles. The play ends in a wave of irony, as Hortense dies once more, reinforcing the idea that true miracles might lie beyond human understanding and expectations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations". The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. He was a leading member of La Jeune Belgique group, and his plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement. In later life, Maeterlinck faced credible accusations of plagiarism.