Asmodeus a spol. ve třech bohemikálních hrách o Tobiášovi : (in memoriam Hany Bočkové a Markéty Klosové)
Asmodeus and Co. in three Bohemian plays about Tobias

Summary/Abstract: The figure of the devil appears very often in medieval and early modern drama. Although he is an inherently evil and dangerous being, he often brings comic elements into the plays and provokes laughter. This study focuses on the devil Asmodeus from the Old Testament Book of Tobit. Its aim is to compare the portrayal of this character in three Bohemian dramas and show how Asmodeus moves on a scale between a fearful being and a laughter-inducing one in these plays. The dramas analysed are Jan Aquila of Plavec’s Toboeus (1569, printed 1787), Pavel Kyrmezer’s A Comedy of Tobias (1581) and Tobias Junior by Georgius Dingenauer (1616). The study concludes that the two earlier dramas are rather close to each other: in both of the, the comic aspect of the characters of the devils predominates, and they are both clearly inspired by the book Život Adamův aneb jinák od starodávna Solfernus (The Life of Adam, or, Since Time Immemorial, Solfernus, 1553). This inspiration goes from the verbal echoes and a number of specific situations described in the plays, to the depiction of the devils as servants doing the bidding of the ruler of hell; this strong connection with vernacular literature is especially remarkable in the case of Aquila’s Latin drama. In the play Tobias junior, Asmodeus is conceived quite differently. He serves no master and his actions are driven by purely personal motivations: he kills Sarah’s husband because he himself loves her. The comic nature of his personality is very weak; he acts almost exclusively like an evil demon.

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