The famous Belgian writer Meterlink was born on August 29, 1862 in a wealthy family in the city of Ghent. His father was a professional notary, his mother the daughter of a lawyer. The family of the future writer was highly respected among the inhabitants of the city.
Children and teenagers
Before Maurice was 12 years old, his parents organized home schooling for him. The biography of Maurice Meterlink, by his own admission, did not begin in the most rainbow colors. In 1874, the boy was sent to the Jesuit College to teach. The writer himself called this time one of the most unpleasant stretches of his life.
Parents wanted their son to follow in his father's footsteps and also become a notary public. However, the child showed absolutely no interest in law or history. All Maurice Meterlink was interested in was books and music.
In 1881, the young Meterlink still had to submit to the will of his father and he entered the legal department of the University of Ghent. But the teenager continues to spend all his leisure time among the books. In 1885, Meterlink received an education diploma. And again, under pressure from her parents, she takes the next step - she leaves for Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne. However, as before, all his free time is devoted to literature.
Confrontation with parents
Upon returning to his hometown, Ghent Meterlink continues to engage in literature along with jurisprudence. The biography of Maurice Meterlink at this stage is a struggle between his own vocation and the desire to please parents. Meterlink prints all of his works written at this time in France - so that he would not become known in his hometown.
In 1889, the first collection of his poems called “Greenhouses” was published. In the same year, already in Brussels, the writer published the play “Princess Malen”, asking her mother for 250 francs. The plot of this work, the writer borrowed from the tales of the Brothers Grimm. However, he remade the usual story of the evil queen killing her children into a drama about the confrontation of the main character and an irresistible fate.
First edition
At first, the events developed according to the most usual scenario - about a dozen books were sold out, a few more Meterlink presented to friends and acquaintances. However, suddenly, on August 24, 1890, the Paris edition of Figaro published an article commenting on the critic Octave Mirbo that "the unknown writer Maurice Meterlink created the most ingenious work of our era."
The critic Mirbo writes a letter to Meterlink, in which he urgently asks him to devote all his free time to literary work. It was Mirbo's intervention that helped the writer overcome his parents' resistance. Now the biography of Maurice Meterlink is radically changing its direction.
Beginning of a writing career
He makes the final choice. His works begin to be published in the local press and receive well-deserved praise from critics. Inspired by Meterlink leaves jurisprudence forever. Now literature is all that Maurice Meterlink is doing. His plays are highly appreciated by critics, some of them even call the beginning writer the new Shakespeare.
It is known that Meterlink was very inclined to use metaphors and subtexts in his works. Therefore, at first he writes mainly fairy tales and plays. His characters communicate with each other in brief, but very capacious and meaningful phrases. Especially in Maurice, it turns out to write plays for puppets - in fact, unlike live actors, it is much easier to convey a symbol and express subtext through an artificial doll.
Main works
In 1895, the writer first met a girl who became for him both a companion, and a secretary, and an assistant in all matters - Georgette Leblanc. And in 1896, the couple moved to the capital of France - Paris. Since that time, Meterlink has written many metaphorical short stories that are included in his collections. This is the “Treasure of the humble”, “Wisdom and fate” and “Life of the bees”. In the latter, for example, the vain human life is compared with the life of bees.
One of the most popular works of Meterlink - “The Blue Bird” - was staged by Stanislavsky in Moscow. The premiere took place in 1908. The production was a great success on the theatrical stages of other capitals - London, Paris, New York. For the first time, they learn about what the world that Maurice Meterlink created is. Quotes from his works are everywhere. For example, “Whoever loves me and whom I love, they will always find me …”, “To see and not love is to look in the dark”, “Do not worry. They play the fact that they are happy …"
Features of the writer
A world where allegories and metaphors come to the fore is the one of a kind dimension that Maurice Meterlink created. Interesting facts about his work, for example, are described in the book "The Great Writers of the Twentieth Century." As an example, here is the story of the writer “Blind”. All his heroes live on the island, and there are no sighted ones among them. These people are waiting for the arrival of the unknown messiah - the Savior. And only one child sees him, who is sighted.
This whole story is full of metaphors. An island means human life, and the ocean surrounding it means suspense and death. The lighthouse on the island symbolizes science. A sighted child is a type of new art. This is the traditional transcript of one of the writer's stories. However, as expected, a symbol can have many meanings.
