Satire, Caricature and Perspectivism in the Works of Georg Büchner [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9783112320457, 9783112309278

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SATIRE, CARICATURE AND PERSPECTIVEM IN THE WORKS OF GEORG BÜCHNER

SSGS

STANFORD STUDIES IN GERMANICS AND SLAVICS

Edited by E D G A R L O H N E R , C. H. V A N S C H O O N E V E L D , F. W. STROTHMANN

VOLUME VIII

1970

MOUTON THE H A G U E • PARIS

SATIRE, CARICATURE AND PERSPECTIV! S M IN THE WORKS OF GEORG BÜCHNER

by H E N R Y J. S C H M I D T

1970

MOUTON THE H A G U E • P A R I S

© Copyright 1970 in The Netherlands Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 73-111621

Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague

To My Parents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Professor Walter H. Sokel I wish to extend my profoundest thanks for his invaluable advice and constant encouragement during the writing of this book. My thanks also go to Professor Edgar Lohner and Professor A. P. Foulkes for their help. I am very grateful to Dr. Paul Raabe and his able staff at the library of the Schiller Nationalmuseum, Marbach am Neckar, Germany, and to Professor Werner R. Lehmann, for the help they provided me. Lastly I thank Stanford University and the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst for the joint scholarship which enabled me to study in Germany.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

7

I. Introduction

11

II. Satire, Caricature, the Grotesque

28

A. Purpose: Satire B. Technique: Caricature C. Effect: the Grotesque

28 32 37

III. The Single Perspective A. Woyzeck: the Doctor B. Woyzeck: the "others" C. Dantons Tod: The Revolutionary and the Masses D. Leonce und Lena: Clowns and Caricatures IV. The Multiple Perspective A. Introduction: the Marionette B. Woyzeck: the Captain C. Dantons Tod: Robespierre

72 72 75 88

D. Leonce und Lena: King Peter and Valerio V. Georg Büchner's Satiric Tendencies Bibliography

.

41 41 52 58 65

.

.

97 104 115

I INTRODUCTION

When Wolfgang Martens' article, "Zur Karikatur in der Dichtung Büchners (Woyzecks Hauptmann)", 1 appeared in 1958, an important aspect of Büchner's dramatic style was placed into a new perspective. The term "caricature" was not new in Büchner scholarship; it had been often applied to such figures as the Captain and the Doctor in Woyzeck, King Peter and his court in Leonce und Lena, or to the brief sketch of the aristocrats in Dantons Tod, designating an exaggerated typification of a social class which Büchner wished to disparage. Büchner critics had generally minimized the importance of caricature, considering it not essential to the central themes of his plays. Martens disagrees. He begins his argument by saying, " . . . die sozialkritisch-satirische Karikatur bei Büchner [erweist sich] als keineswegs einheitlich und eindeutig"; 2 there are elements in Büchner's caricatures which appear to have no function and to transcend social satire and typification.3 Singling out the Captain in Woyzeck, Martens finds him to be by no means as unified a caricature as the Doctor, his traditional partner.4 The Captain is nervous, anxious, and restless, characteristics which do not conform to his social status or to his strict principles of order. His speech is disjointed. He is bored with life, yet he profoundly fears death. Although presented in a ludicrous manner, these character traits betray a close similarity to traits of Büchner's heroes. Even the most vital problem in Büchner's writings —the search for the meaning of existence — appears in parodied form in the Captain's mental meander1

Germanisch-romanische Monatsschrift, Neue Folge VIII (1958), 64-71. Ibid., p. 64. * Ibid. * Ibid., p. 68. 8

12

INTRODUCTION

ings. In his inner uncertainty is reflected the despair of Danton, Lenz, Leonce, and Woyzeck. 5 Martens concludes that such elements which transcend social satire do not have their origin in society, but that they reflect the disharmony of existence itself: "In gesellschaftliche Anklage mischt sich ein geheimes Grauen vor einer übergesellschaftlichen Heillosigkeit der Weltordnung." 6 Finally Martens endeavors to conceptualize these two levels of characterization: satiric caricature strives for social change with concrete, limited goals, whereas the representation of the unchangeable, negative quality of existence is attained by the grotesque. 7 Martens' preliminary study provokes a number of thorny questions. How does one make a distinction between "caricature" and "the grotesque" in a literary work of art? Do the terms not overlap? Is caricature essentially "Tendenz" or may one speak of "caricature of Being"? And concerning Büchner: How and to what purpose does he use satire, caricature, and the grotesque in his plays ? Only an extensive textual analysis could provide a reliable answer. Would a reappraisal of certain secondary figures in Dantons Tod, in Leonce und Lena, and Woyzeck lead to a new evaluation of the dramatic structure or content of these plays? These questions have prompted the present investigation. Used as a corrective weapon, caricature may transcend the work of art in which it exists by alluding to external reality, or caricature may itself become a work of art, existing as an object of aesthetic value and universal significance. It is the aim of this study to determine if Büchner was able to unite these two qualities within his dramas, or if certain figures must be said to exist apart from the central unity of these works. In order to establish guidelines for such an investigation and to try to avoid the massive contradiction that has arisen around this topic, it will first be necessary to examine the pertinent material that has already appeared. The first extensive study of Woyzeck was done by Walther Kupsch, 8 5

Ibid., p. 69. Ibid., p. 70. 7 Ibid. 8 Wozzeck, Ein Beitrag zum Schaffen Georg Büchners dien, Heft 4) (Berlin, 1920). •

(=

Germanische

Stu-

INTRODUCTION

13

succeeded five years later by Hans Winkler's unduly neglected Georg Büchners "Woyzeck" * Kupsch maintains that the erratic rhythm in the speech and movement of Woyzeck's characters is derived from the tradition of the commedia dell'arte,™ and that the frequent pauses and gaps in the drama incite improvisational movement to complement the spoken word. 11 This occurs in the scenes which are not realistically oriented, 12 apparently meaning those not involving Woyzeck. Kupsch constructs a table of possible correspondences between the figures in Woyzeck and the stock types of the commedia dell'arte.ls Winkler finds this approach senseless and superficial, 14 saying that the commedia dell'arte theater essentially projected the play into the audience; moreover, the audience itself was reflected by the masks which typified it.15 The commedia dell'arte figures are caricatures, not humans, unreal. Their actions are outwardly directed, as are their gestures.16 But in Woyzeck, Büchner does not play to the audience. Supporting this viewpoint, Rudolf Majut finds the Woyzeck figures so individually drawn that describing them as traditional types denies their uniqueness. Furthermore, the erratic rhythm of the play is inherent to Büchner's realistic style.17 Leonce und Lena, however, may well have been influenced by the commedia dell'arte.18 The basis of this dispute rests on the terms, "reality" and "type", which lead far beyond the scope of a literary analysis. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to consider what constitutes "individuality" in Büchner's characterizations. Hans Winkler painstakingly traces the evolution of the Doctor and the Captain through the various drafts of Woyzeck, finding that the Doctor became less of a personal caricature and more typified as Büchner revised his fragmentary play.19 The same occurs with the 9

Greifswald, 1925. Kupsch, p. 80. 11 Ibid., p. 83. 12 Ibid., p. 80. 15 Ibid., p. 88. 14 Winkler, p. 217. 15 Ibid., p. 216. 10 Ibid., p. 217 (footnote). 17 Rudolf Majut, Studien um Büchner. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der problematischen Natur (= Germanische Studien, Heft 121) (Berlin, 1932), p. 7. 18 Ibid., p. 9. 18 Winkler, p. 158. 10

14

INTRODUCTION

Captain, but he still fears the unplumbed depths of existence and endeavors to combat this fear by clinging to a strictly regulated life.20 Winkler develops an interesting parallel: "Der Hauptmann ist die banalisierte Gestalt Robespierres aus Dantons Tod, der Doktor: Payne's, [sic] Robespierre ist der im moralischen System gerettete Bürger, dem es vor dem Abgrund gelegentlich graut. Payne ist der beruhigte, seelenlose Materialist."21 Although one might argue a stronger case for St. Just as the Doctor's counterpart than for Payne, the CaptainRobespierre analogy is extremely fruitful and has often been reexamined. Winkler goes a step further: he discovers a common bond linking many of Büchner's disparate characters. Because of the uncertainty of human existence, many of them are hovering on the brink of insanity, as Büchner himself was.22 This theory remains tantalizingly incomplete, for Winkler simply footnotes this remark, which refers to Woyzeck, with a daring juxtaposition: "Danton, Leonce, Lenz, König Peter, Hauptmann, usw."23 Relative or absolute insanity takes the form of an "idée fixe". Yet again Winkler anticipates the implications of his statement, realizing how dangerously insensitive such a label can be. "Will man Lenz und Woyzeck als naturalistisch-medizinische Krankheitsgeschichten ansehen, stellt man sich auf den Standpunkt des Doktors, für den Woyzeck ein 'interessanter Kasus' ist, mit einer interessanten fixen Idee." 24 Not only would we lose our pity for Woyzeck, but we would misinterpret the play, for, according to Winkler, Woyzeck is a "Werkzeug einer strafenden Gerechtigkeit" ; 25 his decision to murder Marie is a moral and fully conscious one, for ". . . das durch die Untreue der Marie verletzte Naturwesen, die vernichtete Liebe, der zerstörte Lebenssinn Woyzecks verlangt die Tat". 28 And further: "Unwesentlich ist, ob der Psychiater diese Besessenheit von einer Idee noch 'normal' nennt; Büchner wollte in jedem Fall im Woyzeck einen geistigen Menschen gestalten, der den Mord durch den Geist begeht,... n i c h t . . . durch ein körperlich oder psychisch bedingtes Versagen des 20 21 22

« " "

28

Ibid., p. 158, 159. Ibid., pp. 159-160. Ibid., p. 167. Ibid. Ibid., p. 168. Ibid., p. 136. Ibid., p. 167.

INTRODUCTION

15

27

Willens." Thus the figures are at the brink of insanity, but they still retain their powers of reasoning and their individuality. "Die Personen des Woyzeck wirken suggestiv, sie sind nicht Symbole, nicht rational errechnete Menschen (Naturalismus), nicht gegebene, festliegende Typen" (footnote here: "Wie in der Commedia dell'arte... ."). 28 Winkler has almost completely eliminated the distinguishing differences among the figures, demanding, although not explicitly, as much pity for the Captain as for Woyzeck. In his study of Leonce und Lena, Armin Renker29 draws a thoughtprovoking portrait of King Peter. Here Renker does not merely speak of satire, but of humor: "Die Fürstengegnerschaft Büchners hat ihre heitere Seite. . . . Die Gestalt König Peters ist eine Station auf dem Wege zu Spinoza, ein überlegenes Lächeln über die Unerreichbarkeit des Unerreichbaren. . . . Die entsetzlichste Steigerung des Subjektivismus wird hier zum komischen Einfall." 80 Humor and satire are not synonymous, and this important distinction with respect to King Peter has been generally neglected in later criticism. Turning to King Peter's position in the "fairy tale reality" 81 of Leonce und Lena: "Die Gestalt König Peters, so übertrieben sie auch erscheint, ist von höchster Lebenswahrheit; bei keiner anderen Gestalt im Lustspiel kommt es uns so erschreckend zum Bewusstsein, welch dünne Krüste die Erde hat, wie bei König Peter, der unter ständigem Druck lebt." 82 Renker fittingly mentions Woyzeck's Captain in context with King Peter, but he unconvincingly assumes that King Peter must have been patterned after an acquaintance of Büchner's, for this figure is regarded as a somewhat exaggerated projection of reality which contrasts to the distant romanticism of the other figures.88 In melodious prose Friedrich Gundolf depicts Woyzeck's demonic environment: "Die Gesellschaftsschicht ist im Woyzeck eine Stimmung . . . entledigt aller Zwecke, der Politik, der Moral, ja selbst der "

Ibid. Ibid., p. 215. 2g Georg Büchner und das Lustspiel der Romantik H e f t 34) (Berlin, 1924). 8 ® Ibid., pp. 73-74. 31 Ibid., p. 74. 32 Ibid., p. 73. 33 Ibid., p. 74. 28

(=

Germanische

Studien,

16

INTRODUCTION

Vernunft. Hier wacht nur die Schicksalslandschaft mit ihren Seelenwesen."84 The problem is merely relegated to the indefinable and is elucidated no further. Hans Mayer makes a similar omission. Although he presents an elaborate historical setting for his discussion of Büchner's aesthetics, he never speaks of caricature in this context.36 The reason is clear: social satire is a phenomenon quite separate from aesthetic considerations. "In Büchners Dramen gibt es keine Gleichberechtigung der Sympathien und Antipathien. Wo der Aristokratismus .der Hofkreise oder der 'geistige' Aristokratismus geschildert werden soll, den Büchner hasst und verachtet, werden seine Träger mit Hass und Verachtung in aller Parteilichkeit geschildert: König und Schranzen in Leonce und Lena, Doktor, Hauptmann oder auch Tambourmajor als Quäler des armen Franz Woyzeck."38 Büchner's sympathy rests on class structure; a strict division is made between oppressors and the oppressed. In fact, even human guilt is traced to social origins: "Die Frage nach dem, was 'in uns' das Verbrechen erzeugt, wird mit brutaler Schärfe an das gesellschaftliche Sein, an die Antinomien des Besitzes und der Bildung verwiesen."37 Hatred and scorn of the decadent aristocracy are said to have motivated the writing of Leonce und Lena,38 and all scenes dealing with King Peter are "ganz einfach Satire. . . gespeist aus Hass, nicht aus Spott und Laune".89 However, at one point Mayer probes more deeply into the secondary figures in Woyzeck, and his remarks here contradict his primary thesis. The figures surrounding Woyzeck are individuals and types concurrently, he maintains. "Sie leben ihr eigenes Leben, allein es wird von Umständen gestaltet und getrieben, die sie nicht erfassen, noch weniger gestalten oder gar verändern können. Das Sein einer unharmonischen, in sich widerspruchsvollen Ordnung verkündet sich in ihnen. 'Natur' und 'Moral' finden nicht zueinander. Man ahnt, wie die Kräfte aussehen, die den Woyzeck in 84

Friedrich Gundolf, Romantiker (Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 1930), p. 392. Article on Büchner in: Wege der Forschung: Georg Büchner, ed. Wolfgang Martens (Darmstadt, 1965), pp. 82-91. Abbr. "WDF". 95 Hans Mayer, "Georg Büchners ästhetische Anschauungen", Georg Büchner und seine Zeit (Wiesbaden, 1959), pp. 399-440. 34 Ibid., p. 438. 37 Georg Büchner und seine Zeit, p. 336. 38 Ibid., pp. 312-313. 38 Ibid., p. 313.

17

INTRODUCTION

Wahnsinn und Verbrechen hineinhetzen, aber bezwingen kann man sie nicht." 4 0 I f these figures are to a certain extent individuals, suffering in a disharmonious universe, as Woyzeck is, then why do they not merit the playwright's pity,which, according to Mayer, is Büchners sole answer to the "terrible fatalism of history" ? Contrary to Mayer, Karl Vietor 4 1 does examine Büchners caricatures at length. Although he avoids a sociological interpretation of the plays, Vietor comes basically to the same conclusions as Mayer. For instance, King Peter's scenes are "nichts als Satire", based, however, not on hatred but on sarcasm.42 In Woyzeck the dichotomy between the hero and his environment is made yet more distinct; Büchner is seen to intrude into his play, consciously changing his dramatic style: "Büchner führt den Kampf, den der arme Woyzeck nicht zu führen vermag, den Kampf gegen die Gesellschaft, gegen Woyzecks Quälgeister. In diesen Szenen ist das epische Spiel Woyzeck

allerdings ein soziales Kampf-

stück; die Gestalten aus der bürgerlichen Welt sind in einem andern Stil gezeichnet als die aus dem Volk. Es gibt zweierlei Stil in diesem Stück, ein tendenziösen, 'aktivistischen', und einen epischen, realistischen." 4 3 Vietor stresses the subjective involvement of the caricaturist, who willingly departs from realistic portrayal in order to expose, to kill through ridicule. 44 Yet suddenly Vietor shifts his perspective, linking caricature with objective reality in a basically unanswerable proposition: "Büchner freilich würde wohl nicht zugegeben haben, dass diese Fratzen weniger wahr, weniger wirklich seien als die Gestalten aus dem Volk. Der Doktor, lächerliche Verkörperung des Gelehrsamkeits-Dünkels, ist offenbar 'nach dem Leben' gestaltet." 45 Is this, then, not "objektiver Wirklichkeitsstil",

46

which Vietor regards as the anti-

thesis of caricature? The Captain is not based on any known individual — is he therefore any less realistic? It is not important whether Büchner thought he was exaggerating or not, but whether one can really make such a firm distinction between artistic and extra-artistic motivation. 40 41

12 43 44 45 46

Ibid., p. 338.

Georg Büchner: Politik, Dichtung, Wissenschaft

Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid. Ibid.,

p. 180. p. 192. p. 196.

p. 194.

(Bern, 1949).

18

INTRODUCTION

On the last two pages of their respective "Woyzeck" chapters, both Viétor and Mayer modify their opinions of the figures around Woyzeck. Mayer realizes that every character is subject to the fatalism of history;47 Viétor speaks of "das grosse, furchtbare Muss" which rules human existence.48 Die andern, die Menschen aus der Gesellschaft, haben zwischen ihrem Dasein und dem Übermächtigen Kulissen aufgebaut, damit sie es nicht mehr Auge in Auge aushalten müssen: ihre Selbsttäuschungen, ihre Ideale; und durch ihre Moral haben sie das Ursprüngliche und Drohende eingedämmt, abgeleitet, dass es ihr umhegtes Gartendasein nicht gefährdet. Für diese kraftlos und klein gewordene Kultur der "abgelebten modernen Gesellschaft" hat Büchner nur Verachtung und Spott. 4 »

Although the last sentence refers to Viétor's original premise, he has implied that these figures are aware of their condition, for they have consciously acted against it. It would seem that the one who flees from the demonic forces that threaten human existence, one who hides in idealism or self-deception is certainly human and deserving of a poet's sympathy. Is not Woyzeck the weaker for not successfully resisting the forces that destroy him? Viétor again unwittingly opens a wide field of speculation here. The first study of Büchner in English contributes little to the topic under discussion. A.H.J.Knight disposes of King Peter by calling him a "mad philosopher-king" , so the Doctor is "almost a raving lunatic", although he is "a not greatly exaggerated caricature",51 the Captain is a "good-natured fool", 62 and the scene in Dantons Tod, in which an aristocrat suddenly breaks into uncharacteristic Büchneresque imagery, is summarized as: "A lunatic and his equally crazy friend".83 Knight's thinking somewhat resembles the Captain's here, for he applies the label of abnormality to incomprehensible behavior without probing any deeper. If these characters were totally insane, they would have little meaning for us and would be far less threatening than they are. 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

Mayer, p. 338. Vietor, p. 211. Ibid. A. H. J . Knight, Georg Büchner Ibid., p. 119. Ibid., p. 118. Ibid., p. 76.

(Oxford, 1951), p. 99.

INTRODUCTION

19

Knight's extreme judgment of Leonce und Lena is an extension of Winkler's comments on insanity: "If there is one thing which Leonce und Lena is not, that thing is a comedy of character. There simply are no characters in it, only caricatures, and caricatures, at that, which have only the most tenuous connexion with real human beings."54 Aside from the consideration that this, if true, would greatly lessen the merit of the play, one is justified in asking: is Leonce a caricature of the aristocracy? Or of mankind? Is Valerio possibly a caricature of Leonce? A caricaturist often chooses to dehumanize man by comparing him to a machine. In 1952 this idea was investigated by Ursula Kaiser in her dissertation on Die Mechanisierung des Lebens im dichterischen Werk Georg Büchners.** She seeks in Büchner's works signs of a "Verengung des Lebens in einem mechanischen Weltverständnis, wie es einerseits in einer zwanghaften Staatsordnung, andererseits in der Lebenshaltung der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts geschah."56 In so doing she deals with Büchner's caricatures at length. She finds that through them Büchner is expressing "etwas Allgemeines und Grundsätzliches", but in using them as his mouthpiece he departs from "naturgetreue Charakterzeichnung".87 Similarly to Mayer, Kaiser envisions these figures as individuals and types. Büchner criticizes not two unique individuals (Captain and Doctor), but the regulated way of life which they represent.58 Since they are inimical to human nature by choice, Büchner makes them appear lifeless and unnatural, like machines or marionettes.69 The metaphor of the marionette, which Büchner himself uses repeatedly, represents for Kaiser the absence of human relationships. The marionette exists for itself and is unable to communicate with its environment.80 Büchner's characters all share this plight, and the caricatures often parody this condition.61 But the caricatures are not always motivated by the author's hatred. King Peter is a product of humorous exaggeration,62 at times M 55 56

"

58

»

60 61 61

Ibid., p. 101. Frankfurt a.M., 1952. Ibid., p. A. Ibid., p. 111. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., p. 23. Ibid., see p. 79 and 93. Ibid., p. 79.

20

INTRODUCTION

parodying Robespierre, whom Büchner treats in all seriousness, but who indicates little or no distortion characteristic of caricature.63 Robespierre's excesses, however (to close the circle), occasionally result in unintentional humor.84 One cannot be sure whether the "unintentional" refers to Robespierre or to Büchner, for at one point Kaiser makes a surprising statement: "Die Abneigung gegen das Bürgertum geht bei Büchner sogar so weit, dass die Darstellung der bürgerlichen Welt oft unversehens in die Karikatur übergeht, das heisst, der Hass und die Abneigung des Dichters sind so stark, dass er in der Darstellung die negativen Züge so einseitig hervortreibt, dass die Darstellung zur Karikatur wird." 45 Thus Büchner's exaggerations of reality are unconscious when he is carried away by his emotions. During a discussion of Leonce und Lena, on the other hand, Kaiser speaks of Büchner's "Freude an der Karikatur",86 which indicates a conscious awareness of the creative process. Thus we are left in some confusion as to Büchner's possible motivations for his caricatures. Kaiser approaches Büchner's figures from a thematic point of view. She finds much in her topic to relate the caricatures to Büchner's "Weltanschauung", but of necessity she is limited by her attention to content at the exclusion of style. When she transcends these limitations, her observations are quite speculative, as we have seen. In a textual analysis, on the other hand, the interpreter must divest himself of all preconceived theories. It is to be regretted that Helmut Krapp did not extend his exemplary investigation of Büchner's dramatic style67 to an analysis encompassing the secondary characters in Woyzeck or the court scenes in Leonce und Lena. It is hoped that the present study will help fill this gap. The style of Gerhart Baumann's Georg Büchner: Die dramatische Ausdruckswelt68 often strikes one as a caricature of literary criticism, but his insights are nonetheless manifold and profound. He distinguishes Büchner's characters by their degree of autonomy: 6S 84 65 M 67 68

Ibid., p. n o . Ibid., p. 52. Ibid., p. 33-34 (emphasis mine). Ibid., p. 78. Der Dialog bei Georg Büchner (Darmstadt, 1958). Göttingen, 1961.

