Queen Tamara (play) explained

Queen Tamara^[1] (no|Dronning Tamara) is a three-act play by Knut Hamsun about Tamar of Georgia.^[2] It was published in 1903.^[2]

Characters

• Tamara, Queen of Georgia
• Prince Giorgi, her husband
• Giorgi and Rusdan, their children
• The prior
• The abbot
• Fatimat, the queen's servant
• The khan of Tovin
• Zaidata
• Juanata
• Sofiat
• Mecedu
• Prince Giorgi's adjutant
• Two Tatar officers
• Two Georgian prisoners
• A hetman
• The queen's officers and soldiers, Tovin officers and soldiers, monks, scribes, musicians, dancers, girls, servants

Reception

Hamsun's play was poorly received. Reviews characterized it as uninteresting or even a failure, and Hamsun is considered to have known too little about the subject matter to convincingly develop the plot.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: Žagar . Monika . Knut Hamsun: The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance . 2011 . University of Washington Press . Seattle, WA . 137.
2. Book: Oxfeldt . Elizabeth . Nordic Orientalism: Paris and the Cosmopolitan Imagination, 1800–1900 . 2005 . Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen . Copenhagen . 220.
3. Žagar . Monika . Knut Hamsun's Taming of the Shrew? A Reading of 'Dronning Tamara' . Scandinavian Studies . 1998 . 70 . 3 . 354-355.