Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe

·1 hr·4 clips

Perdikan declares all men are liars and all women faithless, yet insists the union of two such imperfect beings is the only sacred thing in the world.

1. Südwestfunk radio play presents Alfred de Musset's comedy 'Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe,' performed by Werner Kraus, Oskar Werner, Gertrud Kückelmann, and Gustl Halenke with music by Peter Zwettkopf. 2. The cast includes the Baron as family patriarch, Perdikan as his newly doctoral son, Camilla as his convent-educated niece, the comic tutors Meister Blasius and Meister Bridanius, governess Frau Sammet, and village girl Rosetta. 3. The episode's central dramatic question is whether an arranged marriage between two childhood friends — one shaped by Parisian rationalism, one by convent piety — can survive their mutual emotional defences. 4. Meister Blasius arrives by donkey for the grape harvest and announces that Perdikan has earned his doctorate with four white ballots in literature, philosophy, Roman law, and canon law. 5. The Baron tells Bridanius he has planned the marriage for years and spent 6,000 talers on Camilla's convent education, expecting it to be the happiest day of his life. 6. Perdikan and Camilla's first meeting in front of the Baron is awkward: she nearly crosses herself when he tries to kiss her hand, and both retreat to examine a tapestry and a potted heliotrope rather than speak. 7. Perdikan walks alone through the village, where peasants and hunting dogs remember him fondly, and he meets Rosetta, a pretty local girl whom he invites to dinner at the castle. 8. Camilla refuses every offer from Perdikan — a walk to their old meadow, a boat ride to the mill, a stroll along the childhood path — telling him childhood memories bore her. 9. In a direct conversation, Perdikan reveals he has had many loves and does not remember them all; Camilla uses this as evidence that men are incapable of lasting fidelity. 10. Camilla recounts the life of her 30-year-old nun friend, a former countess who possessed 500,000 francs in rents and every noble quality, yet was betrayed by her husband and is now dying of despair in the convent. 11. Perdikan argues that Camilla's 200 fellow nuns carry deep wounds and have coloured her virgin imagination with bloodstained stories of men, projecting their own failed lives onto her future. 12. He delivers a formal speech cataloguing human flaws — 'All men are liars, fickle, false, garrulous, hypocritical' and 'all women faithless, shallow, vain' — before calling the union of two such imperfect beings 'the one holy and sublime thing in the world.' 13. Perdikan ends the speech with the image of a man at the grave's edge who looks back and says, 'I have often suffered, often been deceived, but I have loved — I have lived.' 14. Comic subplot: Blasius and Bridanius, both accused of drunkenness, compete for the Baron's favour; Blasius is dismissed for stealing wine from the pantry, while Bridanius is exposed for walking in a zigzag after three bottles at table. 15. Camilla secretly writes a letter to Sister Louise saying she has 'done everything humanly possible to make Perdikan hate her' and that the poor young man has 'a dagger in his heart.' 16. The drunken Blasius intercepts the letter from governess Sammet, leading to a chaotic three-way confrontation before the Baron; Perdikan claims the right as Camilla's intended fiancé to read the letter. 17. The episode blends high romantic drama with broad physical comedy: the tutors argue over food portions and wine quality, and Frau Sammet is slapped on the elbow with a fan by an enraged Camilla. 18. Tone is theatrical and heightened, with operatic speeches set against farcical domestic scenes; the radio performance uses music and choral interjections to mark scene changes. 19. Listeners who enjoy classical French comedy, literary radio drama, or themes of romantic idealism versus religious disillusionment will find this compelling. 20. Those seeking contemporary formats, informal hosting, or non-theatrical audio will likely find the style inaccessible.

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