INTRODUCTION

21

Die Gestalten Büchners sind bedeutsam dadurch unterschieden, wieviel Spielraum sie jeweils besitzen, ob sie mit Abstand einem selbstbewussten oder selbstgefälligen Spiel gegenüberstehen oder ob nackter Zwang sie ausweglos zu einer idée fixe treibt; allerdings gilt zuletzt ausnahmslos die dantonsche Einsicht: "Wir stehen immer auf dem Theater . . . ." «»

In a figure obsessed by a fixed idea there is no possibility of adjustment or development, and the one-sidedness of the personality becomes the norm, with grotesque results.70 The fixed ideas of the Captain and the Doctor are magnified so as to dwarf all other characteristics, and this distortion arises not from a sociological perspective but from the view of man as a mechanized robot whose movements are controlled by fate. 71 But these figures are not totally inhuman, for like the French caricaturist Honoré Daumier, Büchner employs contrastive effects: " . . . beide [Büchner and Daumier] lassen hinter allem Verfremdeten und Verzerrten immer noch das Naturwahre durchsichtig erscheinen, was die Ausdruckskraft jeweils steigert". 72 More important still: Woyzeck's propinquity to the Idiot or to those obsessed by fixed ideas shows the condition of insanity not to be an exception, but the merciless law of a nameless, all-powerful force which drives the carousel of the universe. 73 Thus the extremism of Büchner's caricatures and fools has a metaphysical foundation: these figures do not caricature a stratum of society, but human existence per se. Yet again the theory of unconscious caricature is broached in reference to the Captain and the Doctor: " . . . Büchner hält einen so weiten Abstand, dass sich unwillkürlich karikierende und satirische Wirkungen einstellen, ähnlich wie in Le one e und Lena."™ In his investigation of Leonce und Lena Baumann states that language serves as a trapeze over the Abyss; some are carried lightly by it, others reach desperately for it in order to maintain a semblance of existence in an unreal world. 75 King Peter is one of the latter. "Etwas Hölzernes, Marionettenhaftes stellt sich in dieser Gestalt vor und doch 68 70 71 72 78 74 75

Baumann, p. 194. Ibid., p. 166. Ibid., p. 165. Ibid., p. 154. Ibid., p. 214. Ibid., p. 165. Ibid., p. 91.

22

INTRODUCTION

erweckt das Hilflose ein Mitleiden; da es ihm nicht gelingt, mit den Worten zu spielen, treiben diese ein Spiel mit dem Ohnmächtigen. . . ." 7e We pity him as we pity Lenz, who loses the end of his sentence, and Woyzeck, who ponders the guilt of Yes and No. 77 Although Baumann draws analogies from King Peter to Robespierre, he does not include the Captain in the significant observation made above, which would seem warranted. To the contrary, the only sign of humanness which Baumann discovers in the Captain (and which would support the point Baumann made in respect to Daumier), is the Captain's sensual reaction to Woyzeck's "Fleisch und Blut" speech, a reaction said to be a "Regung des Naturhaften" which breaks through the mechanical monotony of the character.78 Baumann concentrates on the expressive qualities of Büchner's dramas; Gustav Beckers, whose book appeared in the same year as Baumann's, approaches Leonce und Lena on a philosophical plane, comparing the play to the existentialism of Kierkegaard.79 His general view of the Leonce und Lena characterizations is: "Die Masken der Commedia dell'arte, die Verkörperungen bestimmter Gesellschaftstypen repräsentieren, verwandelte Büchner in seinem Lustspiel zu Verkörperungen existentieller Strukturen, zu Marionetten, die von existentiellen Triebfäden dirigiert werden: in dieser Umbildung gegebener Lustspielform aber gerade in Tiefengründe lebendigen menschlichen Daseins hinabstossend, obwohl er sich von der Charakterzeichnung lebendiger menschlicher Individualität löst." 80 The difference between King Peter and Leonce is that the former is not a prey to boredom, for he has closed himself off from the danger of seeing too deeply.81 A solution to the painful state of knowing too much about oneself is insanity "eine behagliche fixe Idee", as Camille says.82 The feigned insanity of a fool is not far removed from true insanity in Büchner's world; they merge into one another.88 Beckers' view is professedly the most exis74 Ibid. 77

Ibid., pp. 111-112. Ibid., pp. 160-161. 79 Gustav Beckers, Georg Büchners "Leonce und Lend': Langeweile (Heidelberg, 1961). 80 Ibid., p. 47. 81 Ibid., p. 37. 82 Ibid., p. 31. 83 Ibid., p. 175. 78

Ein Lustspiel

der

INTRODUCTION

23

tential of Leonce und Lena criticism — a view which tends to underplay the satiric elements of the comedy. Wolfgang Kayser makes a stimulating contribution to Büchner research in his book on the grotesque.84 He begins by examining Büchner's artistic realism, deciding that Büchner's style may be realistic compared to that of his contemporaries, but this is merely relative. Basically his style is artificial, "wie alle dichterische Sprache künstlich ist".85 Figures such as the Drum Major and the Apprentices in Woyzeck are Shakespearean, rather than copies of actual models. Furthermore, Kayser takes issue with Vietor over Woyzeck's unity of style: "Die Gestalten des Hauptmanns und des Doktors wirken so unheimlich und erschreckend, wie Woyzeck zugleich lächerlich wirkt. Es waltet nicht tendenziöse Lächerlichkeit dort und 'höchster Ernst' hier, sondern es waltet durchweg die nun sehr abgründige Fremdheit des Tragikomischen." 86 In a footnote, Kayser does make a distinction between the primary and secondary figures. Woyzeck and Marie are exalted above the others because they have a soul and are suffering in their awareness of the human condition. This affects their mode of expression.87 But no strict formulation can be drawn from this. In their subservience to a fixed idea Kayser links the Captain and the Doctor to the Drum Major, the Apprentices, Woyzeck ("Es ist der Faden, der ihn in Bewegung setzt und seine Glieder lenkt."), Lenz, and even to Büchner himself (with respect to his desire to hold philosophical lectures).88 This affliction is reflected in the image of the marionette, which loses its basically comic implications and acquires a deep significance, revealing the fear of a world in which men are not themselves.89 Kayser finds a similarity of movement in Woyzeck which invokes the style of the commedia dell'arte: "... der Hauptmann mit schreckhaftem Phlegma, der Doktor mit kurzbeinigem Übereifer, Woyzeck mit der Hast des Gehetzten, das verraten die Reden ebenso wie die

84

Wolfgang Kayser, Das Groteske: Seine Gestaltung in Malerei und (Oldenburg, 1961).

85 86

Ibid., p. 97.

Ibid., Ibid., 88 Ibid., 8 » Ibid., 87

p. 100. pp. 215-216. p. 99. p. 100.

Dichtung

24

INTRODUCTION 80

szenischen Anmerkungen". This applies also to the court scenes in Leonce und Lena, and here Kayser echoes Wolfgang Martens: "Gewiss bewegen sie [Gestalten der Hofwelt] sich weithin auf dem Boden der Satire, einer gelegentlich sehr scharfen sozialen und politischen Kritik. Aber wie beim Doktor und dem Hauptmann aus dem Woyzeck reisst der Boden unter ihnen auf: die satirische Karikatur schlägt in die groteske Karikatur um." 91 Martens might not agree that this applies to the Doctor, however. Herbert Lindenberger's fine study on Büchner92 offers yet another perspective to the problem of caricature versus reality. He maintains that the spectrum of characterization in Woyzeck hinges on the varying relationships of the characters with nature; that is, whether they are completely controlled or attempting to control the forces against them.93 The Captain and the Doctor have no autonomy of their own; "they are essentially marionettes, totally at the mercy of the various fixed ideas which motivate all their behavior".94 The autonomous beings exist independently of their author, they are simply there.™ The writer creates them through the love he feels for them. "As soon as he begins to despise them, his characters lose their individuality and become mere puppets." 96 Essentially then, both types of figures are of a subjective origin, yet the presentation of the autonomous figures results in an "objective style".97 The "puppets" are presented — rather surprisingly — with a great degree of concreteness.98 Lindenberger uses the Doctor and the aristocrats in Dantons Tod as examples, saying that the Doctor shows "frightening and absurd hybris",99 which affects us because of the degree of reality in the presentation, and that the aristocrats reveal human conversation as it is; i.e., the absurdity of transition within ordinary human speech.100 We are dealing then with varying 99 91 9i 93 94 96 98 97 98 99 109

Ibid. Ibid., p. 106. Georg Büchner (Carbondale, Illinois, 1964). Ibid., p. 92. Ibid., p. 103. Ibid., p. 102. Ibid., p. 117. Ibid., p. 102. Ibid., p. 105. Ibid. Ibid., p. 134.

INTRODUCTION

25

forms of dramatic realism, each uniquely expressive and pertinent The symbolic qualities of the marionette are discussed at length in Jürgen Schroder's study of Leonce und Lena.101 His conclusions are of vital interest, because he directly refutes Martens, suggesting that the term "caricature" be replaced by "lebendige Marionette". This applies to all the characters in Leonce und Lena and to many of the secondary characters in Woyzeck.1^ W^itht regard to Leonce und Lena he states! "Automatenspiel und Automatenwirklichkeit sind verkoppelt wie die beiden Stränge eines Gleises."103 The figures can no longer distinguish between their own self and the roles they are playing in life. Since role, actor, and figure have become incapable of synthesis, the result is a living marionette,104 a grotesque combination of lifelike and lifeless traits. "So behält selbst das krampfhaft-hölzerne Gebaren König Peters etwas Menschliches und Anziehendes, das bei aller grotesken Komik noch ein Lächeln des Mitleids abnötigt."105 Why is this so? Danton provides an answer: "Es wurde ein Fehler gemacht, wie wir geschaffen wurden."106 The figures exist in a grotesque state of transition to a marionette-like being — a profoundly moving tragicomical circumstance.107 The quality by which one may distinguish the figures from one another is their inner animation ("innere Lebendigkeit"), with which they counter their own marionette-like rigidity. "Niemand wird angeklagt und schuldig gesprochen, verantwortlich oder lächerlich gemacht, alle sind, wie Teile einer Maschinerie, gleichermassen einbezogen, sind Ausführende, nicht Handelnde, keine Menschen, sondern lebendige Marionetten, von unsichtbaren Fäden gelenkt... ." 108 Within the framework of this comedy, the strings are controlled not by fate but by the author himself.109 The two must not be confused, although both perspectives are justified. On the one hand one may speak of inner or outer motivation of a character within a literary work of art, 101

Georg Büchners "Leonce und Lend': Eine verkehrte Komödie

1966). 102 103 104 105 100 107 108 109

Ibid., Ibid., Ibid. Ibid., Ibid. Ibid., Ibid., Ibid.,

p. 134. p. 165. p. 39. p. 169. p. 181. p. 178.

(München,

26

INTRODUCTION

or one can make the resulting action dependent on the hand of the creator, who manipulates his figures to his liking, reducing their apparent "autonomy". Schröder vacillates between these two definitions. Schröder believes that the term "lebendige Marionette" encompasses the elements of satiric caricature and the grotesque which Martens finds in Woyzeck's Captain. Schröder prefers his term because the satiric elements are of secondary importance. D i e kritischen, karikierenden und satirischen Züge sind an beiden nicht zu übersehen, aber sie tragen bei aller Krassheit doch niemals den verräterischen und leicht trivialen Zuschnitt des Vorsätzlichen, Angriffslustigen und Pädagogischen, der mit dem Begriff der Karikatur unlösbar verbunden ist. Sie sind nicht eingezeichnet oder ausgeschnitzt, sondern markieren die Falten, Risse und Verwerfungen eines geborstenen Miteinanders von Figur und Welt. Auch Martens kommt am Ende zu einer bezeichnenden Korrektur . . . .

and Schröder refers to Martens' use of the term "grotesque", rather than caricature.110 Furthermore: D i e Karikatur lebt aus dem zielenden Vergleich zu einer massgeblichen Wirklichkeit ein abgeleitetes, zweckbeschränktes Dasein. D i e unheimliche, weil unberechenbare Strahlkraft des Grotesken aber setzt erst dort ein, w o jeder Massstab, jede Orientierung und Rubrizierung versagt. 111

These arguments cannot be refuted or substantiated without first examining more precisely the relationship of the terms "satire", "grotesque", "caricature", and "marionette" to each other. These terms, as we have seen, are used loosely in Büchner criticism. It would be meaningless, however, to concentrate strictly on definitions in order to find a fitting label for Biichner's characterizations. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the creative impulses which produced the figures of secondary importance in Biichner's plays. Caricature will be the focal point of this investigation, but so varied and finely shaded is the spectrum of Biichnerian characterization that one cannot attempt to isolate a specifically defined factor without unavoidably presenting a half-truth. Calling Woyzeck's Doctor and Captain and Leonce und Lena's King Peter "caricatures" is a label of convenience, but it should not become an end unto itself, for we shall see that caricature exists in 111

Ibid., p. 166. Ibid., pp. 166-167.

INTRODUCTION

27

various forms in Büchners three plays, and that caricature is only one factor in the unity of concept which guided the creation of these and other auxiliary figures. Of primary interest here is the technique of the dramatist who creates a world around his central figures and the significance of environment in the understanding of the plays as a whole. At the outset it must be stated that satire is an important but by no means a vital aspect of Büchner's dramas. Since none of Büchner's works are primarily satiric in form or content and therefore do not belong to the literary genre of satire, there is no justification for placing Büchner within the framework of this tradition. The discussion of satire, caricature and the grotesque will concentrate on the causes and effects of these phenomena. Following the clarification of terminology, various figures from Woyzeck, Dantons Tod, and Leonce und Lena118 will be subjected to an intensive analysis, grouped according to their inherent complexity. Finally, the results of this analysis will be examined in context with the personality and environment of the dramatist himself.

114

Since caricature plays a greater role in Woyzeck than in the other plays, it will be dealt with first, regardless of chronological order. [N.B.: The manuscript of this book was completed before Weiner R. Lehmann's Georg Büchner: Sämtliche Werke und Briefe, Vol. I (Hamburg, 1967) became available. Since the textual discrepancies between Bergemann and Lehmann do not affect the analysis, Bergemann has been retained throughout.]

II

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

A. PURPOSE: SATIRE

The initial problem in every discussion of satire is the necessity of making the term "satire" manageable enough to be used without too much ambiguity. Theoreticians in past centuries used it either to describe a genre or an attitude.1 In modern usage the term has acquired a greater range of meaning, describing, according to Robert C. Elliott, "a form of art and a spirit, a purpose and a tone".2 Elliott maintains that the term is an "open concept", rendering it essentially indefinable.8 In classifying satire as a genre, he says, we can hardly do better than Dr. Johnson, who writes that satire is "a poem in which wickedness or folly is censured".4 Already in this short definition there is an indication of the complexity of satiric motivation, which encompasses nonartistic as well as artistic principles. Schiller's conception of the essence of satire may be readily accepted: "In der Satire wird die Wirklichkeit als Mangel dem Ideal als der höchsten Realität gegenübergestellt."5 In an earlier passage he speaks of the "Widerspruch der Wirklichkeit mit dem Ideale".8 The awareness of this fundamental contradiction is a mark of the satiric temperament. The satirist is torn between that which he sees and that which 1

E.g. Friedrich Schiller's Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung, in which the genre satire is divided into satire of pathos and comic satire. (Schillers Werke, Arthur Kutscher, ed. VIII (Berlin), pp. 139-141.) 2 Robert C. Elliott, The Power of Satire: Magic, Ritual, Art (Princeton, N e w Jersey, 1960), viii. 3 Robert C. Elliott, "The Definition of Satire: a Note on Method", Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature, XI (1962), 22. 4 Quoted in Elliott, "The Definition of Satire", 19. 5 Schillers Werke, p. 140. 6 Schillers Werke, p. 139.

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

29

he would like to see, and out of this dualism arises the need to act, for the satirist cannot accept the status quo. He is angered by the perversion of his ideal, and he acts as the avenger of truth and justice.7 The desire to criticize in order to bring about change is combined with the belief that the satirist's audience is susceptible to his arguments and will benefit from them. 8 In general, these characteristics correspond to those of the avowedly idealistic "serious" satirist described by Schiller. The satiric approach is always negative; the satirist's aim is to ridicule his subject. To do so, he must restrict his perspective and even his sympathies in order to project his criticism with any degree of forcefulness. Extenuating factors, which may weaken his argument, are removed from consideration, for the satiric attack must be sharp enough to wound. For such arbitrary behavior the satirist is often accused of recklessly distorting reality to suit his subjective ends. W e have already noted a tendency among Büchner critics to regard satire and realism as opposites, contrasting the "objektive Wirklichkeitsstil" (Vietor) of Biichner's central figures with the supposedly unrealistic caricatures of Woyzeck and Leonce und Lena. This inclination is probably founded upon a quite understandable preference for glorification rather than ridicule of human activity in a work of art; that is, the satirist is accused of being unrealistic because the observer is reluctant to admit that the unflattering satiric portrait comes uncomfortably close to the truth.» Klaus Lazarowicz states firmly that no generalization can be made on this point: "Genau betrachtet ist nämlich die realistische oder allgemeiner: die nicht-satirische Dichtung kaum weniger 'irreal' als die satirische. Denn die Weltverherrlichung erweist sich als zumindest ebenso einseitig wie die satirische Weltverneinung." 10 To go a step 7 See Klaus Lazarowicz, Verkehrte Welt. Vorstudien zu einer Geschichte der deutschen Satire (Tübingen, 1963), pp. 310, 316. 8 John Shand: "Our weaknesses and wickedness are exposed by the satirist not to show us that we are bad, but to make us better; the satirist keeps his ideals and his faith in humanity intact." (Quoted in Leonard Feinberg, The Satirist. His Temperament, Motivation, and Influence ( N e w York, 1964), p. 21.) 9 This is not to say that Büchner critics are guilty of this offense against critical objectivity, but many of them do seem to have adopted uncritically the tradition of calling satire unrealistic. 10 Lazarowicz, p. 314. "Weltverherrlichung" seems, however, to refer to idealism, not realism.

30

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

further: in general the satirist is more concerned with realistic detail than the non-satiric artist, for the satirist relies on his powers of acute and accurate observation in order to discover flaws and weaknesses which his fellow men cannot see or prefer to overlook. The satirist's methods for presenting the results of his observation are varied, but the greatest paradox of satiric art is that it can be most effective when the satirist acts as an objective reporter, simply by stating what he observes, refraining from polemical exaggeration. "Such are most actions that to relate is to expose them", wrote Edward Young, and in a similar vein Heinrich Heine once said, "You could ridicule hollow liberals, bone-headed Republicans.... It was easy game. You only need to portray these individuals exactly; Nature had anticipated you by presenting your pen with caricatures, already finished." 11 The satirist's negative view is expressed not by willful distortion, but by a selective choice of detail — detail of an essentially topical nature, for the matter of satire is firmly rooted in the present.12 Satire, of course, is more than a critical report; it is an art form. Although it might seem that the principles of artistic unity and appeal could not be reconciled with the tendency of the satirist toward topical propaganda or misanthropic outbursts, this is not the case in true satire. Elliott maintains: Complementing this negative a s p e c t . . . is a positive appeal, explicit or implicit, to virtue and rational behavior - to a norm, that is, against which the vicious and the foolish are to be judged. Thus, though the materials of the satire are astonishingly varied, there is pressure toward order internally from the arraignment of vice and appeal to virtue, and externally from the . . . dramatic situation . . . . l s

In other words, a work of satire experiences a unifying influence from both ethical and aesthetic impulses. The ethical element springs from the conviction that society as a whole shares the norms and moral values to which the satirist is appealing. Yet such an attitude leads to 11

Both quoted in Feinberg, p. 290. Absolute objectivity is impossible in a work of art. Richard Brinkmann states that art invariably creates its own reality, "mit eigener Struktur, eigenen Gesetzen, eigener Logik". (Wirklichkeit und Illusion, Tubingen, 1957, p. 309.) The realist is as arbitrary as the satirist in his choice of detail; the difference lies in the neutral versus the negative approach. 13 Elliott, "The Definition of Satire", p. 20. ls

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

31

a significant contradiction: the satirist's optimistic hope that his satire will have the power to effect reform is often negated by his close observation of his fellow men. By vocation the satirist is a destroyer of illusion as he seeks to expose the truth, thus he can hardly be oblivious to the reception of satire by the public. If it is not entirely disregarded, satire is often misunderstood, intentionally or unintentionally ("Each man sees in the satiric portrait the face of his neighbor", wrote Jonathan Swift),14 or it may become popular for the wrong reasons, as did Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Beaumarchais' Le Mortage de Figaro-, or, if the satiric attack does in fact penetrate to its victim, the victim may experience a masochistic thrill by laughing at himself without giving a serious thought to self-improvement. A recognition of these possibilities may well destroy the satirist's idealism, an idealism based on intellectual considerations. Yet satiric motivation is not restricted to the intellect, as Feinberg points out at length. He separates the majority of satirists from the few who "are genuine moralists and make missions of their jobs",15 i.e. the idealistic satirists. Most often the satiric motivation comes from a different source: Having the attitude of a satirist, and using the devices most suitable for satire, the satirist usually writes in order to satisfy a personal need rather than to reform by moralizing. . . . He may, and usually does, have little thought of alternatives or substitutes. He is obeying an irresistible impulse to show absurdities which he sees very clearly. Usually, his immediate purpose is to satirize, not to improve; his object in showing the ridiculous is to criticize, not to correct.1»

In this context it would be incorrect to speak of satiric purpose — we are dealing rather with satiric impulse or compulsion. The belief that one may wound a victim through the power of word or image has existed since the beginning of history, and it is still an important facet of tribal customs today. It is a form of transferred aggression, and as such it has been recognized as the ancestor of the satiric impulse.17 By means of invective or ridicule the attacker Quoted in Feinberg, p. 35. Feinberg, p. 41. 16 Ibid., pp. 39, 40-41 (italics original). 17 This theory is analyzed at length in Elliott, The Power of Satire-, Ernst Kris and Ernst Gombrich, "The Principles of Caricature", British Journal of Medical 14

15

32

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

could gain control of his victim. In much the same way the modern satirist "controls" his subject on an aesthetic plane; within the unassailable recluse of his artistic imagination he can mold his victim to suit his purposes, thereby attaining that which Feinberg calls "compensation" for personal injustices which the satirist may have suffered. 18 He transmits to his audience an assumed superiority over his subject matter. The more sophisticated satirist, however, is aware of the egotism and crudeness of this impulse, and his manner of expression will reflect his self-consciousness concerning the destructive nature of his art. He will attempt to detach himself from his own vindictiveness by subjecting his own position to the ironical appraisal which he uses against his enemies.19 At first glance, such self-irony would appear to be destructive to satire, for it replaces the single-minded satiric approach with a relativistic, many-sided viewpoint. Nevertheless, there can in fact be a harmonious conjunction of outwardly and inwardly directed satire in the world-view of the satirist. If his work consistently reflects that which Lazarowicz calls the "offenbare Unzulänglichkeit" of a "verkehrte Welt", 2 0 then the consistent satirist cannot help but sense these insufficiencies within himself as well. At this point the satirist turns from a factual-polemic attitude to philosophical speculation — a process readily evident in the personality of Georg Büchner.

