A Polemical Theatre Review on Stage: Johannes Cochlaeus’ Ein heimlich gsprech Vonn der Tragedia Johannis Hussen

Abstract

Up to now, literary research has only considered Johannes Cochlaeus' "Ein heimlich gsprech" from the perspective of anti-Lutheran polemics. The comedy, however, is first of all a critical commentary on another play - Johannes Agricola's "Tragedia Johannis Huss". The current article draws a line between these two sides of the comedy and shows that the literary critique supports the theological critique. By measuring Agricola's tragedy against the ideal of Humanist drama, and by criticizing the style, the roles, the structure, the development of the plot, and the ending of the tragedy, as well as the stage directions and the intended style of performance, Cochlaeus attacks those features of Agricola's Lutheran play that made it most effective. These elements, however, were in turn borrowed from medieval religious plays. Thus Cochlaeus claims that the Lutherans unwillingly use a literary genre that they despise, and that they are ignorant of Humanist learning, while the plot of the play depicts the Lutherans as ignorant of their own theology.