Nestroy, Johann Nepomuk (1801–1862)

Austrian playwright and comic actor. Combining excellent characterization and pungent social comment in ambiguous word play, Nestroy's parodies are witty and sad commentaries. His plays include Der böse Lumpazivagabundus oder Das liederliche Kleeblatt 1833; Müller, Kohlenbrenner und Sesseltrager 1834; Zu ebener Erde und erster Stock oder Die Launen des Glucks 1835, his first unequivocally tragic farce; and the more philosophical Die beiden Nachtwandler oder Das Notwendige und das Überflüssige 1836, with its cynical, self-revelatory tone and use of the sleepwalker symbol to express the individual's progress through life.

Nestroy was born in Vienna. His prolific work dominated the Viennese Popular Theatre after Ferdinand Raimund's death; his sharp satires and political comedies enjoyed great popularity. Beginning with traditional fairy tale farce, Die Verbannung aus dem Zauberreiche 1828, his irony and cynicism soon set him apart and after Der böse Lumpazivagabundus oder Das liederliche Kleeblatt, he left the supernatural with Die Familien Zwirn, Knieriem und Leim oder Der Welt-Untergang 1834. Subsequent plays are tragic farces in which life is propelled inevitably by mechanical, predetermined forces. Reality is the greatest concern, especially a disillusioned revelation of human fate set against revolutionary political events. Although he tried to overcome the purely tragic in his later works, their ultimate impression is disillusion.