B. TECHNIQUE: CARICATURE

Alvin Kernan sees in the mechanics of satire a three-fold process: the magnifying tendency, the diminishing tendency, and the mob tendency. He explains the magnifying and diminishing tendencies as follows:

Psychology, XVII ( 1 9 3 8 ) , 319-341; and Gilbert Highet, The Anatomy of Satire (Princeton, N.J., 1962). 18 Feinberg, p. 42. 19 Alvin B. Kernan, The Plot of Satire ( N e w Haven and London, 1965), p. 11. Feinberg, on the other hand, sees self-irony as a weakness resulting from an overextension of the satiric temperament: "The propensity for making fun of vulnerable objects spurs him into ridiculing everything that is vulnerable, including his own position." (p. 168) 20 Lazarowicz, p. 311.

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

33

"The dunces [i.e., the satirists] always begin by constructing outsize, heroic images of themselves and building colossal monuments to their self-importance. At the same time, and in order to achieve this end, they drive all spirit down to matter and reduce the vital to mere mechanics." 81 The phenomenon of caricature belongs without question to the so-called diminishing tendency, for caricature is a technique by which a subject is reduced and vulgarized. The following is a good working definition of literary caricature: "Descriptive writing which seizes upon certain individual qualities of a person and through exaggeration or distortion produces a burlesque or ridiculous effect." 22 Caricature began, however, and is still most prevalent as a graphic art. It did not evolve as a device of satire until as late as the sixteenth century, possibly because the pictorial image was traditionally invested with magical powers. The features of the individual were long considered sacrosanct, since a falsified representation was believed to have a negative effect on personality.23 When such tabus ceased to exist, the satirist began to indulge in the distortion of personal features to promote ethical as well as aesthetic aims, using caricature as a tool. On the one hand, he as a caricaturist may distort his subject in order to accentuate the deviation from an accepted or desired norm; here his purpose is to expose, and, if possible, to prompt correction. At the other end of the spectrum is the caricaturist who toys with his subject's features in a non-malicious way, creating exaggerated distortion primarily for a humorous effect. Such caricature reveals little or no satiric intent. Of primary interest in this investigation is the satiric caricaturist, whose caricature is outwardly directed — "caricature with a message". In our discussion of satire it was mentioned that the satirist often did not find it necessary to distort that which he sees in order to expose the evils and inconsistencies of social behavior, but merely needed to report with painstaking accuracy. The quotation by Heine 21

Kernan, p. 81. William F. Thrall and Addison Hibbard, A Handbook to Literature (Garden City, N . Y . , 1936), p. 67. 23 Kris and Gombrich, p. 339. Willful distortion of the human figure was prevalent already in the art of ancient times, but when such distortion had a polemic purpose, it was directed against types, not recognizable individuals, (e.g. Sebastian Brant, Hieronymus Bosch, Peter Bruegel.)

22

34

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

(p. 30) referred specifically to caricature in this context. 24 The decisive factor lies in the perspective of the "reporter", who, to achieve the effect of caricature, need not even be human. A well-known example is the still camera, a much-maligned producer of ludicrous distortions because of its extremely limited temporal and spatial perspective. Here the effect of caricature is created in the mind of the beholder. Heinrich Wilhelm Gerstenberg once said that the smallest turn of a thought may decide between beauty and caricature.25 This fine shading gives rise to much unintentional caricature; often the artist, because of lack of skill or because he does not share the perspective of his audience, creates an effect directly opposed to his purpose. 26 The technique of caricature consists of willful exaggeration and distortion, yet its aim is not the falsification of reality but the revelation of truth. Initially it reduces and simplifies reality in the manner in which a type comes into being; that is, an essential, defining characteristic is allowed to dominate the portrait. The caricaturist "does not seek the perfect form but the perfect deformity, thus penetrating through the mere outward appearance to the inner being in all its littleness or ugliness", say Ernst Kris and Ernst Gombrich. 27 Extraneous factors are stripped away, and with the satirist's singleness of purpose, the caricaturist accentuates the flaw or weakness which he desires to expose. He is actually more than a realist; he is an enhancer, a clarifier of reality. Extreme simplification of concept and style has a significance of its own, "as if the artist were to say to us: 'See, this great man is nothing but a lot of lines; I can grasp his personality in a few strokes.' " 2 8 In short, the process is one of distillation down to essentials.28 24

Caricature is often an important aid to the historian because of its faithful reproduction of minute detail, especially in connection with the lower strata of society, which in earlier times were generally disregarded by "ennobling" art. 25 Quoted in Wolfgang Kayser, Das Groteske, p. 206. 24 It has been said of Büchner that his caricatures were often unintentional (see Chapter I ) . It seems most unlikely that a dramatist of Büchner's caliber would be unaware of the extent of his exaggerations. 27 "The Principles of Caricature", 322 (italics original). 28 Ibid., 324. 88 A striking example is the essayistic caricatures in La Bruyére's Caracteres, in which the author constructs portraits merely by listing characteristics and habits, all negatively oriented. He implies that the persons he describes can be

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

35

Herein lies the reason for the effectiveness of caricature. Caricature makes a subject ludicrous because it destroys the unity of his appearance.30 The relationship of the parts of the whole, the harmony which defines individuality is upset by the action of caricature, which emphasizes single features out of all normal proportion. Such unnatural representation renders the subject less than human, a tendency which is often enhanced by distorting human features into shapes of animals, plants, machines, or other inanimate objects. Such incongruity is sure to produce ridiculing laughter. The necessity to distort and exaggerate by means of caricature is prompted by the realization that truth does not shine through reality clearly enough. As Flannery O'Connor says, "to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures." 81 A rationalistic approach is not sufficient; the caricaturist relies on surprise or shock to make his point, to convince without allowing time for reflection. His criterion for success is the spontaneous laugh. Artistic and literary caricature seem to fall under three headings (which will be of use later on). Caricature directed at a specific individual we shall call personal caricature. Such satire is by nature of limited scope and interest; rarely does the caricaturist transcend the immediacy of a certain situation and generate universal appeal. Beyond its immediate application, such caricature is of value generally only to the historian. By far the most widespread form of caricature is that parodying social types — typified caricature. Such caricature may easily transcend the private grudge to achieve the timelessness of true art. The satire becomes generalized, attacking by means of a single representation countless individuals of a similar nature. The caricatured type is easily recognizable, and, for dramatic purposes, easily manipulated. The third kind of caricature may appear in both individual or typified representation; here the distortion is designed to evoke an association summed up in one paragraph - beyond that is emptiness. Such satire is particularly devastating because of the apparent harmlessness of its parts. Only when the details are seen as a whole is the satiric intent obvious. 30 See Kris and Gombrich, 321. 31 The Living Novel, quoted in Alfred Appel Jr., A Season of Dreams: the Fiction of Eudora Welty (Baton Rouge, 1965), p. 73.

36

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

to another frame of reference. This we shall call symbolic caricature. As was mentioned before, this technique debases the victim by merging his features with those of animals, plants, machines, etc., meaningfully relating a non-human quality to a human subject.32 In Buchner's dramas all three forms of caricature occur. Preliminary to an analysis of these works, we shall investigate an earlier instance of caricature in drama to observe how it functions within the dramatic structure. True caricature in drama is often difficult to detect, because the intentionally limited perspective from which it develops is also responsible for maintaining a semblance of structural unity. The socalled secondary characters of a drama are generally functional figures, created to provide a background for the primary interest, to further the plot, or to set a mood. They cannot be treated in depth, for that would unbalance the work. The playwright therefore sketches types which are readily recognized and accepted by the audience. When satiric purpose is evident to an exaggerated degree, such types become caricatures. Unless the author is writing a polemic, his caricatures will remain on the periphery of his work, for a dramatically interesting central figure exists in a greater dimensionality than caricature will allow. The improvisational theater of the commedia dell'arte consisted solely of such stock types. Its extemporaneous dialogue and exaggerated action were often satirically oriented, but satire was merely an incidental addition rather than a formalistic element in this theater, which aimed primarily to entertain. Such "drama" had little literary merit and no permanence until playwrights such as Goldoni and Molière elevated the style, combining determined satire with sound entertainment. Molière's central figures acquired a complexity transcending the rigid restrictions and predictability of the type. For example, in Le Malade imaginaire Argan is at times a typical hypochondriac who attains the dimensions of a caricature through his exaggerated fears and health cures. At other moments he is understanding and rational, and he gains our sympathy as the victim of his wife's machinations. In the farce, Le Médecin malgré lui, on the other hand, the situation is somewhat different: the hero Sganarelle consciously assumes the role of a 32

See Heinrich Schneegans, Geschichte der grotesken Satire (Strassburg, 1894), p. 52. Schneegans speaks of symbolic satire but does not make any other distinctions.

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

37

caricature, cutting a thoroughly ludicrous figure, ridiculing thereby not only the medical profession but also those in the play who believe in him. This is "second-hand" satire — not a direct message from the playwright to the audience, but a plot mechanism. True caricature in both Molière plays is evident in characters such as the bumbling Lucas in Le Médecin malgré lui or the doctors in Le Malade imaginaire. Unaware of their own ludicrous behavior, they are blissfully secure within the narrow limitations of their intellect. Molière here creates types which contribute both to the plot and to his satiric purposes. Monsieur Purgon's tirade in Act III, Scene 5 of Le Malade imaginaire is not only a powerful parody of a doctor-patient relationship, but it brings about the annulment of his nephew's marriage proposal, eliminating an obstacle to the happy conclusion of the comedy. Molière does not pause in his dramatic momentum when he casts his satiric barbs about. This instance illuminates the dualistic role of caricature in drama: since caricature points to a reality beyond the reality of the work of art itself, it must be made subservient to structural demands or artistic unity will suffer. Biichner, to be sure, enjoyed greater freedom than Molière to expand his caricatures to a state of near autonomy, for Buchner's dramas were conceived in the epic tradition, where the focus rests rather on character and environment than on a carefully structured plot.

C. EFFECT: THE GROTESQUE

For an insight into the workings of the grotesque, we once again turn to Alvin Kernan's three categories of satiric tendencies. It was noted that caricature was a stylistic technique designed to "diminish"; the grotesque may be regarded as the effect of the devices which compose the "mob tendency", which Kernan defines as follows: " . . . the ideas which provide the organizational forms for the material world are inevitably destroyed, and the world ceases to be arranged in meaningful patterns and becomes instead an endless number of disjunct objects, a series of mobs". 33 This process is as anti-rational as that of caricature, for it intentionally deviates from (or rather destroys) the accepted 55

Kernan, p. 81.

38

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

norm to provoke shock and uncertainty. It achieves this effect through the juxtaposition of grossly unrelated objects, forcing the observer to make an association foreign to the standards with which he is familiar. Nowadays the grotesque evokes profound philosophical implications, but it is of wholly aesthetic origin. Originally a "grottesco" was a decorative device, whereby the artist fancifully intermingled men, animals, and plants.34 Eventually this innocently comic style began to acquire metaphorical significance, for the inexplicable contrast of forms seemed to mirror the unfathomable disorder which man sensed in his surroundings.88 The mood of the grotesque diverged ever more widely from its origin in carefree humor. Wolfgang Kayser clarifies the distinction between the two terms in modern usage: ". . . das Komische hebt auf unschädliche Art Grösse und Würde auf . . . indem es uns auf den sicheren Boden der Realität stellt. Das Groteske zerstört grundsätzlich die Ordnungen und zieht den Boden fort." 3 6 The observer loses all sense of proportion and rational balance, and his feelings reflect "ein Erstaunen, ein Grauen, eine ratlose Beklommenheit, wenn die Welt aus den Fugen geht und wir keinen Halt mehr finden". 87 Even in a starkly representation-ally realistic work of art such as William Hogarth's "Gin Lane", the atmosphere can be undeniably grotesque. "Gin Lane" is a study in human degradation, and Hogarth's ruthless portrayals of alcoholics border on caricature. The unsettling impact of the painting results not from any single detail, but from its overwhelming amount; Hogarth has compressed into grotesque (i.e., "impossible") juxtaposition an entire panorama of wretchedness. One cannot deny the realism of the parts, but the structure of the whole passes beyond rational acceptance. In the field of drama, the grotesque is characteristic of the genre of tragicomedy.88 Classical tragedy and comedy are founded on the principles of order —order destroyed and restored —but the middle "Grottesco": from Ital. "grotta", denoting wall paintings found in Roman excavations. 35 "Grotesk ist gerade der nicht auflösbare, unheimliche, der nicht-sein-dürfende Kontrast." (Wolfgang Kayser, op. cit., p. 61.) 36 Ibid., p. 62. 37 Ibid., p. 32. 38 See Kayser, p. 56. 34

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

39

ground between these genres is an indefinite area of flickering contrasts and clashing perspectives. Again characteristic is the lack of a norm, the lack of a firm foundation. F. M. Klinger's drama Sturm und Drang poses an interesting problem in this connection. Wolfgang Kayser asks whether the figures are to be considered "lächerliche Karikaturen oder ernste Groteske",39 for the figures in the play may either be a product of the Storm and Stress temperament unintentionally carried to an extreme, or they may be a warning against that extreme. A decision is difficult because there is no discernible contrast between sympathy and satire, no gauge of feeling by which we can measure the intentions of the playwright. The figures seem to float in an ambiguous void. "Grotesque" as an adjective does not necessarily have far-reaching metaphysical implications. It describes that which is exaggerated beyond the point of credibility, or a seemingly unmotivated occurrence.40 For this reason it is perfectly feasible to speak of "grotesque caricature", where the distortion is such that it defies rational explanation, and the observer cannot accept it without a certain amount of hesitation. He reacts "tragicomically"; that is, his laughter cannot overcome his feeling of uncertainty about the meaning of that which he is seeing. Once again, this is an emotional rather than a rational reaction. To turn the question around: can caricature contribute to the grotesque mood? Wolfgang Martens does not think so: Wenn satirische Karikatur . . . mit ihren Mitteln stets auf bestimmte und änderbare Eigenschaften und Verhältnisse abzielt, so charakterisiert sich Groteskes gerade daran, dass es, ohne bestimmte Tendenz, im Bereich des Komischen einen beängstigenden, unveränderbaren negativen Bestandteil des Seins selbst zu spiegeln vermag. 44

It seems, however, that the technique of caricature need not be confined to social or political satire, for exaggeration and distortion of personal features can be applied on a more general scale, parodying not the condition of men, but the condition of man. A caricature can 39

Ibid., p. 47. In an early draft of Woyzeck the word appears in two (somewhat unclear) passages, with apparently this connotation. See Georg Büchner, Werke und Briefe, Fritz Bergemann, ed. (Wiesbaden, Insel Verlag, 1958), pp. 499, 505. 41 Martens, "Zur Karikatur in der Dichtung Büchners", 70.

40

40

SATIRE, CARICATURE, THE GROTESQUE

reflect various levels of meaning simultaneously, exposing on the surface social evils of one kind or another, but indicating at the same time that the roots of disorder lie deep within human nature itself. The technique remains the same, but mood and meaning vary. For example, Swift's Gulliver's Travels teems with caricature of all kinds; men are smaller than normal, larger than normal, they act like animals or they are otherwise distorted. They are doubtlessly satiric exaggerations, yet they do not seem to reflect solely on the definite and changeable conditions which Martens believes to be the intent of satiric caricature, but rather on a state of being common to all men and impervious to change. The source of this caricature appears to be the writer's world view, not his concern with immediate problems. This, in a nutshell, is the contention which has prompted the following investigation of the works of Georg Biichner.

III THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE

A. W OY ZECK: THE DOCTOR Doktor: W a s erleb ich, Woyzeck? Ein Mann von Wort! Woyzeck: W a s denn, Herr Doktor? Doktor: Ich hab's gesehn, Woyzeck; Er hat auf die Strass gepisst, an die Wand gepisst, wie ein Hund! - Und doch drei Groschen täglich und Kost! Woyzeck, das ist schlecht; die Welt wird schlecht, sehr schlecht! i

With these words begins the scene, "Beim Doktor" — one of the many stations in Woyzeck's life of pain and humiliation. As always, Büchner immediately drives to the heart of his characterization and sets the scene in motion. During the first half of the scene the Doctor scolds Woyzeck in shrill righteousness, for Woyzeck's breach of propriety so disturbs the Doctor's sense of natural order that he can hardly overcome his indignation. He commences his tirade with relatively mild irony ("Ein Mann von Wort!" 2 ), but in his next breath he is already comparing Woyzeck to an animal. As he reduces Woyzeck's stature, he increases his own to that of a policeman and judge; he has seen the "crime" and he will not forget it. Compulsively he dwells on the event: Den Harn nicht halten können! . . . Aber an die Wand pissen! Ich hab's schriftlich, den Akkord in der Hand! - Ich hab's gesehn, mit diesen Augen 1

From the revised manuscript "H": Georg Büchner, Werke und Briefe, Fritz Bergemann, ed. (Wiesbaden, Insel Verlag, 1958), p. 158. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations from Büchners works are taken from this volume. ä In an earlier version of this scene (manuscript "h 2 "), these words are followed by the emphatic "Er! Er! Er!" (p. 501). Here the Doctor is already jabbing the finger of guilt at Woyzeck.

42

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PERSPECTIVE

gesehn . . . Aber, Woyzeck, Er hätte doch nicht an die Wand pissen sollen - . (p. 159)

Only Wbyzeck's "aberratio" is finally able to distract the Doctor from his relentless persecution. To the observer of this interchange, Woyzeck's act appears harmless and, under the circumstances, quite natural. For this reason the Doctor's exaggerated indignation is ridiculous from the start, and his manner of speech strengthens this impression. His pleonasms ("Ich hab's schriftlich, den Akkord in der Hand! — Ich hab's gesehn, mit diesen Augen gesehen") and his meaningless repetitions ("Die Welt wird schlecht, sehr schlecht!") reveal the emptiness of his thinking. His words show no content or progression, merely emphasis. They are grouped into static formulas, which eliminate any possibility of dialogue because these formulas are unanswerable and lead nowhere: "die Welt wird schlecht"; "der Mensch ist frei"; "Ärger ist ungesund". These speech patterns are based on the blind belief in the Simple Answer, the lodestar of the pseudo-scientist. As a whole, this scene reflects to an astonishing degree the deterioration of the customary give-and-take in classical dramatic dialogue. The Doctor talks pedantically to himself and at Woyzeck; Woyzeck responds in an undertone, searching, hesitant, occasionally straying from the immediate situation to dwell upon past visions. The Doctor's speech is abrupt and harsh, for it contains few connectives. Since there is no complexity in his existence, his speech betrays no hesitation or uncertainty. However, the words which radiate this aura of overconfidence subtly render it grotesque by means of a certain stylistic device, highly original in the 1830's, but now commonplace in the Theater of the Absurd—the abrupt juxtaposition of grossly unrelated thoughts, generally unmotivated and without a semblance of logical transition. For example, in the opening passage of "Beim Doktor" there is an inexplicable leap from the particular to the general: " . . . an die Wand gepisst, wie ein Hund!—Und doch drei Groschen täglich und Kost! Woyzeck, das ist schlecht; die Welt wird schlecht, sehr schlecht!" From condemning Woyzeck the Doctor abruptly turns to a condemnation of the world. He is so eager to arrive at a weighty pronouncement, delivered as if he were performing before an invisible audience of students, that he will seize upon any occasion,

THE SINGLE

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43

no matter how trivial. In like manner Woyzeck's urinating becomes the basis for observations on man's free will. 3 Grotesque is not only the matter of expression, but its content. It is abundantly clear that the Doctor regards the human being merely as an object to research, and his equating Woyzeck with an animal is more than an insult, it is an attitude. This is most clearly expressed in the scene, "Der Hof des Doktors", where the Doctor offers Woyzeck up to his students in lieu of the escaped cat: "Sie können dafür was anders sehen. Sehen Sie: der M e n s c h . . . " . (p. 168) The Doctor goes yet a step further: he uses his own body as "objectively" as that of others in his pursuit of scientific knowledge. He studies the phenomenon of sneezing by holding his nose in the sun, and he controls his anger against Woyzeck through a perverted form of self-analysis: Nein, Woyzeck, ich ärgre mich nicht; Ärger ist ungesund, ist unwissenschaftlich. Ich bin ruhig, ganz ruhig; mein Puls hat seine gewöhnlichen 60, und ich sag's Ihm mit der grössten Kaltblütigkeit.

(p. 1 5 9 )

This attitude grows still more extreme, and Büchners irony becomes decidedly heavy-handed: Behüte, wer wird sich über einen Menschen ärgern, ein' Menschen! W e n n es noch ein Proteus wäre, der einem krepiert!

(Ibid.)

If we simply laugh at this grotesque figure and call him "mad", we render him harmless and overlook his function in the play. Woyzeck must submit to the Doctor out of social necessity; i.e. lack of money, and the adverse effects of the Doctor's influence on him are both physical and mental. In his weakened condition, he is not even given the chance to justify himself. He tries to formulate his thoughts: Sehn Sie, H e r r Doktor, m a n c h m a l hat einer so 'en Charakter, so 'ne Struktur. - Aber mit der N a t u r ist's was anders, sehn Sie; mit der N a t u r (er kracht

mit den Fingern),

Beispiel . . .

das is so was, wie soll ich doch sagen, zum (Ibid.)

