Pieter Langendijk

Pieter Langendijk (Haarlem, 25 July 1683 – Haarlem, 9 or 18 July 1756) was a damask weaver, city artist, dramatist, and poet.

Life

Pieter was the son of Arend Kort, a mason born in Langedijk. When young, his father died, and so he and his mother began a textile business. In 1695, they moved to the Hague, before moving on to Amsterdam. With a job in a damask weaving and as an office clerk, Pieter earned enough to support them both. Around 1708 Pieter took a course in drawing and paint, together with Frans van Steenwijk. On his 28th birthday his "Don Quichot op de Bruiloft van Kamacho" appeared. It proved a success and began a permanent run at the Schouwberg of Van Campen. The farces "De zwetser" and "The Mutual marriage-deception" appeared the next year.

Pieter wrote yet more comedies in the style of Molière, who he also translated and wrote about. Together with Hermanus Angelkot, he wrote "Cato", dedicated to the mayor Nicolaes Witsen. "Quincampoix, or the gamblers on the Stock Exchange" became very famous, written in the notorious year 1720 that John Law ruined many investors in Paris. "Arlequin Actionist" was a commedia dell' arte farce on the stock-jobbery, one act long, with a real fight, dance and music.

In 1722, he was appointed as city-artist to Haarlem, while his mother meanwhile took to drink. He also had a house outside the city, while he could still get out the city. After his mother died, he married a sickly and moody woman who died eleven years later. Pieter wrote only a single tragedy, at the end of his life. In 1747, he had to sell a large part of its books and possessions. Pieter lived in Haarlem "Proveniershuis", where he was given free accommodation in return for writing a history of the city. The previous description of the city was from 1628, written by Samuel Ampzing. On his sickbed he wanted to be baptized at home, and "only five days did Pieter survive after this religious performance...".

Pieter wrote five pieces of comparable length, in which symmetry played a role. With exposition, intrigue and crisis, he respected the unities of time, place and action, using this classicist form to hold a mirror up to the bourgeoisie. Nowhere did the tone become moralizing, but was more a "comedy of manners" (comédies des moeurs), showing the hypocrisy of those in the higher positions (ie the higher bourgeoisie or the impoverished middle-classes).

"Het wederzijds huwelijksbedrog" (The Mutual Marriage Deception)

In this comedy, Lodewijk meets Charlotte. Lodewijk is an aristocrat, in great financial difficulties but acting as if he is a rich Polish count. Charlotte also comes from the impoverished aristocracy, and also acts as if her situation is more prosperous. Lodewijk has a servant, Jan, and Charlotte has a maid, Klaar. Jan acts as if he is a baron and tries to win Klaar for himself. Everybody thinks that he they will get married. This 'mutual marriage deception' comes to light when Karel, the brother of Charlotte, unmasks everybody at the theatre, but the marriages still go ahead, because both couples have fallen in love with each other.

"De spiegel der vaderlandse kooplieden" (The Play of the fatherlands' couples)

This work also holds up a mirror to the audience. Two generations are placed opposite each other: those born in the 17th and 18th centuries. Ernst and Hendrik are conscientious seventeenth-century merchants who, through hard work, gain position. Their sons represent the following, 18th century generations, and are called Lichthart (light heart), husband to Kwistgoed, and Losbol (loose-liver), husband of Zoetje. They waste all the money that their fathers have made and the whole family fortune is lost.

External links

* [http://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=lang020 Pieter Langendijk in the Digitale Bibliotheek Nederlandse Letteren]

Works

*Spiegel der Vaderlandsche Kooplieden door Pieter Langendijk. Waar agter gevoegd is het Leeven van den Dichter. Uitgegeven met inleiding en aantekeningen door dr. G.A. van Es, (1979)