Hirttonuora eli Asarias Pöllänen leskimiehenä : $b Kolmenäytöksinen huvinäytelmä

by Martti Wuori

"Hirttonuora eli Asarias Pöllänen leskimiehenä" by Martti Wuori is a three-act stage comedy written in the early 20th century. It lampoons small-village matchmaking and moral posturing as a young widower, Asarias Pöllänen, becomes the target of two determined spinsters, Sanna Tossavainen and Santra Saurénska, while his crafty friend Ville Vilkki and the blunt Reverend Tobias Saxbäck try to restore order. Set in late 19th-century Savo, the play blends grief and farce into a brisk tussle over love, reputation, and peace of mind. At the start of the play, Asarias sits in his farmhouse sunk in grief for his wife and newborn, even toying with the noose, as Ville tries to console him and fend off suitors. Sanna bursts in with flirtation and domestic zeal, Santra follows with pious hymns and “comfort,” and their rivalry erupts in barbs, boasting, and competitive singing while Ville plots to take both to the parsonage to end the siege. The action shifts to the rectory, where the amused but stern rovasti hears Sanna and Santra in turn, rebukes them for vanity, slander, and unseemly zeal, and confirms that Asarias has no intent to remarry. Sanna storms out threatening lawsuits; Santra pleads to keep visiting to sing but is told to leave the man in peace. The opening thus sets up a comic triangle (plus a wily go-between) and lands the conflict under clerical scrutiny, with the pastor sending each woman away and the men escorting them home.