Büchner once allowed one of his characters to become aware of this fault. In a scene belonging to the manuscript " h 1 " , the Barber, a precursor of both the Captain and Woyzeck, admits: "Ich spreche ohne Beziehungen, ich spreche nicht mit R ü c k s i c h t . . . " . (p. 4 8 9 ) 3

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THE SINGLE

PERSPECTIVE

While he is still trying to express himself, the Doctor brutally cuts him short with "Woyzeck, Er philosophiert wieder." 4 In the scene, "Strasse", the Doctor turns on the Captain and subjects him to a yet more coldblooded analysis than Woyzeck had endured. After some coarse jokes, the two join forces to goad Woyzeck into a jealous frenzy. It is significant that the Doctor steps aside after his one remark about soldiers' beards, for his motive in revealing Marie's infidelity to Woyzeck is not the same as that of the Captain. The Captain has no qualms about destroying a relationship which he considers to be immoral; the Doctor, on the other hand, is unaffected by such considerations. He merely wants to conduct another experiment. He has helped to provide the stimulus, and now, notebook in hand, he is ready to observe the result. Unlike the Captain, the Doctor is not being malicious; he does not goad Woyzeck on, once the truth has been revealed. Indeed, maliciousness lies beyond his nature, for such an emotion depends on a complexity of character which he does not possess. "Der Hof des Doktors", basically a repetition of "Beim Doktor" gives further support to the premise that this figure evolves from a single concept. This time the Doctor has an audience for his pedantry, and his rhetoric accordingly soars to new heights of absurdity. Once again scientific method is grotesquely parodied: "die organische Selbstaffirmation des Göttlichen . . . und ihre Verhältnisse zum Raum, zur Erde, zum Planetarischen" (p. 167) is demonstrated by throwing a cat out of a window. Woyzeck is made to wiggle his ears ("Das sind so Übergänge zum Esel, häufig auch die Folge weiblicher Erziehung und die Muttersprache.") This scene is less relevant to the whole than most of the others which comprise the play, yet aside from its dramatic effectiveness, it is of interest as a notable example of literary caricature. But before discussing the technique of this characterization any further, we must first examine the sources of this satiric portrait. While Büchner was studying medicine at the University of Giessen, he encountered a certain J. B. Wilbrand, Professor of Botany, Zoology, Physiology, and Comparative Anatomy. Wilbrand habitually lectured from his own textbooks in a broad Westphalian dialect, touching on a 4

Cf. the Captain's rejoinder to Woyzeck: " D u denkst zuviel, das zehrt." (P- 153)

THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE

45

broad range of subjects including the complexities of "Naturphilosophie". 5 Carl Vogt, a fellow student of Büchners, was not impressed by the profundity of these lectures: "Alles reduzierte sich auf: Nordpol, Dunkelpol - Südpol, L i c h t p o l . . . " . 6 As late as 1835 Wilbrand reputedly denied the theory of the circulation of the blood and the inhalation of oxygen. 7 He was called "das Äffken" by his students, for he often talked about the monkeys upon which he was experimenting at home. 8 One of his lecture demonstrations seems to have been particularly memorable: Der Glanzpunkt dieser anatomischen Vorlesung war die Demonstration der Ohrmuskeln. Der Sohn, der die Ohren brillant bewegen konnte, musste dann erscheinen und man erzählte, dass die Scene [sic] in folgender Weise sich abspielte. Nach der Beschreibung der Ohrmuskeln sagte der Professor: "Diese Muskeln sind beim Mens-ken obsolet geworden. Der Mens-k kann die Ohren nicht bewegen, das können nur die Äffken. Jolios, mach's mal!" Der unglückliche Jolios musste dann aufstehen und mit den Ohren wedeln! 9

In appearance Wilbrand was "klapperdürr und hager"; he ran around "wie der Sturmwind": 1 0 a perfect target for student humor. It seems fittingly ironic that his measure of immortality rests not on his own achievements but on a play written by an observant and critical student. The resemblance between Wilbrand and Woyzeck's Doctor is strong: empty pedantry, dilettantish experimentation, and of course the earwiggling incident are common to both. Judging from Vogt's descriptions, it seems that little exaggeration was necessary to make a caricature out of Professor Wilbrand. A further inspiration for the Doctor's experimentation on Woyzeck may have come from another source. While Büchner was in Giessen, the local prison was being guarded by a detachment of soldiers who took part in experiments conducted by the scientist Liebig. Liebig weighed the amount of bread and sausage eaten by the soldiers and Carl Vogt, Aus meinem Leben. Erinnerungen und Rückblicke (Stuttgart, 1896), p. 54. » Ibid. 7 Ibid.

5

Ibid., p. 53. Ibid., p. 55 '» Ihid

8 8

46

THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE

compared it with the weight and composition of their excrement.11 Büchner was probably aware of these experiments, although there is no evidence that he wished to criticize Liebig's methods. In Woyzeck such experiments have an unquestionably negative effect upon their victim. Although the Doctor seems to have been modeled upon the personality of Wilbrand, this cannot sufficiently explain the force of Büchner's satiric attack. Wilbrand may have been ridiculous, but not dangerous. The tragic implications of the Doctor's maltreatment of Woyzeck are possibly a condemnation of the work of Dr. Johann Christian August Clarus, the doctor who declared Johann Christian Woyzeck legally sane and therefore guilty of murder. After Woyzeck was executed on August 27, 1824 in Leipzig, controversy raged over Clarus' decision. In 1825 Clarus published a lengthy medical report, based on a shorter version which reappeared in 1826. Büchner probably became acquainted with the Woyzeck affair by reading Clarus' reports in the Zeitschrift für die Staatsarzneikunde, which Büchner's father received regularly.12 Clarus performed a thorough and conscientious investigation, having spent many hours talking to and examining the accused. He did not show any great sympathy for Woyzeck, but neither was he prejudiced in his judgment. Although he did not avoid moralizing, he was not merciless or bloodthirsty. The following is an excerpt from the introduction to the report published in 1825, dealing with Woyzeck's execution: Kalt und gedankenlos kann wohl nur der stumpfsinnige Egoist, und mit roher Schaulust nur der entartete Halbmensch diesem T a g e des Gerichts entgegensehen. D e n Gebildeten und Fühlenden ergreift tiefes, banges Mitleid, da er in dem Verbrecher noch immer den Menschen, den ehemaligen Mitbürger . . . erblickt, der, durch ein unstetes, wüstes, gedankenloses und untätiges Leben von einer Stufe der moralischen Verwilderung zur andern herabgesunken, endlich im finstern Aufruhr roher Leidenschaften ein Menschenleben zerstörte, und der nun, ausgestossen von der Gesellschaft, das seine auf dem Blutgerüste durch Menschenhand verlieren soll.is Vogt, pp. 40-41. See Hans Mayer, "Georg Büchner: Woyzeck", Dichtung (Frankfurt/M., 1963), p. 60. 13 Ibid., p. 76. 11

12

und

Wirklichkeit

THE SINGLE

PERSPECTIVE

47

Although Clarus was not devoid of pity, his treatment of Woyzeck must have been unsettling to the accused, for Clarus would perform physical examinations (such as feeling Woyzeck's pulse) while Woyzeck was undergoing emotional stress.14 Büchner apparently did not overlook this minor detail. It is significant to note, however, that Clarus' critics did not object to his methods, but only to his interpretation of the facts.15 Be that as it may, Woyzeck was executed, and Büchner was determined to reopen the case in his play. If he had intended to end the play with Woyzeck's trial, as the fragment at the beginning of "h 2 " seems to indicate (p. 496), then Clarus would certainly have figured prominently. The scene is headed, "Gerichtsdiener. Barbier. Arzt. Richter." It is impossible to say what sort of an "Arzt" Büchner had in mind, for the chronology of the manuscripts indicates that the Doctor of "Beim Doktor", "Strasse", and "Der Hof des Doktors" had not yet been created. The Doctor was to become a contributor to Woyzeck's mental and physical deterioration before the murder. In short, the Doctor is a Wilbrand with the power of a Clarus, a ridiculous, useless figure who nevertheless is able to make others suffer. Against such products of an unjust society Büchner directed his polemic wrath: Ich habe . . . eine Art von Spott, es ist aber nicht der der Verachtung, sondern der des Hasses. Der Hass ist so gut erlaubt als die Liebe, und ich hege ihn im vollsten Masse gegen die, welche verachten. Es ist deren eine grosse Zahl, die, im Besitz einer lächerlichen Äusserlichkeit, die man Bildung, oder eines toten Krams, den man Gelehrsamkeit heisst, die grosse Masse ihrer Brüder ihrem verachtenden Egoismus opfern. Der Aristokratismus ist die schändlichste Verachtung des Heiligen Geistes im Menschen; gegen ihn kehre ich seine eigenen Waffen: Hochmut gegen Hochmut, Spott gegen Spott. 1 '

The writer is aware of his impotence to bring about a social revolution, but in the fortress of his imagination he can control and destroy his enemies at his leisure. This passage is generally regarded as the "explanation" of Büchner's satiric characterizations, but it is somewhat one-sided in that it illuminates only the polemic motivation behind them. 14 13 18

Ibid., pp. 92-93. See the rebuttal by Dr. C. M. Marc in Mayer, pp. 138-140. Letter to his parents, Giessen, February, 1834, p. 378.

THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE

48

In tracing the evolution o f the Doctor through the various drafts o f Woyzeck, one finds the first préfiguration o f the " B e i m D o k t o r " scene in a scene o f " h 1 " called " E i n Wirtshaus. Barbier. Unteroffizier." T h e Barber speaks proudly o f his usefulness to science: Ich bin die Wissenschaft. Ich bekomme für meine Wissenschaftlichkeit alle Wochen einen halben Gulden. . . . Ich bin eine Spinosa pericyclica; ich hab einen lateinischen Rücken. Ich bin ein lebendiges Skelett. Die ganze Menschheit studiert an mir. (p. 489) Unlike Woyzeck, the Barber shows no ill effects or any sign o f depression from his part-time occupation. In fact, he is detached enough to speak satirically about his examiners. Comparing the scene, "Woyzeck. D o k t o r " in " h 2 " with

"Beim

D o k t o r " in the later manuscript " H " , one discovers subtle changes in emphasis and characterization. Much needless detail has been omitted in the " H " version — detail which most probably centered on W i l brand. T h e Doctor was obviously first conceived as a personal caricature, done by a medical student f o r his own amusement, incorporating into his play a large number o f private jokes. In the revised draft he retained only that which was more generally comprehensible, omitting passages such as this: Hat er mir Frosch gefangen? Hat er Laich? Keinen Süsswasserpolyp? keine Hydra? Vestillen? Cristatellen? Stoss Er mir nicht ans Mikroskop, ich hab eben den dicken Backzahn von einem Infusionstier darunter. (P- 502) In " B e i m D o k t o r " , private attacks against W i l b r a n d are still in evidence. "Nichts als Erbsen, cruciferae, merk' E r s i c h ' s ! " (p. 1 5 9 ) says the Doctor. W i l b r a n d seems not always to have been sure o f his botany; 1 7 here the Doctor calls peas "cruciferae" instead o f "leguminosae". Hans W i n k l e r believes that the pompous " d e r Mensch ist frei, in dem Menschen verklärt sich die Individualität zur Freiheit" (pp. 1 5 8 - 1 5 9 ) is a parody o f Wilbrand's literary style. 18 Such references are o f course tangential to the function o f the figure within the play. Judging from " h 2 " , Büchner evidently had difficulty beginning the 17 18

Hans Winkler, Georg Bächners "Woyzeck", p. 53. Ibid., p. 120.

THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE

49

scene called "Strasse". While he was pondering over the meeting of the Doctor, the Captain, and Woyzeck, he sketched two superimposed figures in the margin of his manuscript.19 Bergemann assumes that the sketch depicts the Doctor and the Captain, but since there is nowhere any positive identification, and considering that it seems to have been the result of idle doodling (how can the two pairs of legs be matched with the figures?), the sketch cannot be the basis for authoritative interpretation. It is nevertheless tempting to hazard a guess about the upper figure: it shows a sharply-etched profile, with a prominent, pointed nose and a probing eye. Proverbially the nose is a symbol of curiosity, and since this particular nose would seem to be an admirable tool for an experiment in sneezing, the portrait is likely that of the Doctor. The sharp features betray no inclination toward human sympathy; they seem to point unwaveringly in one direction only. The most prominent change in the "H" draft of "Strasse" is the transfer of the Doctor's catalogue of impending illnesses and eventual death from the "gute Frau" (p. 503) to the Captain himself. The result is greater dramatic tightness — less emphasis on caricature for its own sake and more concern for the coherence of the play. This is the most significant improvement also of the "Beim Doktor" scene. Woyzeck assumes greater importance than in the earlier draft, noticeably at the end of the scene, which becomes a dialogue rather than a monologue. With regard to the Doctor, the personal caricature of Wilbrand gives way to a more generalized typified caricature, making the figure in its representational quality a far more potent threat to Woyzeck. On this broader level the Woyzeck-Doctor relationship mirrors the conflict between oppressed and oppressor as a universal social phenomenon. Although the Doctor causes others to suffer, he is by no means a personification of evil or devilishness, for there is no grandeur in him. He is fundamentally a comic character, ridiculous in his excesses and in his belief that he understands and controls his environment. Büchner underscores this irony by having the Doctor discover what he thinks is a fixed idea in Woyzeck, while the Doctor himself is nothing more than a fixed idea, focused unwaveringly on the supremacy of scientific 19 See Bergemann's edition, p. 503. I would like to thank Professor Werner R. Lehmann for sending me a photocopy of the manuscript page with this sketch.

50

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PERSPECTIVE

method. His personality is limited to a few unchanging traits, without the slightest shading. His speech reveals this from the first moment on; his being is immediately defined, and nothing that he says later adds to it. His words are neither communicative nor particularly informative, they simply fill up space. They pour out not from a complex, changeable organism, but from a clattering machine which runs on endlessly without producing anything of value. When it skips a few notches of logic in its haste, it becomes grotesquely comical. That such a ludicrous object could influence the lives of others is one of the tragic themes of Woyzeck. Irony turns bitter when the Doctor tries to reduce "Subjekt Woyzeck" to a convenient formula. This domination transcends the immediacy of the scene to encompass Woyzeck's entire existence; it admits of no escape. During the short interrogation at the end of "Beim Doktor", Woyzeck must answer for his way of life: Doktor: Woyzeck: Doktor: Woyzeck:

Et tut noch alles wie sonst? rasiert seinen Hauptmann? Jawohl. Isst seine Erbsen? Immer ordentlich, Herr Doktor. (p. 160)

At this point Woyzeck volunteers a bit of information, which the Doctor ignores, but which reminds the audience that Woyzeck is more than just a trapped animal, not only pitiful, but tragic: Woyzeck: Das Geld für die Menage kriegt meine Frau. Doktor: Tut seinen Dienst? Woyzeck: Jawohl.

The dialogue ends predictably with another dehumanizing formula from the Doctor: "Er ist ein interessanter Kasus." Yet can one say that the Doctor is guilty of wrongdoing? The sociologically-oriented commentators of Büchner generally assume so, but in doing so they overlook the unique (and very modern) dramatic technique which Büchner employs. Guilt implies consciousness of one's own actions with respect to an accepted standard of right and wrong. The Doctor, however, is endowed with such a narrow range of perception that he is incapable of such recognition. He can never see beyond a single level of meaning. Being unconscious of his faults, he is amoral rather than immoral. Woyzeck's fate is all the more tragic and

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51

unavoidable precisely because of the smdlness of this particular adversary, who by chance happens to occupy a higher position in society than Woyzeck. Since the Doctor is incapable of self-realization — therefore impossible to influence — Woyzeck is forever at his mercy, as long as Woyzeck's financial dependence continues. The Doctor is, in short, a product of a fatalistic outlook, a figure as unmoved and unassailable as the forces of nature, which destroy a human being as they would a tree or a rock. Besides the significance of the Doctor-Woyzeck relationship, the Doctor has a unique structural function within the play. In Chapter II it was stated that in Molière's plays, satire and plot are closely intertwined, for the classic structure of his comedies depends on coherent, progressive action. The epic drama of Biichner, on the other hand, rests on a unity of concept rather than of action. Molière's scenes are building blocks in an architectural design; Biichner's represent little self-contained worlds related to a central idea rather than to a linear development. This difference has a corresponding effect upon the characterizations. Both the doctors in Le Malade imaginaire and the Doctor in Woyzeck are functional types, but Biichner's Doctor affects Woyzeck not so much as a person but as an environment, as part of the hostile world in which Woyzeck is trapped. Consequently, Biichner's satire attains a new dimension: he does not place a caricature in a normal world, like Molière; he allows the caricature to become the norm. There is nothing to act as a counterweight to the Doctor's twisted logic; there is no guide by which an aberration can be judged or explained, no balance between reality and non-reality. In Le Malade imaginaire the caricatured villains are exposed within the play for what they are, but in Woyzeck, the "comic" caricatures are never unmasked. No one who comes in contact with the Doctor questions his authority. Indeed, we might venture to "motivate" the Doctor's inflexibility by the fact that he never suffers a disappointment. He enjoys absolute freedom of movement because his fellow men are too blind or too weak to contradict him. At the end of the play, the situation remains unchanged: Woyzeck's murder and (assumed) death have no impact beyond the dry fact that two lives are terminated. Woyzeck is rejected even by his own child, and society neither pities nor understands, as the remarks of a policeman about the "beautiful murder"

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indicate (p. 496). Since there is no resolution of any kind, there is nothing to relieve the grotesque mood of this "verkehrte W e l t " , in which, as has been pointed out, realism is a very relative term. As in the writings of Kafka, one is forced to accept the grotesque and the realistic on the same terms.

B. WOYZECK: THE "OTHERS" In the epic form of drama, environment is no longer a backdrop to the action; it is a force to be reckoned with, for it shapes, directs, and often overcomes the figures it encompasses. I f Woyzeck's world were populated by true individuals, there would exist a possibility of eventual communication, but he is surrounded by half-humans, forces, and voices, all propelling him to his destruction. T h e elements of the play can be grouped roughly into three categories: Woyzeck-Marie, scenes symbolic of a universal condition (the Carnival scenes, the Apprentices, the Grandmother's tale), and scenes of implied or direct threat (Woyzeck's soliloquies and his encounters with the Captain, the Doctor, the Drum Major, Andres, and lesser characters). O f primary concern here are the second and third groupings. In the Carnival scenes, Biichner employs what might be called symbolic caricature in reverse: the satiric technique of debasing a man to resemble an animal is made more ironically ambivalent by transforming an animal to resemble a man, for, as the tongue-in-cheek banter of the Barker indicates, we cannot be sure whether the animal is being elevated or debased in this process. Accordingly, the garbled, bilingual presentation of the animals is consciously artificial, creating the distance necessary for a satiric perspective. Quite similar in tone is the so-called "Automatenszene" in Leonce und Lena. In both instances there is an artificial transformation of subject matter. By assuming the means with which man glorifies himself —such as a uniform —the animal mimics in the Carnival scenes mock man and simultaneously lose their natural identity as animals in the same manner as the human form does when it is subjected to caricature. Biichner does not limit his satire to generalities, however; he brings his attack to bear directly upon the society which is responsible for the

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suffering of the Woyzecks of the world, e.g., the horse as a university professor, the monkey as a soldier. Indeed, the latter seems to point directly at Woyzeck himself: D e r A f f ist Soldat; 's ist noch nit viel, unterste Stuf von menschliche Geschlecht. (p. 155)

Only a brief, arbitrary gesture separates the highest level of society from the lowest: Ho! Mach Kompliment! So - bist Baron.

{Ibid.)

The horse's breach of decorum appears to be a foreshadowing of the act for which Woyzeck is reprimanded by the Doctor: {Das Pferd führt sich ungebührlich auf.) So, beschäme die Société. Sehn Sie, das Vieh ist noch Natur, unideale Natur! Lernen Sie bei ihm! Fragen Sie den Arzt, es ist sonst höchst schädlich! (p. 157)

The central irony of the Carnival scenes is the term, "unideale Natur", which is at the same time the irony of class structure per se. Woyzeck as an imperfect mortal is "unideale Natur"; his only defense is, "Aber . . . wenn man nit anders kann?" (p. 501) The alternative, however — social status, money, "refinement" — is embodied by the Doctor, the Captain, and the Drum Major. Büchner demolishes this alternative by exposing through exaggeration the meaninglessness of the trappings in which man is prone to hide his identity —a favorite technique of the caricaturist. The dead, external layer comes to represent that which used to be, or should be, alive. Often the caricaturist not only reveals the mask for what it is, but he tears it off, destroying illusion and allowing a view of an empty or evil interior. We have seen how Büchner lets the Doctor undermine himself through his speech; the same process unmasks the Captain, the Drum Major, and Andres. At first glance the Drum Major seems to stand apart from those who have adopted the artificial veneer of "civilized" society. He appears as the epitome of unspoiled nature, the glorious physical specimen whose animal magnetism coincides in perfect harmony with his animalistic desires. He is a tree, a lion, an ox (pp. 154, 160), and there is no reason why a sensuous person such as Marie should not admire him. She may feel justly flattered that he returns her attentions.

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Shortly before his seduction of Marie, the Drum Major delivers a short self-characterization: Wenn ich am Sonntag erst den grossen Federbusch hab und die weisse Handschuh, Donnerwetter! Der Prinz sagt immer: Mensch, Er ist ein Kerl! (p. 160)

Marie is not aware, nor would she care, that this description implies a drastic limitation of personality. The Drum Major is nothing more than a "Kerl" without a brain, a decorated phallus. His only concern is sex, and his outer appearance is a manifestation of the single drive which defines his existence. Moreover, his self-esteem is based not so much on his own qualities but upon the approbation of his Prince. He is a "Kerl" only because the authorities say he is, and as such he is merely a strutting puppet of absolutism. Once again the severely selective hand of the satirist is evident behind this characterization.20 The Drum Major's presence in the play poses the most direct threat to Woyzeck's existence, for the Drum Major's physical superiority over Woyzeck is strong enough to break the life-giving bond between Woyzeck and Marie. The tragedy inherent in the dominance of a mindless force over the suffering individual is presented on a simplified physical plane in the second "Wirtshaus" scene (p. 169), in which the obscenely drunken Drum Major adds injury to insult by thrashing Woyzeck, thereby annihilating Woyzeck's last possibility of revenge, short of killing Marie. Thereupon Woyzeck goes and buys a dagger. The grotesquely narrow range of the Drum Major's perceptiveness is found to an equal degree in the Doctor and in Andres; the figures represent an unmitigated condemnation of a social type. Yet not all of Woyzeck's secondary characters are satirically oriented, to be sure. The non-satiric characterizations exist side by side with the caricatures, but their respective function differs. This becomes obvious when one turns from the Carnival scenes to the Grandmother's tale. Immediately prior 20

Paul Landau points out that Biichner's portrayal of the Drum Major corresponds closely to historical fact: this figure was "eine im hessischen Volksleben nur allzu gut bekannte Gestalt... sie waren die schönsten stolzesten Burschen, die recht eigentlich nur zu Prunk und Zierde des Heeres da waren. Sie stolzierten in ihrer müssigen Üppigkeit einher und entarteten so leicht zu Liederlichkeiten und Verbrechen, die man ihnen wohl auch nachsah. Sie hatten einen sprichwörtlich schlechten Ruf." ("Wozzeck", Wege der Forschung, p. 80.)

