Who has not read the book in the past, in high school Dutch? Eline Vere, the debut novel by Louis Couperus, is among the classics of Dutch literature and long adorned the reading list. The novel, which appeared in 1888 as a serial in newspaper The Fatherland, tells the story of Eline Vere, a 23-year-old woman from a well-to-do family, who longs for love and freedom. Eline lives in with her sister Betsy and brother-in-law Henk. She is not happy. Numerous wealthy men are vying for her hand, but Eline cannot come to a decision and ends up in a downward spiral of loneliness, drudgery and depression.
Inner conflict
In a new adaptation, Hummelinck Stuurman Theaterbureau brings this moving story back to the stage, with roles for Hanne Arendzen, Marc Klein Essink, Oda Spelbos and Vincent Croiset, among others. The adaptation and direction are in the hands of Ger Thijs, who with Eline Vere is bringing his fourth major adaptation of a Couperus novel to the theatre. Earlier, he did The silent force, and The books of little souls and Of old people, the things that pass even twice.
Once before, Thijs had been to Eline Vere started, but that came to nothing at the time. 'Eline mainly has an inner conflict, not an outer conflict - her unhappiness lies mostly with herself. I didn't know how to put that well on stage. But some time ago, I started reading the book again and decided to take another shot. I see Eline better before me, see her in line with portraits of women like Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina: women seeking freedom and individuality in a pinched-down society. I no longer think of her as a hysterical creature.'
Sentences in the book suddenly became clear to him, Thijs says. 'Somewhere Eline says that her father was a painter and did great paintings with mythological subjects, but that he never finished them. And then she says of herself, "Something in me is unfinished." I thought: that's interesting! It revolves around someone who constantly destroys her own happiness. Everyone knows someone like that. You see Eline constantly making wrong choices, she becomes more and more schizophrenic, and people stand around and don't know what to do with it. Say wrong things to her, making her even more confused. That drama is beautiful to make.'
With the blankets over your head
Hanne Arendzen, known from the television series Ramses, did a great audition for the role. Ger Thijs saw: yes, that's Eline. Because Eline is a complex character to play, the actress has already read the book four times. 'I also found an interesting little book by psychiatrist Frans de Jonghe, Eline Vere at the psychiatrist's office, in which he analyses and diagnoses her. I think she represents something that psychologically healthy people would all like to admit to in our underbelly sometimes: we all feel incredibly unhappy at times and would prefer to stay in bed with the blankets over our heads all day. But Eline doesn't get out of that. That's what makes it so tragic. People around her do their best to help her, but Eline doesn't see that and sees it as interference. You see hope fading, and in the end it is inevitable that she takes an overdose of morphine. I really like that about it. There is a wide range of emotions in her and in the play.'
Social codes
The social position of women and men at that time was different from today, but also not so different that people cannot identify with it, Thijs thinks. 'Eline Vere is an extraordinary woman, whose intelligence and independence put her at odds with society. She is a woman who yearns for freedom and is enslaved by her environment. Eline, for instance, cannot decide for herself to go on a trip. That is unthinkable. There are all kinds of societal restrictions that destroy her free spirit and she feels suffocated, constricted in a corset. In terms of equality between men and women, of course, we have come some way, but equal it is still not; I still feel the unexpressed value difference between men and women when I look around me. And even now, a woman who is smart and strong can have quite a hard time with that.'
'That struggle to fight yourself free and live your life individually is of all times,' agrees Marc Klein Essink, who plays the role of Lawrence St. Clare, an American family friend who asks Eline to marry him. Lawrence views Eline's environment as an outsider. He tries to help her, but by telling her that she does not actually fit in those circles at all and will not be happy there, he also creates discord between her and those around her. 'It is a story about people who have to survive within a society and certain social codes, with their ideals and ambitions and impossibilities. We are going to play it in such a way that you identify to the maximum with the people and their motives. How high does the pressure have to get before you choose something? Or says: now it has been enough?'
Eline Vere will go on tour until the end of January. The premiere is on Saturday 26 September in The Hague. For the playlist, visit www.hummelinckstuurman.nl.
This article also appeared in other form in Art & Culture.
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