König Ottokars Glück und Ende
Based on the historical events surrounding the life of Ottokar II of Bohemia, the play deals with the fall of the king from the height of his powers to his death, having lost most of his supporters and lands, largely through his own actions.
Grillparzer had originally wanted to write a tragedy about Napoleon, however, fearing censorship from Austrian authorities, instead used King Ottokar II of Bohemia (1253–1278) as the central figure, as there were a number of parallels in personality traits and circumstances.
The play was completed in 1823, but publication was delayed by censorship issues, notably the "unfortunate allusion to Napoleon's second marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria, and its unfavourable portrayal of Bohemia".
The wife of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Caroline Augusta of Bavaria read the play and urged her husband to allow it to be publicly performed, which took place for the first time on February 19, 1825 in Vienna's Burgtheater.
Instead, he is to marry Kunigunde, young relative of the Hungarian King Bela, news which breaks the heart of Berta, one of Margarete's most beautiful ladies-in-waiting who Ottokar had previously seduced, as well as alienating her family, the Rosenbergs.
Despite revealing that she never loved Ottokar, and only married him after the death of her first husband out of a sense of duty, Margarete is nevertheless deeply upset by this rejection and betrayal, although still waives her rights to retain the lands of Austria and Styria inherited from her first marriage.
In this intervening period, a letter is rushed to an influential figure among the electors, the Archbishop of Mainz, outlining Ottokar's treatment of Margarete, and the crown is instead offered to the more worthy but lowly Duke Rudolf von Habsburg.
We do not see Ottokar during his rise to power, however the implications are that the same essential traits that propelled him forward are, when unmoderated, those that bring him down: his sense of greatness and historical importance in the world mark him out as a mighty leader, yet also lead him to see others as merely pawns in his personal game; his pride is clearly a strong motivating factor for him, but also clouds his judgement; he is a determined warrior, yet does not know when to fight and when to resort to diplomacy.
Perhaps inevitably, given the context of when the play was written, his status is too simply that of a paragon of leadership, a thinly-veiled attempt to praise the Habsburg dynasty still ruling in Austria at the time.
The plot of the play follows the decline in the fortunes of Ottokar, and points to the causal relationship between his behaviour towards others, and the consequences for himself: Ottokar's treatment of Margarete costs him the crown of Holy Roman Emperor; by spurning Berta, he alienates the Rosenbergs, who are then able to undermine him (particularly Zawisch) in numerous ways, none more so than by ensuring the letter to the Archbishop of Mainz reaches its destination; by executing Merenberg, he drives Seyfried to kill him in revenge; and by failing to respond rationally to the peace treaties of Rudolf, he instigates a war with disastrous consequences for him and his people.
[1] Grillparzer contrasts Ottokar actions with those of Rudolf, which show that by being a good and just leader, it is possible to create unity among rival factions, to inspire true loyalty, and to be victorious.
[3] Grillparzer felt that a true historical context was important to a tragedy's ability to create 'a certain consistency and appearance of reality,[4] which in turn would evoke in the audience a greater sympathy with the tragic hero.
Historically, a full 22 years separates the aftermath of the Battle of Kressenbrunn in 1260 with Ottokar's death in 1278 and Rudolf von Habsburg bequeathing the lands of Austria and Styria to his sons in 1282.
Pro-Habsburg critics pointed out that Rudolf had only a minor role compared to Ottokar, while in turn the Czechs disapproved that the play depicts their national hero in a negative light [7]