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to the climax of the Woyzeck-Marie conflict, the Grandmother tells a story to a group of children. The tone is quietly lyrical, simple — yet her tale sounds the deepest note of fatalism in the play. The impact of this devastating pessimism is such that it pervades the final scenes of the drama and extends their significance. Woyzeck after the murder, groping for the companionship of his child, of other people, groping for the knife, resembles the child who sinks into eternal loneliness after the universe has been unmasked as mere illusion. The Grandmother's tale creates a mood much in the same way that lighting and staging enhance a drama, but here the effect emanates from the play itself. Beyond its philosophical implications, the Grandmother's tale serves an atmospheric function. Atmospheric figures in open-form drama are discussed by Volker Klotz: "Ihnen obliegt es, in bezeichnenden Situationen die Personen gleichsam als Fluidum zu umkleiden. Sie bilden eine belebte Folie des Helden, sie graben durch Kontrast oder Analogie seine Eigenart heraus." 21 The Apprentices in Woyzeck are mentioned as an example. Woyzeck is a highly lyrical play; its vitality depends on contrastive moods rather than on extended dramatic conflict. Environment is a central dramatic factor, existing in three dimensions, and figures are often merely there to project it. The Doctor, it has been observed, is a fusion of figure and environment, wherein caricature produces a grotesque atmosphere. The Apprentices, caricatures also, are somewhat more complex in their function. The First Apprentice revels in drunken, hyperbolic sentimentality and misplaced pathos. Already a caricature in his excesses, he constructs a caricature of his own by mimicking a priest and delivering a mock sermon. The irony here emanates from the figure itself, not directly from the playwright. For this reason, words such as, "alles Irdische ist übel, selbst das Geld geht in Verwesung über", (p. 166) cannot be given much weight as an expression of Büchnerian thought, for they are the ravings of a drunken clown, whose last thought is an obscenity. The Apprentices and the other revelers at the inn owe their existence to the need for a harsh contrast to Woyzeck's despair. The false sentimentalities of the drunkards set off Woyzeck's emotional outburst in sharp relief. The figures around Woyzeck are without substance, yet 21

Volker Klotz, Geschlossene und offene Form im Drama (München), p. 155.

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they succeed in driving away a being far more alive than they. The atmospheric qualities emanating from the figures are actually motifs, similar to the recurrence of symbolically significant objects (knife, moon, blood, etc.). These motifs replace the individuality of the character; the character is merely a disposable vessel to contain them. The earlier drafts of Woyzeck confirm this to a high degree, for Büchner constantly experimented with words and gestures and transplanted them from one figure to another. The Barber of "h 1 ", resembling Woyzeck in profession but not in personality, foreshadows traits of the Captain ("Und ein ordentlicher Mensch hat sein Leben l i e b . . . . " [p. 489]), the Apprentices ("Ich wollte, unsere Nasen wären zwei Bouteillen "), and the Barker at the Carnival ("Was ist der Mensch? Knochen! Staub, Sand, Dreck."). Franz in "h 2 " prefigures traits later delegated to the Captain ("Grotesk" [p. 499]), the Apprentices (the sermon on p. 500), and the Drum Major ("Branntwein, das ist mein Leben, Branntwein gibt Courage."). From this evidence Wolfgang Martens deduces: Seine [Büchners] Nebenfiguren fungieren als Träger bestimmter motivischer Elemente und Formulierungen, die nicht an einen bestimmten "Charakter" gebunden sind, sondern als solche kompositorisch verfügbar bleiben, auch wenn die Figuren, mit denen sie ursprünglich verknüpft waren, verschwinden. Büchner instrumentiert hier gleichsam wie ein Komponist, der um der thematischen Gesamtwirkung willen ein Motiv vom Cello ins Fagott überträgt. Er denkt in motivischen Elementen, nicht in individuellen Personen. 2 2

The carriers of motifs appear in the " H " manuscript as coherent types, reduced to an essential characteristic or to a specific role. Andres is the confidant (although totally without perception), the Drum Major is the sexual force which draws Marie away from Woyzeck, the Jew is greedy, and so on. Those whose action or speech seem particularly exaggerated may be called caricatures, but it is unimportant where one draws the line, i.e., whether Andres, for example, is a caricature or a realistic portrait. It is sufficient to say that Büchner's polemic tendency is in evidence in varying degrees, and even this is of secondary importance with respect to the coherence of the play. Wolfgang Martens, "Der Barbier in Büchners 'Woyzeck' (Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Motivgeschichte der Barbiersfigur)", Zeitschrift jür deutsche Philologie, LXXIX ( 1 9 6 0 ) , 370-371.

22

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57

The discrepancy between caricature and realism in Büchner's aesthetics is not as great as is commonly assumed. The revealing discussion of art and realism in Büchner's Lenz is based on Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz's Anmerkungen übers Theater, in which the caricaturist is placed on the same level with the realist as an objective reporter of nature: . . . nach meiner Empfindung schätz ich den charakteristischen, selbst den Karikaturmaler zehnmal höher als den idealischen, hyperbolisch gesprochen, denn es gehört zehnmal mehr dazu, eine Figur mit eben der Genauigkeit und Wahrheit darzustellen, mit der das Genie sie erkennt, als zehn Jahre an einem Ideal der Schönheit zu zirkeln, das endlich doch nur in dem Hirn des Künstlers, der es hervorgebracht, ein solches ist. 23

Büchner's own criteria in Lenz are "Leben, Möglichkeit des Daseins", yet neither author proposes a slavish imitation of nature, but a recreation of reality irrespective of categories of value. "Ich zeichne meine Charaktere, wie ich sie der Natur und der Geschichte angemessen halte" (Strassburg, Jan. 1, 1836, p. 408), writes Büchner, reiterating the sovereignty of the poet over his material. Furthermore, Büchner does not believe in the credo of "l'art pour 1'art"; his art has a definite didactic purpose — not to dictate, but to reveal: D e r Dichter ist kein Lehrer der Moral, er erfindet und schafft Gestalten, er macht vergangene Zeiten wieder aufleben, und die Leute mögen dann daraus lernen, so gut wie aus dem Studium der Geschichte und der Beobachtung dessen, was im menschlichen Leben um sie herum vorgeht. (Strassburg, July 28, 1835, p. 4 0 0 )

A drama is then as useful an educational tool as the lessons of history, and the dramatist is justified in using whatever means he deems necessary to reveal historical truth. Caricature is one of these devices. It was pointed out in Chapter II that a restricted perspective is necessary to accommodate the structural demands of dramatic form. Flat, one-level characterizations complement in various ways the figures of greater dimensionality and complexity. But what makes Büchner's single perspective of characterization so unique is that it is not simply a functional device, but an expression of his Weltanschauung. He does not only create types because he needs them or wishes to satirize his In: Meisterwerke p. 314. 23

deutscher

Uteraturkritik,

Hans Mayer, ed. (Berlin, 1954),

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society; he lets the onesidedness of the type — a formal device — become symbolic of human limitations in general. In classical drama the type is a cipher of a human being, but in Büchner's dramas the human being is condemned because he is nothing more than a type. This is the primary source for the atmosphere of fatalism which pervades Woyzeck. Woyzeck desperately tries to communicate with those around him, but he is eternally doomed to failure — like the child in the Grandmother's tale — because his fellow men are by nature too narrowly conceived to be capable of such communication. Their existence is defined by the quality which they embody; behind their masks there is emptiness.24 As in the Doctor's case, the question of moral guilt cannot arise. Their "sin" lies in their nature. Once Woyzeck loses Marie, his downfall is predestined, for he is trapped in this world of insufficiency and insignificance. Only the warmth of his love for Marie and the sincerity of her repentance raise these two figures above their environment, a uniformly grotesque assembly of masks. Many Büchner critics have found a resemblance to the commedia dell'arte in these figures. Erich Kästner makes a more apt comparison by coining the phrase, "tragedia dell'arte".*8 The "others" in Woyzeck are basically stock comic figures: the chattering doctor, the sentimental officer, the boastful soldier, the drunken apprentices, the misunderstanding confidant, the greedy Jew — but by placing them in a more serious context Büchner makes them meaningful beyond the comic platitudes which they embodied in the commedia dell'arte. He superimposes their ludicrous behavior onto the tragedy of Woyzeck, allowing this not unrealistic but cruelly ironic juxtaposition to speak eloquently for itself. The comedians do not realize that a tragedy is being performed in their midst. C. DANTONS

TOD:

T H E REVOLUTIONARY A N D T H E MASSES

If Woyzeck's Doctor is a noisy, malfunctioning machine, then St. Just One should be wary of applying the term "idée fixe" to these characterizations. The fixed idea implies the narrowing of a complex nature into the imprisonment of a single obsession - a concept which is rightly applied to Woyzeck's preoccupation with murder. But such a process is not evident or even possible in the figures governed by the single perspective. It would be better to say that they are fixed ideas rather than they have them. 25 Erich Kästner, "Wohin gehört Büchner?" Merkur, XI ( 1 9 5 7 ) , 1142. 24

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is a smoothly running computer. His being radiates purpose, his mind is the mechanism of the Revolution. Language is the tool with which he transforms ideas into action. He does not, like Danton, consider language to be a futile attempt to grasp at truth; he never wastes words nor indulges in ambiguities. He embodies an unyieldingly logical historical idealism, as incontrovertible as the laws of nature. His dialectic recognizes only the concepts of right and wrong, and only through logic can man think and act rightly. Logic is the key to understanding the workings of historical imperatives, and since men are no more than the puppets of these forces, they cannot presume to evaluate history on a humanistic basis. St. Just's reasoned absolutism is from the start the ideological counterweight to Danton's views. St. Just's oration before the National Convention is flawlessly logical, once his basic premise has been established: D i e N a t u r folgt ruhig und unwiderstehlich ihren Gesetzen; der Mensch wird vernichtet, wo er mit ihnen in Konflikt kommt. 2 «

(p. 4 9 )

He is one of the least complicated of all major Büchnerian figures, for self-questioning is utterly alien to his nature. Almost every sentence he utters is a resolution, following a relentlessly simple subject-verb-object pattern: " W i r werden den Vorteil. . . verlieren", " W i r werden ohne dich handeln", " W i r berufen den Gesetzgebungsausschuss", "Wir müssen die grosse Leiche begraben", " W i r müssen ihn . . . beisetzen", etc. Most unsettling to the observer is not his self-assurance but his impersonal manner, expressed over and over in the collective "wir". He is a commander bereft of emotion. Even the rousing conclusion of his oration before the National Convention is a reasoned call to arms, not merely soaring pathos. Although St. Just is rigid, he is not dry. He is intelligent enough to compete in the verbal fencing and ironic ornamentation which characterize the dialogues of Danton's faction and those of the Committee of Public Safety. Like the others, he can distance himself from the Unlike much of Robespierre's oratory (for which documentation exists), this speech by St. Just is Biichner's own creation, except for the last sentence. See Karl Viétor, "Die Quellen von Büchners Drama 'Dantons Tod' " , Euphorion, X X X I V ( 1 9 3 3 ) , 357-379. 26

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emotions of fanatical extremes. His ironic tone reveals a farsighted understanding of his opponents which transcends the mere mechanics of the Revolutionary government. His perceptiveness makes him all the more dangerous to the moderates around Danton. He, not Robespierre, engineers the downfall of Danton's faction. Robespierre ultimately turns against Danton and Camille because of personal affronts, but St. Just is the organ of the ideology which is determined to destroy not specific individuals, but all counterrevolutionary thought, no matter where it may arise. Danton himself is aware of the impersonal might which stands against him: W ä r es ein Kampf, dass die Arme und Zähne einander packten! Aber es ist mir, als wäre ich in ein Mühlwerk gefallen, und die Glieder würden mir langsam systematisch von der kalten physischen Gewalt abgedreht. So mechanisch getötet zu werden! (p. 66)

If Woyzeck were able to speak so coherently, he might have said the same about the power which the Doctor, the Captain, and the others exert over him. The ludicrous Doctor is able to dominate Woyzeck, but he would not have the stature to oppose Danton. Danton's ideological opponent does border on the grotesque because of his ice-cold inhumanity, but he is by no means debased, ridiculous, or insignificant. Herein lies the essential difference between the two mechanized oppressors in Woyzeck and Dantons Tod-, although both are dangerous because of their restricted personalities, the Doctor is a caricature, St. Just is not. Büchner molded the historical St. Just into a typified representation of the "ideal" ruthless revolutionary. The figure is limited to a few sharp essentials but the characterization is to be taken in total earnestness, without distortion. St. Just's occasional ironies reflect his sovereign control of his environment, yet he, unlike the Doctor, never makes a mistake nor gets entangled by enthusiasm. Similarly to the Doctor, however, he is not morally evil. We have called him perceptive, but his perception is limited to a recognition of the threat that Danton poses to the ideology of the Revolution. St. Just's insight cannot penetrate to Danton's doubting, tormented self, for St. Just is unable to comprehend the validity of a relativistic, humanly oriented world view. He is not faced with the necessity of choice or with the painful dichotomy between thought and action, as Robespierre is. For

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St. Just, thought, word, and action are one; from this unity, the Bible tells us, the world was created, and this unity shall continue to promote the historical process: Der Weltgeist bedient sich in der geistigen Sphare unserer Arme ebenso, wie er in der physischen Vulkane und Wasserfluten gebraucht. (p. 49) St. Just's unflagging conviction results in a portrait of terrifying strength. Dramatically he is an extreme characterization, standing directly opposite Danton in the spectrum of Revolutionary leadership. Between these two poles are the other political figures: resembling St. Just in intellectual fanaticism are the other members of the Committee of Public Safety (excepting Barere), Herman, Fouquier-Tinville, and from Danton's faction, the atheistic theoretician Payne, who is as firm a believer in logic and as unassailed by self-doubt as is St. Just. Toward the middle stands Barere, the opportunist, who delivers a curious, halfserious soliloquy of self-recognition after having shown himself to be a two-faced yet nonetheless bloodthirsty revolutionary (p. 65). Grouped near the other pole are Danton's echoes and debating partners, with Camille occupying a position of special significance. Oscillating violently between one extreme and the other is the doubting idealist Robespierre, the loneliest person in the play. Apart from this spectrum of leaders and sub-leaders, two other spheres are woven into the structure of the play: the radiant, soothing world of Julie, Lucile, and Marion, symbolizing the bond of love between individuals which is the only effective defense against the mechanistic forces of the Revolution; and the social strata beneath the top levels of political factionalism. Biichner traces political influences down through society to the masses and uncovers a surprisingly unrevolutionary situation: the upheavals at the top of the power structure are causing fluctuations at the bottom, rather than the other way around. The masses do not in any way influence the decisions of their leaders. Their poverty has created the Revolution and kept it in existence, but none of the leaders fear them as a source of potential power. The masses exist to be manipulated, and being unintelligent, they are treated with scorn: Das Volk ist wie ein Kind, es muss alles zerbrechen, um zu sehen, was darin steckt.

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Das Volk hat einen Instinkt, sich treten zu lassen, and wäre es nur mit Blicken.

The first sentence is spoken by Danton (p. 27), the second by the fanatical Billaud-Varennes (p. 62). The representatives of the masses are in part atmospheric characterizations, as in Woyzeck, comparable to their Shakespearean models in Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Henry VI. The atmospheric folk scenes, which do not directly affect the action, are "Eine Gasse" (in part) (pp. 13-17), "Strasse vor Dantons Haus" (pp. 45-46), "Platz vor der Conciergerie" (pp. 74-75), and sections of the last two scenes of Act IV (pp. 81-82). The rough unsophistication of these scenes stands in strong contrast to the plotting, speech making, and philosophizing of the Revolutionaries; the dialogue makes the disparity of intelligence and situation evident. However, the masses in Dantons Tod are not merely an atmospheric backdrop. They function as extensions of the political conflicts and the philosophical speculation which are the basis of the play. Significant scenes: the exegesis on poverty and the debate with Robespierre in "Eine Gasse", the dialogue between Simon and the Citizen in "Eine Promenade" (pp. 36-37), the argument on the "Platz vor dem Justizpalast" (pp. 69-70), and "Eine Strasse" (pp. 7071). Here the figures serve a reflective rather than an atmospheric function; that is, the thematic motifs, the characteristics, and the conflicts of the main characters are transposed onto another level of existence. Within this simplified perspective the image of the original is reduced, often to a point where it becomes ridiculous. An obvious instance is the short and noisy scene, "Platz vor dem Justizpalast". In a few strokes the impulses directing the various forces of the Revolution are laid bare. The masses are calling for bread, not speeches or executions. The ideological conflict between Robespierre and Danton is reduced to an absurdly simple, personal plane: Erster Bürger: Wer sagt, dass Danton ein Verräter sei? Zweiter Bürger: Robespierre. Erster Bürger: Und Robespierre ist ein Verräter! Zweiter Bürger: Wer sagt das?

Erster Bürger: Danton.

(p. 69)

Through this oversimplification Büchner satirizes both the leaders and

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the led: the masses may be base and egocentric, too unintelligent to follow the subtleties of the political situation, yet the leaders are not far removed in their petty squabbles and recriminations. Within minutes the masses are swayed from Danton to Robespierre by a few slogans. Robespierre is like them, he has nothing; therefore, Danton is a traitor. Poverty is the only lever by which the masses may be moved,27 and the exaggerated rapidity of their change of allegiance is a biting comment on the restriction which poverty places on rational choice. Danton and his friends despair at man's attempts to run counter to his fate, and of this deterministic subjugation the masses are a living symbol. Fortunately for them, they are too imperceptive to suffer from this insight, as Danton does. Individually they are little more than a voice and a stomach. The significance of "Platz vor dem Justizpalast", then, exceeds its contribution to the plot (the precipitation of Danton's downfall). The scene is a parody of blind factionalism, laying bare in their meanness the factors which affect political allegiance, making caricatures out of types. Later in the play, after the execution scene, there appears unexpectedly another touch of bitter caricature. Three women are gossiping about the handsome "celebrity" they have just seen — a perfectly natural occurrence - but their light banter grotesquely belies the subject matter: Erstes Weib: Ein hübscher Mann, der Hérault! Zweites Weib: W i e er beim Konstitutionsfest so am Triumphbogen stand, da dacht ich so, der muss sich gut auf der Guillotine ausnehmen, dacht ich. Das war so 'ne Ahnung. Drittes Weib: Ja, man muss die Leute in allen Verhältnissen sehen; es ist recht gut, dass das Sterben so öffentlich wird. (pp. 81-82)

This flippant attitude toward death is a powerful foil to Lucile's poignant " W i r miissen's wohl leiden." The human being is capable of being as mechanical an executioner as the guillotine itself, and Lucile knows of no surer way to end her life than to throw herself into the mechanism of the Revolution. One might even go so far as to say that certain of Büchner's figures are reflective not of a theme or another figure but of a significant object; e.g., the symbolic expressiveness of the guillotine dominates the figures which believe in it. 27

See Büchner's letter to Gutzkow, Strassburg, 1836, p. 412.

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Still to be considered are the figures Laflotte, Dillon, Dumas, and Simon. Laflotte, a second Barere, will not hesitate to compromise his principles while he expounds at length on the reasons for his treachery. It is typical of Büchner to pry into his characters more deeply than one might expect; Laflotte and Barere hint at a complexity of character not evident in those surrounding them. Both are ironists, supremely aware of the roles they are playing. Dillon, the activist, sees hope for Danton's rescue, but his optimism is blind to the possibility of his own downfall, which Laflotte is in the process of plotting. On a small scale the inevitability of Danton's death is reiterated, as a last hope for salvation is undermined by cynical materialism. Dumas is a caricature of revolutionary zeal.28 Büchner sees in this figure, who would sacrifice his wife to the revolutionary ideal, an extrapolation of St. Just's principles to an extreme. As Walter Höllerer points out, Dumas' reference to Brutus is a misapplied attempt to elevate his action with antiquated grandeur;28 the Roman ideal is an empty slogan which serves to cover up injustice and inhumanity. The drunken rhetoric of Simon achieves the same effect, showing how falsely pathos reverberates against the mean reality of existence. Simon, however, is not truly a caricature for the same reason that the First Apprentice in Woyzeck is not: both are consciously (or semi-consciously) affecting a part. The drunken Apprentice speaks in exaggerated sentimentality, and the drunken prompter speaks in exaggerated rage. His vocabulary comes from his trade. Often disregarded, however, is his discussion with the Citizen in the "Promenade" scene. Here again the all-pervasive influence of the Revolution is brought to a low level of parody. The Citizen asks for suggestions on naming his newborn son, and he decides on "Pike, Pflug, Robespierre, das sind hübsche Namen, das macht sich schön." (p. 37) The artificiality of the Revolutionary vocabulary becomes evident in occasional slips: Ein Biirger: Meine gute Jacqueline ich: Kor . . . Simon: Kornelia, Bürger, Kornelia.

ich wollte sagen Korn . . .

wollt

(p. 3 6 )

88 Based nonetheless on historical fact. See Vietor, "Die Quellen von 'Dantons Tod' ", 377. 29 Walter Höllerer, Zwischen Klassik und Moderne (Stuttgart, 1958), p. 133.

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Simon: Ich sage dir, die Brust deiner Kornelia wird wie das Euter der römischen W ö l f i n - nein, das geht nicht: Romulus war ein Tyrann, das geht nicht. (p. 3 7 )

Throughout Dantons Tod Büchner is constantly varying his themes, probing into their ramifications or on occasion stretching them to dangerous extremes. The gravitational center lies in the vast middle ground of speculation, where every thought and action is clothed in the grayness of ambiguity, between the poles of Yes and No. At the extremes stand characters with a false sense of security and purpose, blind to doubt, incapable of change. They strike heroic poses and believe that their actions are meaningful, oblivious to their mortal limitations and to the crumbling foundations upon which they stand, rejecting the diversity of life for the rigidity of their beliefs. Such a man, says Danton, is an "armseliges Instrument. . . auf dem eine Saite immer nur einen Ton angibt", (p. 34) A man of this sort is at fault, insists Büchner, for not recognizing the insignificance of human action, the fatalism of existence. As Büchner formulates it: Ich finde in der Menschennatur eine entsetzliche Gleichheit, in den menschlichen Verhältnissen eine unabwendbare Gewalt, allen und keinem verliehen. D e r einzelne nur Schaum auf der Welle, die Grösse ein blosser Zufall, die Herrschaft des Genies ein Puppenspiel, ein lächerliches Ringen gegen ein ehernes Gesetz, es zu erkennen das Höchste, es zu beherrschen unmöglich. 3 0

Those who do not accept "das Höchste" are absurd to those who see reality in a wider perspective. The absolutists are shadows, representations of "reduced" humanity, encased by the walls they have built around themselves. They are mechanisms driven by a single spring.

D. LEONCE

UND LENA:

CLOWNS A N D CARICATURES

In July of 1834 a pamphlet entitled Der Hessische Landbote appeared in Giessen. It was a daring polemic against the oppressive rule of the German aristocracy, and its author, Georg Büchner, hoped that by stressing the enormous material inequalities existing between the upper and lower classes he might arouse the lower classes to revolt 30

Letter to his fiancée, Giessen, November 1833, p. 374.

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against such injustices. He attacked the class structure as an inhumanly mechanistic organism, unworthy of allegiance or respect: K ö n n t e . . . ein ehrlicher M a n n jetzo Minister sein oder bleiben, so w ä r e er, wie die S a c h e n stehn in D e u t s c h l a n d , nur eine D r a h t p u p p e ,

an der

die fürstliche P u p p e zieht; u n d an d e m fürstlichen P o p a n z zieht wieder ein K a m m e r d i e n e r oder ein K u t s c h e r oder seine F r a u u n d ihr G ü n s t l i n g oder sein H a l b b r u d e r - oder alle z u s a m m e n .

(p.

337)

This is true satire, with a definite aim to reform. Combined with factual information, this direct approach seemed to Büchner to be the only way to effect a reform at the roots of society.31 The satire is a manifestation of Büchner's avowed "Spott des Hasses", which he was determined to use against all oppressors (see p. 47 above). In the spring of 1836 Büchner decided to take part in a competition organized by the Cotta publishing house, which promised to grant a prize to the best comedy it received. This was the impetus which produced Leonce und Lena, a play set in a tiny mythical kingdom ruled by an incompetent king and peopled by a court of marionettes. In this choice of background there seems to be an obvious connection to the political polemics of the Landbote, and one would assume that the motivation underlying the fairy-tale trappings is Büchner's hatred of the aristocracy. Leading Büchner critics, including Vietor and Mayer (see pp. 16-17 above), maintain that all scenes not involving Leonce, Lena, or Valerio are born of Büchner's hatred and/or sarcasm. Although satire is undeniably present in Leonce und Lena, these critics generally overlook an essential ingredient of comedy: humor. Büchner did after all call his work "Ein Lustspiel", and in evaluating it one must distinguish, if possible, between the bitter laughter of satire and the liberating laughter of pure comedy. Can the satiric force inherent in certain secondary characters in Dantons Tod and Woyzeck be equated with that of King Peter's court and subjects in Leonce und Lena? The primary object of Büchner's satire in this play is the emptiness of courtly formality, carried to a ridiculous extreme. The President, the Private Tutor, and King Peter's attendants are parrots and messagecarriers, nothing more. The President hides his embarrassment by snapping his fingers when he talks to Leonce, erasing whatever dignity 31

See Büchner's letter to Gutzkow, Strassburg, 1836, pp. 4 1 1 - 4 1 2 .

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his office might carry. The formal tone of courtly language is emptied of all communicative substance, and every movement of the king is to be assiduously aped: Präsident: Alle Untertanen werden aufgefordert, die Gefühle Ihrer Majestät zu teilen. (p. 143) Even emotion becomes a matter of protocol. Bourgeois sentimentality is ridiculed in Woyzeck; in Leonce und Lena it is revealed as a mask which can be put on or taken off at will. "Ich werde mich freuen", says King Peter at one point, and he is immediately happy not out of sincerity but because of his kingly edict. His well-trained court is equally proficient at expressing joy or sorrow upon command. The last vestiges of natural feeling have been expunged from these figures; they are, in a sense, acting at being human and doing a terrible job at it. By nature they are antithetical to Leonce, Danton, or Woyzeck, who are unable to suppress their natural inclinations in order to play the roles required of them. The two Policemen who come to interrogate Leonce and Valerio are ludicrously inept and soon depart, pondering a riddle. (Paralipomena, pp. 477-478) The peasants of the kingdom are similarly automated. They speak only one word in the entire play, for which, as the Schoolmaster indicates, they may expect a reward: Erkennt, was man für euch tut: man hat euch grade so gestellt, dass der Wind von der Küche über euch geht und ihr auch einmal in eurem Leben einen Braten riecht. (p. 140) Here Büchner fires a hilarious broadside at the pretended thoughtfulness of the upper classes toward their subjects; the "favors" granted on festive occasions are so small as to be entirely meaningless. Nevertheless, this scene is indicative of the general lack of programmatic satire in Leonce und Lena. In an anti-aristocratic satire one would expect the writer to stress the contrast between the oppressors and the suffering masses, demanding sympathy for the latter. Yet the peasants are as farcical as the rest; they do not suffer, for in truth they hardly exist. For this reason King Peter cannot be called a villain —a term which does apply to Woyzeck's Captain. The sharp sting of satire has been blunted by exaggeration. The social types are too foolish to be dangerous; the atmosphere they project is one of burlesque frivolity,

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not of latent despair, as in Woyzeck. The spectator is too busy laughing at the antics of the court, the policemen, Lena's governess and the peasants to be concerned with serious thoughts of social injustice. The automatons surrounding Leonce, Lena, and Valerio are so lifeless and petty that they evoke neither sympathy nor horror. The critical view of the satirist becomes so broad that it extends beyond effective satire; the atmosphere is simply too unreal to be taken seriously. The aristocracy of Biichner's day could hardly have taken offense, had they had an opportunity to read the play or see it performed.32 The satire is non-specific; there are no characteristics in King Peter or in his subjects which have been traced to historical figures against whom Biichner felt special rancor. W e must remember that Biichner did not limit his political interests to a proletarian revolution only in HesseDarmstadt or even only in Germany. His idealism was dedicated to the oppressed of all countries. Leonce und Lena cannot be equated in directness with Der Hessiscbe Landbote\ the Landbote was written for the peasants of Hesse-Darmstadt, whereas Leonce und Lena was written as a literary exercise for an unknown audience.33 It seems therefore unjustified to trace the origin of the secondary The beginning of the final scene is an exception, however. The Major-Domo and several servants indulge in distinctly uncomplimentary banter about the finely dressed ladies and gentlemen who are to serve as an elegant background for the forthcoming marriage of Prince Leonce. As the Major-Domo indicates, the carefully prepared veneer is beginning to crack: "Alle Vatermörder legen sich um, wie melancholische Schweinsohren. Den Bauern wachsen die Nägel und der Bart wieder. Den Soldaten gehn die Locken auf. Von den zwölf Unschuldigen ist keine, die nicht das horizontale Verhalten dem senkrechten vorzöge" (p. 140). A servant adds, referring to the ladies: "Wenn sie auch nicht offenherzig sind, so sind sie doch offen bis zum Herzen" (p. 141). The servants look at their superiors and sharp satire ensues - yet only for a moment, for with the appearance of King Peter the servants immediately revert to their marionettelike existence. 52

August Becker's statement about Büchner (which can be accepted only with reservations, since Becker was trying to shield Biichner from arrest) casts doubt on the possibility that Biichner was thinking specifically of Hesse-Darmstadt when he created King Peter and his subjects: "Er [Büchner] h a t t e . . . durchaus keinen ausschliesslichen Hass gegen die Grossherzoglich Hessische Regierung; er meinte im Gegenteil, dass sie eine der besten sei. Er hasste weder die Fürsten noch die Staatsdiener, sondern nur das monarchische Prinzip, welches er für die Ursache alles Elends hielt." ("Aus August Beckers gerichtlichen Angaben", p. 562.) 33

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figures in Leonce und Lena solely to Büchner's "Spott des Hasses". It would be more fitting to speak of satiric flavoring within the comic vein, since the characteristic earnestness of the satiric attitude is largely absent. The technique of caricature, however, is evident in the initial stages of characterization. As caricatures, the figures are radical examples of the single perspective. Their personalities are locked securely within the parts they play. Their shrunken humanity is reflected by the environment in which they live. King Peter's kingdom is so microscopic that its borders are visible from a single room in the palace — an obvious spoof of the German political scene.84 Yet again, although this is extreme caricature, it is not devastating satire, because according to their function within the play, the figures are merely clowns and their environment is a circus. Why? On the surface, Leonce und Lena is a feather-light comedy with traditional fairy-tale characters and plot elements, full of fun and word play. All conflicts are (seemingly) resolved in an "and-they-livedhappily-ever-after" ending. Yet this world of fantasy is unmasked while it unfolds: it is a world that cannot sustain belief in itself, as a fairy tale does, but one where the search for firm footing leads endlessly downward into the unfathomable depths of uncertainty - an inherently tragic theme. The semi-serious banter of Leonce and Valerio destroys the dominance of romantic illusion over the play, questioning its very basis of existence. Against this self-ironizing, a strongly realistic satiric background would be very much out of place. The directed malevolence of true satire would clash with and possibly overcome the symbolic playfulness which pervades the play. Thus Büchner created a background of low comedy to set off the intellectual comedy in the foreground. Of the often tendentious background Vietor says: "Eine Zutat, der Pfeffer in der Sauce ist's nur, hinzugefügt mit einem künstlerischen Wissen um die rechte Dosis." 85 This is not to say that the satiric material is not devoid of symbolic meaning. The clowns and their tiny circus stifle Leonce's intellect, and he flees from the kingdom M Ludwig Wilhelm Luck reports the following dialogue with Büchner: " 'Luck, wieviel Götter glaubst du?' Antwort: 'Nur einen' — 'Wieviel Staaten müssten wir in Deutschland haben und wieviel Fürsten ?' — Pause des Schweigens von beiden Seiten." (p. 558) Büchner himself once wrote, "Unsere Landstände sind eine Satire auf die gesunde Vernunft." (Strassburg, April 5, 1833, p. 368.) S5 Georg Büchner, p. 181.

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of Popo as from a prison. He is constantly reminded of the chasm separating him from the blissfully ignorant half-men around him, who are not plagued with the question, "Warum muss ich es gerade wissen?" Leonce even envies them for their inability to think. At one point in the play Leonce and Lena themselves don the masks of their society and transform themselves into caricatures. Valerio presents them to the court as automatons — an action motivated solely by the demands of the plot, but the fairy-tale atmosphere of this comedy makes such willful manipulation by the playwright entirely pardonable. Biichner's inspiration begins as clever social satire and ends as a tour de force of multiple irony. Valerio's presentation of the automatons is exemplary literary caricature. A foreshadowing of the Carnival scene in Woyzeck, this episode paints a neatly dehumanized portrait of society, liberally seasoned with grotesque non-sequiturs. Social refinement is shown to depend on gesture and appearance, nothing more: "Nichts als Kunst und Mechanismus, nichts als Pappendeckel und Uhrfedern!" (p. 144) The final episode of Leonce und Lena affords convincing proof that the mainspring of the play is not political or social satire. Leonce and Valerio spin euphoric fantasies of an imminent paradise, and the curtain falls: a happy end, appropriate for a comedy. Suffering and injustice are touched upon only indirectly; Valerio declares that from now on no one will have to work in the "Schlaraffenland" which is to come: . . . es wird ein Dekret erlassen, dass, wer sich Schwielen in die Hände schafft, unter Kuratel gestellt wird; dass, wer sich krank arbeitet, kriminalistisch strafbar ist; dass jeder, der sich rühmt, sein Brot im Schweisse seines Angesichts zu essen, für verrückt und der menschlichen Gesellschaft gefährlich erklärt wird; und dann legen wir uns in den Schatten und bitten Gott um Makkaroni, Melonen und Feigen, um musikalische Kehlen, klassische Leiber und eine commode Religion! (p. 147)

The exaggeration in these and in Leonce's words indisputably belie the credibility of the ending. It is a mock solution not in keeping with the mood of the play. It appears that Büchner felt impelled to supply a traditional ending for his comedy, but he seems to be satirizing this genre, daring his audience into believing that a happy end is possible. The evidence supporting the theory that Leonce's existence will remain

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71

as problematical as before is strong: just before his final speech, Leonce sends King Peter's court away: Gehn Sie jetzt nach Hause, aber vergessen Sie Ihre Reden, Predigten und Verse nicht, denn morgen fangen wir in aller Ruhe und Gemütlichkeit den Spass noch einmal von vorne an. (p. 146) T h e game of marionettes and puppeteer (Leonce), which began the play, will continue as before: Nun, Lena, siehst du jetzt, wie wir die Taschen voll haben, voll Puppen und Spielzeug? Was wollen wir damit anfangen? Wollen wir ihnen Schnurrbarte machen und ihnen Säbel anhängen? Oder wollen wir ihnen Fräcke anziehen und sie infusorische Politik und Diplomatie treiben (Ibid.) lassen, und uns mit dem Mikroskop danebensetzen? Leonce's presumed "synthesis" involving the destruction of time ("wir lassen alle Uhren zerschlagen, alle Kalender verbieten und zählen Stunden und Monden nur nach der Blumenuhr, nur nach Blüte und Frucht") is nothing more than a fantasy, and, looking back to the first act, we cannot divest ourselves of the thought that Lena might soon become another Rosetta in Leonce's eyes ( " O , eine sterbende Liebe ist schöner als eine werdende . . . Mein Gott, wie viel Weiber hat man nötig, um die Skala der Liebe auf und ab zu singen ? Kaum, daß eine einen Ton ausfüllt." (pp. 122-123) T h e end of the play focuses squarely on Leonce, and we suddenly f i n d ourselves back at Scene One. W e have seen that many of Büchner's characters are automatons of varying degrees of mechanical perfection, depending upon whether Büchner is ridiculing that which they represent or not. T h e predetermined pattern of the automaton's movements resembles the obsessiveness of the fixed idea, which causes an individual to spend his life following the same groove. Leonce and Lena are secure enough in their own identities to mimic this human condition, yet in Woyzeck it is shown to have more tragic implications, for the limitations of this condition can actively threaten man's free will. Woyzeck fights this battle within himself, as he struggles desperately with the remaining strength of his conscious will against his own drives and against the fate that slowly destroys him. His spark of resistance makes him human, contrary to those figures who do not fight back. Büchner's plays indicate that it is all too easy to give in and relinquish one's humanity.

IV THE MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVE

A. INTRODUCTION: THE MARIONETTE

When we speak of a functional character in drama, we imply that it is relatively obvious that the character is being manipulated by the playwright. The playwright is not particular about establishing an illusion of inner motivation. He moves such figures about the way a puppeteer guides his marionettes. The transition from puppet theater to stage is in truth merely a matter of changing the vehicle of expression; the essential difference between the two media is that the artificiality of the presentation is more obvious in the puppet theater than in drama. The strings which control the marionettes are always visible, but the dramatist normally tries to conceal his hand in order to reduce the intrinsic lack of spontaneity which characterizes a dramatic performance. The dramatist can never relinquish his control, but he can create roles which appear convincingly real. Such realism was a fundamental tenet of the dramatist Büchner, who severely castigated his contemporaries for making the artificiality of the stage so clumsily obvious: W a s noch die sogenannten Idealdichter anbetrifft, so finde ich, dass sie fast nichts als Marionetten mit himmelblauen Nasen und affektiertem Pathos, aber nicht Menschen von Fleisch und Blut gegeben haben, deren Leid und Freude mich mitempfinden macht und deren Tun und Handeln mir Abscheu oder Bewunderung einflösst. (Strassburg, July 28, 1835, p. 400; see also Dantons Tod, p. 40.)

Such a perversion of art results from the blunderings of the unskilled artist who creates objects of wood where he would create life. Yet, as Büchner himself shows us, dramatic realism may be enhanced by a symbolic application of lifeless portrayal. Büchner constructs a marionette, dresses it up as a doctor, mischievously adorns it with the

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features of a former teacher, and drops it into Woyzeck's world, now and again yanking at the strings which control it to show us how ludicrous the wooden copy — and by implication, the original — really are. The expressive quality of the marionette extends beyond the merely ludicrous, however; as an image of man, it may have tragic as well as comic implications. The marionette is fundamentally a medium of caricature: it claims to represent man, but it is far less than man; it mimics human movement, but it is wholly dependent upon its strings. Its existence is based on irony. It reduces the limitless complexity of the human being to the simplest of gestures, which are projected by a small amount of wood, paint, and string. This acute simplicity of expression, however, affords the marionette an advantage over a human actor, for the marionette is the sum of a specific number of unvarying characteristics and is therefore an ideally perfect type. It projects no extraneous features or movements; it represents, it is an idea, and nothing more. Since it is pure surface, its "character" is defined solely by external appearance, which conceals inner emptiness.1 The entire human body becomes a mask. All expression is thus necessarily reduced to a primitive level, yet it is precisely this quality which makes the marionette a figure of ambivalence. This point is developed by Eleonore Rapp: D i e symbolische W i r k u n g der D r a h t p u p p e aber findet eine starke U n t e r stützung in ihrer Primitivität. D i e scheinbare, naturalistische U n l e b e n d i g keit der hölzernen Figuren, die geometrische V e r e i n f a c h u n g aller ihrer B e w e g u n g e n m a c h t sie zu einem einzigartigen A u s d r u c k s m i t t e l jener einfachen, den Sinn des Lebens mit grosser, eindeutiger Geste v o r g r e i f e n d e n G e d a n k e n g ä n g e und verleiht ihnen eine metaphysische

Überlebendigkeit,

die an erschütternder W i r k u n g jedes menschliche P a t h o s übertrifft, sofern wirklich die reine Primitivität der G e d a n k e n und der P u p p e n bleibt u n d das E m p f i n d e n der Z u s c h a u e r n o c h rein u n d

gewahrt

unverkünstelt

g e n u g ist, u m die G r ö s s e u n d E i n f a c h h e i t der Linie erfassen zu können.2 1 Büchner employs this image in Leonce und Lena: " W a r u m kann ich mir nicht wichtig werden und der armen Puppe einen Frack anziehen und einen Regenschirm in die Hand geben, dass sie sehr rechtlich und sehr nützlich und sehr moralisch würde ?" (p. 1 1 6 ) 2 Eleonore Rapp, Die Marionette in der deutschen Dichtung vom Sturm und Drang bis zur Romantik (Leipzig, 1 9 2 4 ) , p. 8. See also Lothar Buschmeyer, Die ästhetischen Wirkungen des Puppenspiels, Phil. Diss. Jena, 1 9 3 0 (Oppeln, 1931).

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The ambivalence of the marionette lies in its ability to project emotional depth although its outward appearance remains a ludicrous caricature of man. The profundity of its expressiveness increases when one becomes aware of the symbolism inherent in the marionette's mechanism: it represents a would-be man on strings which lead up to a power he cannot comprehend. Its existence represents an illusion, subject to fate. Furthermore, the marionette is weightless, a being without foundation. Heinrich von Kleist regarded this quality as a reflection of immortal freedom from the constrictions of consciousness (Aufsatz über das Marionettentheater), but the image can easily be inverted to reflect an endless dangling above an abyss of uncertainty. The symbolic application of the marionette ranges from the satiric to the tragic, depending upon the perspective f r o m which it is viewed. Like Kleist after his Kant crisis, Büchner saw in the marionette an image of fatalism, directly contrary to the classical idealism of Schiller: Puppen sind wir, von unbekannten Gewalten am Draht gezogen; nichts, nichts wir selbst! Die Schwerter, mit denen Geister kämpfen - man sieht nur die Hände nicht, wie im Märchen. (Dantons Tod, p. 45)

In a letter to his fiancée (Giessen, November, 1833), Büchner speaks of "die Herrschaft des Genies [als] ein Puppenspiel, ein lächerliches Ringen gegen ein ehernes Gesetz", (p. 374) In Woyzeck, Büchner's man-marionette image becomes more elaborate, for here man is more than a prisoner of fate, he is a prisoner of his instincts. The strings controlling man's conscious will come from within, as inexplicable impulses, as well as from without — a doubly fatalistic view, radically modern for the 1830's. The Büchnerian characterizations which were discussed in the last chapter do not reveal an ambivalence of this kind. Occasionally a type or a caricature might contribute to a tragic mood, but this would rest on the context of a specific situation or on the relationship with another character. The characterizations which will now be investigated fluctuate from exaggerated simplicity to the complexity of Büchner's central figures. T h e Doctor and St. Just are rigid extremes, and grouped with their respective allies, the Captain and Robespierre, they represent the forces which help destroy Woyzeck and Danton. Similarly in Leonce und Lena, King Peter is the dramatic counterpart of

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Leonce. Yet, apart from their functions in the plays, the Captain, Robespierre, King Peter, and a few other figures reveal unsuspected depths of character, latent insecurity, and sudden self-questioning, which transcends the flatness of those around them.

B. WOYZECK:

THE CAPTAIN

Hauptmann: Langsam, Woyzeck, langsam; eins nach dem andern! Er macht mir ganz schwindlig. W a s soll ich dann mit den zehn Minuten anfangen, die Er heut zu früh fertig wird? Woyzeck, bedenk er: Er hat noch seine schöne dreissig Jahr zu leben, dreissig Jahr! Macht dreihundertsechzig Monate! und Tage! Stunden! Minuten! W a s will Er denn mit der ungeheuren Zeit all anfangen? Teil Er sich ein, Woyzeck! (p. 151)

The first words of the scene, "Beim Hauptmann", reveal a situation similar in many respects to that of "Beim Doktor". 3 Woyzeck is being reprimanded; he stands silent while his accuser loses himself in flamboyant generalities, and as soon as Nature tries to justify itself to Society, communication stops. The Captain-Woyzeck relationship has the same basis as the Doctor-Woyzeck relationship: menial employment offers Woyzeck the only opportunity to sustain himself, Marie, and their son. Both employers are oblivious to the muted suffering of their employee, for the magnitude of their egos isolate them from any possibility of true contact. Both are overtly ludicrous figures. The Captain is representative not of the conventional soldier but of the philistine — unintelligent, sentimental, crude. Like the Doctor, he is fond of weighty pronouncements and formulas, which are made to appear convincing through ponderous emphasis and insistent repetition. On the surface the Captain is a rather heavy-handed typified caricature, like the Doctor a polemic weapon to expose the oppressors of the lower classes. Yet from the start it is evident that the two personalities are fundamentally different. The Doctor is supremely secure in the belief that there are no questions which cannot be answered, but the If Bergemann is correct in his chronology of the Woyzeck fragments, the scenes, "Beim Doktor" and "Strasse" (where the Captain makes his first appearance in a minor role), both in "h 2 ", were written before "Beim Hauptmann" in "H". 3

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Captain never really has control of himself or of his surroundings. The Doctor talks endlessly with the conviction that he is imparting valuable knowledge; the Captain talks endlessly in order to prove that he exists. His words chase around after concrete concepts which will steady his bearings, but as soon as he grasps an idea, it dissolves. As he scolds Woyzeck at the beginning of "Beim Hauptmann", he is already losing his grasp on reality: "Er macht mir ganz schwindlig." His next utterance is a comically perverted cry of despair: "Was soll ich dann mit den zehn Minuten anfangen, die Er heut zu früh fertig wird?" The subsequent passage reveals to a greater degree the Captain's mental meandering. He begins with a statement: "Es wird mir ganz angst um die Welt, wenn ich an die Ewigkeit denke." Solution: "Beschäftigung, Woyzeck, Beschäftigung!" Explication: "Ewig: das ist e w i g . . .", suddenly leading nowhere: "das ist ewig". A patronizing attempt to cover confusion: "das siehst du ein"; then a recognition of paradox: "nun ist es aber wieder nicht ewig, und das ist ein Augenblick, ja ein Augenblick". A tangential thought: "Woyzeck, es schaudert mich, wenn ich denke, dass sich die Welt in einem Tag herumdreht! Was 'n Zeitverschwendung! W o soll das hinaus?" Finally a unique satiric stroke on Biichner's part — a mismatched metaphor: "Woyzeck, ich kann kein Mühlrad mehr sehn, oder ich werd melancholisch." A little later another occurs: "'s ist so was Geschwindes draussen; so ein Wind macht mir den Effekt wie eine Maus". The tertium comparationis fits only partially, and the attempt at profundity dissipates into comedy. One might be inclined to regard these passages as the ravings of a madman and attach no further significance to them than to call them grossly exaggerated sentimentalities of a typified caricature. It is true that Büchner has allowed the Captain to spout palpable nonsense which must not be judged too critically — yet there is an undeniable undertone of Büchnerian fatalism in the Captain's words, hints of thematic leitmotifs from Dantons Tod and Leonce und Lena. The perspective of the dramatist widens to hint at greater depths in his characterization; -the outer trappings disappear, and there emerges a distorted but nonetheless affecting voice of an individual who is being crushed by existence. Büchner's most eloquent spokesmen, Danton and Leonce, are driven

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to articulate their suffering because of the depth of their insight. They focus on the incurable malady of human existence — boredom: the dilemma of the conscious spirit trapped within time. Leonce's "Langeweile" speech (p. 116) reveals the chasm separating those who sense the true condition of man from those who do not. Boredom is the impetus of all action, he says, and the great majority of men go through life without realizing the basic meaninglessness of their motions: . . . alles mit den wichtigsten Gesichtern, ohne zu merken, warum, und meinen Gott weiss was dazu. "Ohne zu merken, warum": a concise summation of the personality governed by a single perspective of existence. Where movement merely fills up time, there is never any change or development. When he is not escaping into the imagined security of his position in society, the Captain shows an intuitive awareness of the irony of human action (without, of course, the intellectual clarity of Danton or Leonce). When he speaks of "Beschäftigung" and melancholia, he sounds like an imperfect echo of Leonce. Both men are made melancholy by the monotonous regularity of nature; the Captain by a mill wheel: "Woyzeck, ich kann kein Mühlrad mehr sehn, oder ich werd melancholisch", (p. 1 5 1 ) . . . and Leonce by the clouds: "Ja, es ist t r a u r i g . . . dass die Wolken schon seit drei Wochen von Westen nach Osten ziehen. Es macht mich ganz melancholisch." (pp. 115-116) The tone of the two passages is quite dissimilar; the Captain is maudlin, almost begging for consolation, while Leonce is as usual coolly ironic. Complementary to the cyclical monotony of existence is the realization that time is in fact linear, and that a man must face up to his mortality. Even Danton cannot face death without emotion (p. 67). The Captain, whose formula-ideas are rooted in the simplest structures — nouns, vaguely alludes to his fear of death: "Nun ist es aber wieder nicht ewig, und das ist ein Augenblick, ja ein Augenblick." In the later scene with the Doctor, the Captain broods about his eventual demise, even including an epitaph: "Ich sehe schon die Leute mit den Zitronen in den Händen; aber sie werden sagen, er war ein guter Mensch, ein guter Mensch." (p. 161) Throughout his scene with Woyzeck, the Captain tries to fill up time by talking. Silence is terrible, for it makes man aware of his

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endless loneliness. One must keep up a pretense of communication, thinks the Captain. W h e n his well has run dry, he prods Woyzeck to a response: "Red Er doch was, Woyzeck!" (p. 151) Although quite banal, this remark is more than just coincidentally related to Woyzeck's terrified "Red was!" (p. 153), directed at Andres to assure himself of the proximity of another human being as he experiences supernatural forebodings. The Captain is groping for the same kind of contact which Danton yearns for in the first scene of Dantons Tod, but whereas Danton strives for ever greater depth of understanding, the Captain is satisfied with a mere semblance of contact. Gossip is sufficient: "Was ist heut f ü r Wetter?" Then follows a crude attempt at humor at Woyzeck's expense. Woyzeck is too well conditioned to contradict, and the Captain caps his little victory in a formulation worthy of the Doctor: "Oh, Er ist dumm, ganz abscheulich dumm!" From this point on the scene develops into a true dialogue. The Captain assumes the role of Woyzeck's judge in the same manner as the Doctor does. The Captain's function as a mouthpiece of social morality becomes a palpable threat to Woyzeck, and Woyzeck must attempt to justify himself. N o w and again the Captain loses his grip on his superior position, but this only makes matters worse for Woyzeck, for it becomes obvious that he will never be understood. The Captain bases his arguments upon standards which he himself cannot explain. "Moral, das ist, wenn man moralisch ist" — more than simply revealing the Captain's ineptitude in thinking, Büchner is exposing the general misuse of this term. "Moralisch" is used as a weapon by complacent philistines against those whose behavior does not conform to their own. Woyzeck answers that such standards depend on economic security. The Captain, however, is more than blindly righteous; he is cowardly, for he will not even assume the responsibility for his remarks: "Er hat ein Kind ohne den Segen der Kirche, wie unser hochehrwürdiger Herr Garnisonsprediger sagt. . . es ist nicht von mir." Perhaps this is an awkward attempt to avoid hurting Woyzeck's feelings, yet it seems unlikely that the Captain would show such consideration, judging f r o m his behavior in the scene, "Strasse". W h e n Woyzeck becomes articulate, communication stops, because his thoughts extend beyond the Captain's narrow limits of comprehen-

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sion. In the first place, the Captain did not expect to be contradicted; the discussion has developed beyond his control. After Woyzeck's second speech ("Wir arme Leut"), the Captain tries to force his clichés back into dominance. In Woyzeck's words he has grasped only one concept, "Fleisch und Blut", and has misunderstood it completely. In his mind "Fleisch und Blut" and "Liebe" are equivalent to lust, a human failing of which he is almost proud. Woyzeck, however, was referring to human nature — a force which overshadows all value judgments. In general, the Captain's remarks run parallel to those of the Doctor in his interrogation of Woyzeck. Both men pry into Woyzeck's life, past, present, and future. They strive for a complete domination of his character by shaping it in their own image. Their influence extends beyond the immediacy of the scenes in which they appear; Woyzeck can never escape the social stigma under which he has been placed. In the scene, "Strasse", the Captain and the Doctor meet in a neutral environment, where neither is immediately dominant. Here more than elsewhere we are struck by the unchangeability of their natures, for they treat each other exactly the way each treated Woyzeck. The Doctor diagnoses the Captain and plans to experiment on him, ignoring the Captain's fright. The Captain attempts to retard the Doctor's rapid tempo of living, using very much the same words as in the earlier scene. He sprinkles his conversation liberally with the trite phrase, "ein guter Mensch", which in fact recurs so often that the satiric edge of this sentimentalizing becomes blunted. He complains of his melancholy again, hitting upon another inappropriate image: "ich muss immer weinen, wenn ich meinen Rock an der Wand hängen sehe". Except for the crude jokes and insults, we are hearing a replay of earlier dialogue. These automatons play the same tune over and over. They call to mind words of Büchner's, written during his crisis of depression in Giessen: Alle Menschen machten mir das hippokratische Gesicht, die Augen verglast, die Wangen wie von Wachs, und wenn dann die ganze Maschinerie zu leiern anfing, die Gelenke zuckten, die Stimme herausknarrte und ich das ewige Orgellied herumtrillern hörte und die Wälzchen und Stiftchen im Orgelkasten hüpfen und drehen sah . . . . (p. 379)

When Woyzeck appears, the Captain's dramatic function alters. For-

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merly he as a type dominated Woyzeck through the dependence created by economic inequality. Now, as an individual, he takes an active hand in Woyzeck's downfall. With devilish maliciousness he tortures Woyzeck with sarcastic insinuations about Marie: "Aber Er hat eine brave Frau. Geht Ihm nicht wie andern." (p. 162) Relentlessly, gleefully he cuts the thread of Woyzeck's happiness — in fact, of his very existence: W a s der K e r l ein Gesicht m a c h t ! . . . Vielleicht nun a u c h nicht in der Suppe, aber w e n n E r sich eilt u n d u m die E c k geht, so k a n n er vielleicht n o c h a u f ein P a a r Woyzeck -

L i p p e n eins

[ein H a a r ]

finden. Ein P a a r

Lippen, (p.

162)

Then, smugly referring to their previous conversation: "ich habe auch das Lieben gefühlt, Woyzeck". When Woyzeck finally explodes, the Captain, possibly out of cowardice, lamely reverts to his sentimental "Er ist ein guter Mensch", avoiding, however, the more fraternal "du" with which he took leave of Woyzeck in the earlier scene. He certainly does not realize the extent of Woyzeck's desperation. His observations of Woyzeck's reactions (which are really stage directions) clash surprisingly with his apparent cleverness in firing up Woyzeck's jealousy: "Was der Kerl ein Gesicht macht!" "Kerl, Er ist ja kreideweiss!" These words are said more in amazement than in irony. More striking is the following, which cannot be sarcastic, for that would involve self-parody, of which the Captain is surely incapable: "Er ersticht mich mit seinen Augen, und ich mein' es gut mit Ihm, weil Er ein guter Mensch ist, Woyzeck, ein guter Mensch." These contradictions in the Captain's characterization are due, I believe, to the fact that this portion of the scene is an uncorrected rough draft.4 Nevertheless the last half In the 1958 Bergemann edition the Captain appears to be stuttering at one point, which would support the theory that he is suddenly afraid: "Kerl, will Er - will Er ein paar Kugeln vor den Kopf haben?" (p. 1 6 2 ) But further investigation shows that this part of the scene is not part of " H " , as the first part (p. 5 0 9 ) , but that " h 2 " has been grafted onto " H " . T h e words in " h 2 " are: "Kerl, will Er Rechenschaft, will ein Paar Kugeln vor den Kopf haben?" (p. 5 0 5 ) In the 1922 edition, the entire passage is unclear: "Kerl, will E r [ R e c h ] enschaft [ ? ] , will ein Paar Kugeln vor den Kopf haben [ ?] (p. 7 2 5 ) [ N . B . : Lehmann's Woyzeck reads: "Kerl, will er erschoss[en werden] . . . (p. 3 7 5 ) . ] One is therefore on very shaky ground when one lays too much weight on single passages in this scene. The obvious inconsistencies in the Captain's last speech are probably a result of Biichner's unedited experimenting, for the imagery seems too apt and original to match the Captain's personality. Büchner apparently

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of the scene does show clearly that the Captain is purposely malicious, and this, for our purposes, is relevant. Taken as a whole, the figure of the Captain functions on several dramatic levels. His first role in the plot is to goad Woyzeck to jealousy, to instill a suspicion which is later confirmed in the "Wirtshaus" scene. In a way, he is a traditional villain. As a representative of an oppressive class, he is a vehicle for social satire. His eccentric speech and manner become a dominant atmospheric factor; the world is again inverted to allow the caricature to become the norm. It is not known whether Büchner patterned the Captain after a specific person, drawing on the resources of personal caricature to create his type. There is somewhat less irrelevancy in the Captain's speech than in the Doctor's; the Captain's prattle does not diverge so widely from the central dramatic interest. The Doctor rambles on about his experiments, largely disregarding Woyzeck, but the Captain is more directly involved with Woyzeck's problems. In short, the Captain contributes more to the play's unity than the Doctor, although the Captain is himself a less coherent figure. It has been mentioned that the sentimentality of this philistine often lapses into a nameless fear, a "Daseinsangst", characteristic especially of Danton, Leonce, Lenz, and Woyzeck. Yet the Captain's allusions to death, eternity, endless boredom, and time are expressed with such grotesque simple-mindedness that another form of caricature emerges: a willful distortion of the Büchnerian hero, which might well be termed reflective caricature. Just as minor characters in Dantons Tod were a simplified reflection of the ideological conflicts above them, the Captain is seasoned with a pinch of human insight. In effect, Büchner is indulging in self-parody. Danton's and Leonce's views — and by association, their distorted reflections in the Captain's speech — are largely Büchner's own; his letters make this abundantly clear. Like his heroes, Büchner never takes himself too seriously, thus avoiding the wanted to comment on the scene and needed an observer: "Der lange Schlingel greift aus, als läuft der Schatten von einem Spinnbein, und der Kurze, das zuckelt. Der Lange ist der Blitz und der Kleine der Donner." Woyzeck and the Doctor are depersonalized into demonic shades, vanishing in the distance, truly grotesque, as the Captain says. Woyzeck is as silent and murderous as a bolt of lightning, lashing out with explosive force. The Doctor is sound without substance - thunder.

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danger of inflexibility. All men are alike underneath their masks, all are equally ridiculous, as Camille says in Dantons Tod: "wir sollten einmal die Masken abnehmen, wir sähen dann, wie in einem Zimmer mit Spiegeln, überall nur den einen uralten, 2ahllosen, unverwüstlichen Schafskopf, nichts mehr, nichts weniger", (p. 77) Previous to the statement on his "Spott des Hasses" (see p. 47 above), Büchner makes his own viewpoint clear: Man nennt mich einen Spötter. Es ist wahr, ich lache oft; aber ich lache nicht darüber, wie jemand ein Mensch, sondern nur darüber, dass er ein Mensch ist, wofür er ohnehin nichts kann, und lache dabei über mich selbst, der ich sein Schicksal teile. Die Leute nennen das Spott, sie vertragen es nicht, dass man sich als Narr produziert und sie duzt; sie sind Verächter, Spötter und Hochmütige, weil sie die Narrheit nur ausser sich suchen. (Giessen, February 1834, pp. 377-378.)

This is the laughter of resigned understanding, the laughter that soothes pain. It is an ironic insight based on a penetrating disappointment which coincides with the viewpoint of the satirist: things are not as they should be. The satiric barb is aimed at the self, the result is self-caricature. More significant still is the Captain's kinship to Lenz. Both hover on the brink of insanity, although in quite dissimilar ways. Lenz's fear of the unknowable has overcome the restraint of his reasoning powers, and he is driven to extremes of emotion. He is a Danton or Leonce who has been cast adrift without an anchor, to be thrown about by the waves of human existence. Danton is still able to get his bearings and remain upright, although he cannot control his course, but Lenz plunges from crest to valley in endless succession. Lenz is not afflicted with the restrictive insanity of a fixed idea, but is swayed and propelled by any and all influences and impulses from without and within. The Captain senses the destructive powers which manifest themselves so explosively in Lenz, but the Captain combats them with a common and convenient remedy: self-delusion. "Beschäftigung, Woyzeck, Beschäftigung" — activity, although meaningless, provides an imagined sense of purpose; the easily grasped formula will cover up the dizzying, bottomless ambiguities to which man is exposed. Through such simplification he creates the order which his world lacks, building a foundation from which he is in a position to control his surroundings.

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This mania for security is equivalent to a fixed idea. Unlike Lenz, the Captain has an anchor against the waves, although it is largely imaginary and is easily dislodged. His characteristically repetitive speech takes on the quality of a ritual, by which he endeavors to invoke the stabilizing forces he needs. "Tugend", "Moral", "ein guter Mensch" — these are magical concepts, in which he believes blindly; imagined norms, through which one may feel rational, accepted, meaningful. Both the Captain and Lenz show difficulty in self-expression. During his later stages of insanity, Lenz is unable to cope with the rational ordering which speech imposes on thought and emotion: Im Gespräch stockte er oft, eine unbeschreibliche Angst befiel ihn, er hatte das Ende seines Satzes verloren; dann meinte er, er müsse das zuletzt gesprochene Wort behalten und immer sprechen, nur mit grosser Anstrengung unterdrückte er diese Gelüste. (pp. 107-108)

The Captain has similar problems when he speaks of death and eternity. Yet Lenz's inability to communicate is tragic, whereas the Captain's is ludicrous. In his moments of clarity, Lenz is revealed as a man of supreme intelligence and sensitivity, an able discourser on aesthetics and religion. Eventually, however, his emotional state reduces him to a point where the formulation of a simple sentence becomes an insuperable hurdle. He is conscious of his mental illness and is seized by an inexpressible fear because of his loss of control. The Captain, on the other hand, has not deteriorated mentally; he is by nature a fool, blind to his intellectual incapacities as he blunders through life. Lenz's behavior is on occasion more grotesque than the Captain's speech (e.g., the battle with Oberlin's cat, the repeated attempts at suicide), but "grotesque" is here not equivalent to "ludicrous". Like Woyzeck, Lenz is the outsider who has lost the one element which might have stabilized his existence: the love of a woman. Having been rejected by Friederike Brion, he sees his life as a void. He becomes hypersensitive to his surroundings, as his fantasy begins to cloud the distinction between self and objective reality. Slowly his identity becomes indefinite. In the grips of this "Grenzsituation" he moves irrevocably toward total insanity. In the fragment Lenz, Büchner unfolds a psychological progression

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which leads to a point of no return. He presents his protagonist without comment, recording Lenz's impressions and reactions with strict objectivity. There is no moralizing, no satiric slanting; the facts are to speak for themselves. Lenz is surrounded by sympathetic people who are able only on occasion to alleviate his despair. An aura of helplessness pervades the work; the reader, drawn into Lenz's predicament, senses the unbridgeable gap which separates Lenz from those who are able to lead normal lives. Here "normal", the counterpart to insanity, is a positive concept connoting inner peace and the ability to perform meaningful acts. Lenz is neither rejected nor misunderstood, and he himself yearns for the freedom from suffering which he observes in those around him: "Ich will ja nichts als Ruhe, Ruhe, nur ein wenig Ruhe, um schlafen zu können." (p. 109) Büchner penetrates into the mind of Lenz with an intensity that occasionally suspends the distance between subject and narrator. The reader finds that instead of viewing, he is suddenly experiencing Lenz's thoughts directly: Er sprach, er sang, er rezitierte Stellen aus Shakespeare, er griff nach allem, was sein Blut sonst hatte rascher fliessen machen, er versuchte alles, aber - kalt, kalt! (p. 90) . . . Er verzweifelte an sich selbst; dann warf er sich nieder, er rang die Hände, er rührte alles in sich auf - aber tot! tot! (pp. 101-102) . . . So kam er auf die Höhe des Gebirges, und das ungewisse Licht dehnte sich hinunter, wo die weissen Steinmassen lagen, und der Himmel war ein dummes blaues Aug, und der Mond stand ganz lächerlich drin, einfältig. (p. 103)

The technique is "erlebte Rede", a device whereby a narrator allows his subject to become his own reporter. The dramatist of course lacks this power of descriptive revelation and must rely upon dialogue, movement, and situation to convey the personality of his figures. In comparing Lenz and the Captain, products of two different genres, one must rely heavily on situation, that is, the relationship of the character to his environment. On this basis, as has been already pointed out, Lenz and the Captain differ radically; Lenz can be more justly equated with Woyzeck as a deprived individual who suffers but does not cause suffering in return. The Captain may show signs of protoexistentialist confusion, but in the last analysis, his cruelty to Woyzeck is far more prominent than his own insecurity. In Lenz's progressive

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insanity there exists the constant hope that the final crisis might still be averted; all the actions of Lenz's guardians are devoted to this end. The Captain, on the other hand, cannot ever change. He is the eternally predictable type, the calcified representation of social injustice, and as such he can never become more "human" than he is. A crucial aspect of the Captain which remains to be analyzed is his peculiar similarity to Woyzeck himself, a similarity which would link the Captain in a reflective function to the focal point of the play. Mention has been made of his apparent insecurity and his desire to achieve a modicum of reassuring contact with his fellow men. Rapid movement makes him dizzy ("Er macht mir ganz schwindlig.... Ein guter Mensch, der sein gutes Gewissen hat, geht nicht so schnell Mir wird ganz schwindlig vor den Menschen.") Life as a whole is too quick for his limited intelligence; like a retarded student, he must have time to ponder at length in order to make sense of what is happening to him. Woyzeck as well is dizzied by man and nature. Desperately trying to comprehend Marie's infidelity ("O, man müsst's sehen, man müsst's greifen könne mit Fäusten!" — p. 163), he senses the impenetrable depths of the human psyche: "Jeder Mensch is ein Abgrund; es schwindelt einem, wenn man hinabsieht." (p. 164) He finds no peace in nature; beset by superstitious fears of mysterious forces ("Freies Feld"), he finds his hostile environment to be a projection of his inner torment, before which he stands perplexed, not understanding his own actions. A further parallel links Woyzeck to the Captain and Lenz: the difficulty of self-expression. The Captain's thought progression consists of a ponderous movement from noun to noun, indicating a frustrated desire to come to grips with concrete reality. In his second speech of the play, the Captain's syntax is such that the unqualified nouns jut out grotesquely as empty concepts in a void: "Welt — Ewigkeit — Beschäftigung — Augenblick." Of course, he does not always speak in this manner. Here he is at his most primitive, because he is dealing with a problem far beyond his intellectual capacity. Woyzeck has neither the Captain's tendency toward self-deception nor Lenz's high intelligence. Woyzeck's disjointed speech, however, also reflects an inability to come to terms with his environment, as his thoughts crowd helterskelter upon one another:

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Wir arme Leut - Sehn Sie, Herr Hauptmann: Geld, Geld! Wer kein Geld hat (p. 152)

First comes the concept, then eventually the logical connection, if at all. Yet every word Woyzeck says carries weight, for it is a spontaneous expression of his nature. Hardly a critic has failed to point out the remarkable eloquence and realism in Woyzeck's speech. Woyzeck could never utter a platitude; his expressiveness either imparts the concentrated force of an explosion: Er! Sie! Teufel! Unmöglich! Mensch! Mensch! unmöglich!

(p. 165) (p. 162)

. . . or it manifests itself in strikingly original imagery: Wir haben schön Wetter, Herr Hauptmann. Sehn Sie, so ein schöner, fester, grauer Himmel; man könnte Lust bekommen, ein' Kloben hineinzuschlagen und sich daran zu hängen, nur wegen des Gedankenstricheis zwischen Ja und wieder Ja - und Nein. (p. 163)

The Captain's speech is a weak reflection of this spontaneity, for he cannot escape his middle-class phraseology. When he attempts an original metaphor, it is ludicrously inept. (See p. 76 above.) In their insecurity, the Captain and Woyzeck find themselves related also in dramatic situation. Although they are not aware of it, both are equally subject to the unwavering intellectual arrogance of the Doctor. Woyzeck's economic dependence and the Captain's depressive fear of death leave them exposed to the Doctor's inhuman machinations. His grotesquely objective diagnosis of the Captain is delivered in a tone of unmistakeable self-satisfaction, for the Doctor invariably regards the illnesses of others as his own good fortune: "so machen wir die unsterblichsten Experimente." (p. 161) He blithely overlooks another man's cry for consolation. The monolithic personality of the Doctor thus unsettles the nervous Captain even more. Later, when Woyzeck is on the verge of fainting, the Doctor calls his students over for a demonstration. Woyzeck and the Captain (to a small degree) both suffer from a lack of self-respect. Neither can maintain the steadfast illusion of mental superiority (i.e., the Doctor) or physical superiority (i.e., the Drum Major). The Captain's erotic adventures are confined to window-

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watching; he would surely envy the Drum Major for his attractiveness. The combination of Marie's sensual nature and the Drum Major's magnetism makes their liaison a foregone conclusion, a conclusion as predictable as a chemical reaction. Woyzeck is fully aware of this and can do nothing about it. The Drum Major and the Doctor have no weaknesses against which Woyzeck might counterattack; both these single-perspective figures are forces of fate rather than human beings. The Captain is capable at least of becoming momentarily confused, but his vulnerability does not affect Woyzeck's situation. The Captain merely slips on occasion from his designated spot beside the other representatives of society. If we try to match the Captain with the qualities associated with the marionette, as discussed earlier, we discover points of correspondence on various levels. As a figure in a play, the Captain is relatively undeveloped and serves to advance the plot. Buchner manipulates the strings and is not overly concerned about hiding his hand. As a representational type, the Captain's characteristics lie on the surface as those of a wooden doll. He is bound to his fate, as incapable of changing his life as a marionette of controlling its strings. As a distorted reflection of Biichner's proto-existentialist heroes, the Captain evinces the tragic simplicity of the individual groping weakly for support, similar to the stylized pathos of the marionette. In all respects the analogy is singularly appropriate. Woyzeck is obviously no "Tendenzstiick", for even the satire in the play is sustained on a plane of broad significance, not limited to a particular environment or time. There is no basis for assuming that the insertion of typified caricatures disrupts the unity of the play, for they are an essential element of the play's thematic structure. The figures would have had a disunifying effect, however, if Buchner had merely seized the opportunity to indulge in personal caricatures, apart from the tragedy of Woyzeck. We have seen how the Doctor was transformed from a personal caricature to conform to the universality of the dramatic conflict. This does not deny a certain documentary reality, subordinate to the main conflict, yet meaningful in an extra-artistic context. While creating the Captain, Biichner's questioning, probing nature gained the upper hand over strictly polemical aims. He could not restrain himself from letting the Captain see a little further than

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the Doctor, investing the Captain with a foggy awareness that the pedestal upon which he stands is crumbling or perhaps not there at all. From a functional point of view, the Captain takes up more space than he should in the drama, for this additional element of characterization works at cross purposes to the oppressor-oppressed relationship with Woyzeck. The audience is diverted into a new area of questions as Biichner turns his satiric exaggeration against himself and his spokesmen (Danton, Leonce, Lenz, Woyzeck), remaining, however, within the realm of caricature, spoofing not society but a philosophical attitude. The Captain deserves a modicum of pity for his suffering. In a modified way, the imbalance of dramatic emphasis which Robespierre brings about in Dantons Tod (see IV-Q repeats itself in Woyzeck, as the complexity of the Captain distracts from the undivided concentration upon the plight of the hero of the play. On the other hand, such tangential expansions of characterization are not necessarily flaws when they occur in the panoramic framework of an epic drama. We can only be thankful that Biichner's versatile imagination created figures which are more than merely silly, more than merely polemic weapons, figures which reflect in many directions simultaneously.

C. DANTONS

TOD:

ROBESPIERRE

Woyzeck's Captain is never aware of the extent of his self-deception. Robespierre is — yet he does nothing about it. Robespierre the dogmatic leader, the idol of the masses, is patterned closely after the historical sources available to Biichner — Robespierre's speeches are often literal reproductions of the originals — but Robespierre the philosopher is Biichner's innovation. This dramatic characterization reveals a personality so deeply split that resolution is impossible. Having apparently realized this, Biichner simply allows Robespierre to fade from the play before it is half over. This sudden revelation of a Hamlet behind the mask of the revolutionary hero is one of Biichner's most remarkable and puzzling dramatic strokes. At the outset in Dantons Tod, Robespierre is the primary opponent of Danton and his faction, personally and ideologically. The second scene ("Eine Gasse"), in which he makes his first appearance, is

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colored by subtle shading of adulation and irony; the pathos of the crowd-pleaser is unmasked by the drunken ravings of Simon the prompter. Simon's stream of antiquated, hyperbolic language, ludicrously out of place on the streets of Paris, is succeeded by a chorale on poverty and wealth. Robespierre appears, and, after a short interchange with the First Citizen, he receives the following tribute: Einige Stimmen: Hört den Aristides! hört den Unbestechlichen! Ein Weib: Hört den Messias, der gesandt ist, zu wählen und zu richten; er wird die Bösen mit der Schärfe des Schwertes schlagen. Seine Augen sind die Augen der Wahl, seine Hände sind die Hände des Gerichts. (p. 16) For the people, Robespierre embodies the Revolution, and he plays the role well: Robespierre: Armes, tugendhaftes Volk! D u tust deine Pflicht, du opferst deine Feinde. Volk, du bist gross! Du offenbarst dich unter Blitzstrahlen und Donnerschlägen. {Ibid.) In retrospect, the rhetoric is as unreal as Simon's tirade. In fact, the contrast between Robespierre's words and the events which have just taken place is so great that his lofty counter-tribute borders on caricature, which in turn reflects unfavorably upon the gullibility of the masses. But hyperbolic or not, the speech has its desired effect, for Robespierre knows his public well. H e channels the diffuse energy of the masses to serve his cause against his enemies, and his audience willingly follows him to the next rostrum. Robespierre's victory does not end the scene, however. Simon's reconciliation with his wife is more than merely an atmospheric coda; it is a pointed parody of Robespierre's style. Simon's pathos has given way to rueful depression. H e becomes tearfully sentimental, though apparently sincere. W i t h "Armes, tugendhaftes Volk" ringing in our ears, we hear Simon say to his wife, "Komm, mein tugendreich Gemahl", who a few minutes earlier was a "Kuppelpelz", "runzliche Sublimatpille", and a "wurmstichischer Sündenapfel". The coda reiterates the dominant theme of the scene: that language and reality are often gravely at odds. Danton, who is most sensitive to the nuances of expression, despairs at true communication: "Einander kennen? W i r müssten uns die Schädeldecken aufbrechen und die Ge-

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danken einander aus den Hirnfasern zerren." (p. 9) The RobespierreSt. Just faction, on the other hand, firmly believes in the power of language to move people to action and to dominate reality in general. The tragic flaw inherent in these figures is their insistence that existence is knowable and definable. This flaw is tragic because their attitude prevents them from becoming human. Consciously or unconsciously, they have let their perspective become radically narrow, making the totality of human thought and emotion inaccessible to them. Unaffected by their impotence as mortals to conquer time, they presume to control the present and future of those in their power. Their ultimate guide is the Concept, the Name; we have seen how Woyzeck's Captain clings to "Tugend", "Moral", "guter Mensch" for security. These labels are impermissible absolutes in the shadowy world of Büchner's plays.5 Robespierre the orator is an absolutist of the first order: "Die Waffe der Republik ist der Schrecken, die Kraft der Republik ist die Tugend." (p. 19) Both the Captain and Robespierre are self-appointed reformers; the Captain wants to change whatever he cannot understand, and Robespierre has assumed the role of the prophet of the Revolution. For both, the self is the sole source of truth, and herein lies its flaw: it takes itself too seriously. Self and message are one; there is no separation which is vital for critical reflection and eventual self-knowledge. This applies to Robespierre, but not to St. Just. St. Just seems to have no self at all; his whole being is a well-constructed tool serving the revolutionary cause. He can speak ironically and knowingly of his allies and his opponents, but there is never any reflection beyond the scope of his purpose, as little as a machine can change its nature. Nor does a machine need to play a role before others; St. Just is a logician, Robespierre a rhetorician. Robespierre must maintain his public image as the Revolutionary ideal, and as such he already finds himself in a position isolated from his allies. Furthermore, the ideology of the Revolution denies the primacy of the individual, and Robespierre must incorporate this typically messianic self-denial into his role. Paris says about Robespierre: "der Freiheit gegenüber kenne er keine Rücksicht, er würde alles opfern, sich, seinen Bruder, seine Freunde", (p. 26) Robespierre himself: "nichts soll mich Compare with Leonce's "Frag doch die Nelke und die Tauperle nach ihrem Namen", (p. 138) in response to Valerio's question about Lena's identity. 1

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aufhalten, und sollte auch Dantons Gefahr die meinige werden", (p. 48) The denial of the individuality of others is the most terrifying extreme of the Revolutionary ideology. With the words, "Seine Absicht tut nichts zur Sache", (p. 28) Robespierre demolishes all possibility of reflection and debate; whoever disagrees must be crushed. It is a voluntary rejection of reality, a willful blindness for the sake of unity. Woyzeck's persecution is pitiful, because his oppressors are largely unaware of the harm they are causing, but Danton's downfall is all the more tragic because it is caused by men who have willingly given up their humanity. Being a model of Revolutionary principles, Robespierre is always exposed, contrary to the invulnerable St. Just. Danton confronts Robespierre and searches out the human being under the mask of the idol, insisting on the primacy of human nature over political necessity. Danton realizes that Robespierre cannot hide within the Revolutionary structure as St. Just can. By demolishing the Revolutionary model, Danton hopes to relax the rigid ideological course. He does succeed in wounding Robespierre, but he does not realize that the strands of the Revolution are not solely in Robespierre's hands. Neither does Robespierre. Helmut Krapp points out that Danton approaches Robespierre not on a political, but on a purely personal level. Danton does not defend the abstract political idealism in which his friends believe; when they expound upon it, he does not take part.6 His arguments can have no effect on Robespierre's ideology, for the split between functionary and human being in Robespierre's personality runs so deep that one cannot influence the other.7 During the Danton-Robespierre confrontation, human nature clashes with dogma, and neither side makes any headway. Both men lecture at one another, and there is no common ground of communication. Danton leaves in desperation. Once Robespierre is alone, the debate continues, for Danton has been successful through his personal attacks in awakening the nondogmatic thinker in Robespierre. The soliloquy is actually more of a dialogue than the previous discussion,8 for as pros and cons are * ' 8

Der Dialog bei Georg Büchner, p. 126. Ibid., p. 132. Gerhart Baumann, Georg Büchner. Die dramatische Ausdruckswelt,

p. 32.

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weighed, the functionary begins to lose ground and temporarily disappears altogether. It is inconceivable to the functionary that his principles could be questioned, and, worse yet, that they could be regarded not as universal absolutes but as a self-constructed shield against the reality of life. Danton's words, "Um bei deinen Begriffen zu bleiben" echo maddeningly in Robespierre's mind: W i e das immer wiederkommt. - W a r u m kann ich den Gedanken nicht loswerden? E r deutet mit blutigem Finger immer da, da hin! Ich mag so viel Lappen darum wickeln, als ich will, das Blut schlägt immer durch. {Nach einer Pause): Ich weiss nicht, was in mir das andere belügt. (p. 3 0 )

The newly discovered perspective refuses to be denied. Robespierre walks over to a window — a symbolic movement denoting the merging of the self with external reality, in which the self is exposed to an endless variety of impulses. Robespierre at the window is no longer the messianic hero of the Revolution, but an introspective poet: Die N a c h t schnarcht über der Erde und wälzt sich im wüsten T r a u m . Gedanken, Wünsche, kaum geahnt, wirr und gestaltlos, die scheu sich vor des Tages Licht verkrochen, empfangen jetzt Form und Gewand und stehlen sich in das stille Haus des Traums. Sie öffnen die Türen, sie sehen aus den Fenstern, sie werden halbwegs Fleisch, die Glieder strecken sich im Schlaf, die Lippen murmeln. (pp. 3 0 - 3 1 )

The language sounds distinctly Dantonesque, and in fact there is a striking parallel to this passage in Danton's scene with Julie, "Ein Zimmer", where Danton stands at a window, plagued by memories of the September massacres: Und soll ich nicht zittern, wenn so die W ä n d e plaudern? W e n n mein Leib so zerschellt ist, dass meine Gedanken unstet, umirrend mit den Lippen der Steine reden? (p. 4 3 )

Danton recalls that he had at that time chosen to place the demands of the State above the lives of certain individuals — a tenet which he now opposes in his attacks against the Robespierre-St. Just faction. Julie helps soothe Danton in his attempt at self-justification: Danton: W i r schlugen sie innen.

das war kein Mord, das war Krieg nach

Julie: D u hast das Vaterland gerettet. Danton: Ja, das hab ich; das war Notwehr, wir mussten.

(p. 4 4 )

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Danton cries out in despair at the fatalistic necessity of human action; man is a mere marionette, a pawn of greater forces. Man is incapable of shouldering responsibility for his acts, and for this reason he cannot atone for an evil deed, for fate makes no distinction between right and wrong. This distinction comes into being as soon as man constructs an ordered pattern to regulate his existence and make it meaningful, but such man-made structures, as Danton and Robespierre realize, are fundamentally an illusion. This insight leads Robespierre to the brink of limitless relativity: U n d ist nicht unser W a c h e n ein hellerer Traum? sind wir nicht Nachtwandler? ist nicht unser Handeln wie das im Traum, nur deutlicher, bestimmter, durchgeführter? W e r will uns darum schelten? (p. 31)

Chance, not thought, determines human action; again the question of responsibility must be laid aside. Robespierre has arrived at a dead end, for the construct which supported the functionary has been swept away. At this point St. Just enters, and Robespierre assumes a secondary role; for his faction he is a leader in name only. St. Just makes the plans: "Willst du noch länger zaudern? Wir werden ohne dich handeln." (p. 31) He is prepared for Robespierre's sentimental reaction to Camille's sentencing. Camille's tract has the expected effect upon Robespierre, yet he can hardly bear the thought of the total elimination of the Danton faction: "Weg mit ihnen! Rasch!... Ich bin empfindlich seit einigen Tagen.— Nur rasch!" (p. 33) St. Just is detached enough to be able to joke about his enemies, but Robespierre is at the breaking point, for the functionary in him must come to the fore immediately and permanently if Robespierre is to maintain his role in the Revolution. After St. Just's departure, Robespierre is again assailed by self-reflection. He suffers the torment of the executioner who can only kill but not redeem men. Redemption is impossible, for each man is an isolated organism who cannot grow beyond the limits of his own suffering: Wahrlich, der Menschensohn wird in uns allen gekreuzigt, wir ringen alle im Gethsemanegarten im blutigen Schweiss, aber es erlöst keiner den andern mit seinen Wunden. (p. 33)

Here Robespierre echoes Danton's despairing realization, "Wir strecken die Hände nacheinander aus, aber es ist vergebliche Mühe . . . wir sind

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sehr einsam." (p. 9) In this frame of mind Robespierre reveals a kinship, unlikely as it may seem, to Princess Lena. Compelled to marry against her choice, Lena extrapolates her plight into the universal affliction of self-redemption through pain. The state of man becomes a cosmic image: Mein Gott, mein Gott, ist es denn wahr, dass wir uns selbst erlösen müssen mit unserm Schmerz? Ist es denn wahr, die Welt sei ein gekreuzigter Heiland, die Sonne seine Dornenkrone, und die Sterne die Nägel und Speere in seinen Füssen und Lenden? (p. 129)

These correspondences in style and content of expression between Robespierre's utterances and those of other Büchnerian characters do not, however, justify calling Robespierre a reflective figure. We have used the term "reflective" to describe figures who reproduce the conflicts of central characters on a lower, two-dimensional, often perverted level. But Robespierre is a self-contained, autonomous personality. He is not an outgrowth of another figure, he is an outgrowth of Büchner himself. In his moments of introspection, Robespierre is as profound a thinker and as eloquent a poet as are Danton and his faction, Lenz, and Leonce. One can rightfully speak of dramatic or historical inconsistency in Biichner's Robespierre, but the playwright has nevertheless created a figure who merits the sympathy of the audience. Here, says Büchner, is a revolutionary hero who is torn by doubt of his own dogma and must choose whether to be true to his nature or to continue in his adopted role. Robespierre's self-recognition is faulty in one respect: it is limited to the effect and not to the cause of his isolation. He says: Mein Camille! — Sie gehen alle von mir — es ist alles wüst und leer — ich bin allein. (p. 33)

"Sie gehen alle von mir" is incorrect, for it is the nature of his role that has alienated him from others; there can be no question of disloyalty. His dogma rejects the individual, therefore individuals will reject him. This applies to his own allies as well as to his former friends in the Danton faction. Having outgrown his role, Robespierre's presence in the play becomes an acute problem. The remarks made about him are variously shaded; he is spoken of sympathetically by Camille (pp. 41-42), scorn-

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fully by his allies (pp. 62-65), idolatrously by the mob (p. 70). He appears only once in Act II, where he again delivers a speech in his customary style as a functionary. But there is no further mention of his inner torment. Büchner may have feared that his Robespierre would overshadow the factional rivalry which motivates the action of the play, and rather than disturb the structural balance of power, he removed this complex figure from the scene. Even in the scene, "Der Nationalkonvent", St. Just significantly has the last word. Danton, standing before the Revolutionary Tribunal, knows whom to accuse for his arrest: " D u elender St. Just wirst der Nachwelt für diese Lästerung verantwortlich sein!" (p. 58) St. Just later dismisses the power of Robespierre with a wave of his hand: "Er tut, als ob er etwas zu sagen hätte", (p. 62) and others of his faction make fun of his high-flown moralizing, which, for them, is mere crowd-pleasing: "Robespierre will aus der Revolution einen Hörsaal für Moral machen und die Guillotine als Katheder gebrauchen." (p. 64) The final word is delivered with the directness of an epitaph: "Er ist ein impotenter Mahomet." 9 There is more irony in this statement than BillaudVarennes, the speaker, is conscious of, for he does not know Robespierre's speculative side. W e know that the foundation of Robespierre's ideology has crumbled — which if known would render him impotent as a leader. Billaud-Varennes' censure also reminds us of Robespierre's despairing "ich bin allein"; he is as much a relic as Danton, an impotent prophet. All in all, Robespierre is a curious figure. It does not seem amiss to call him unfinished. He begins as a demagogue, develops into an intensely subjective pessimistic philosopher, who realizes that his existence is, in kinship with his fellow men, a state of suffering, and finally he reverts to his demagogic role and vanishes from the play. Out of the machine of the Revolution a human being emerges — but to what purpose? Robespierre's insight has absolutely no effect on the course of events; its only impact is on Büchner's audience. By allowing Robespierre to be momentarily "Dantonized", Büchner seems to be stressing the universality of human frailty. Even the staunchest believer in absolutes is walking a tightrope over an abyss. 9 For a discussion of this textual correction of the Bergemann edition see Werner Lehmann, "Dantons Tod", Euphorion, LVII ( 1 9 6 3 ) , Heft 1 / 2 , 210-217.

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In a most unlikely place in Dantons Tod there is a footnote to the Robespierre problem —in the scene, "Eine Promenade". Büchner allows us here a quick glimpse of the remnants of the ancien régime. They are useless leftovers floating on the sea of the Revolution; full of false sentiment and empty gossip, they are caricatures of a class grown impotent in Danton's France but not in Büchner's Germany. They speak much like Woyzeck's Captain: Madame: Der Duft einer Blume! Diese natürlichen Freuden, dieser reine Genuss der Natur! Sieh, Eugenie, nur die Tugend hat Augen dafür. (P- 38) These figures reflect indirectly upon Robespierre, for the aristocracy is too ludicrously ineffective to be worthy of his tirades against them. His faction uses the aristocracy as a scapegoat to mask the weaknesses of the Revolutionary leadership. There is a basic similarity of purpose in Büchner's satiric attacks against the dogmatic Revolutionaries and the empty moralizing of the aristocrats. Both attitudes are products of a perverted idealism which Büchner regarded as a falsification of existence. Just as he scorned the affected pathos of the "sogenannten Idealdichter", meaning primarily Friedrich Schiller (Strassburg, July 28, 1835, p. 400), he caricatured those who would seek to oontrol the limitless diversity of life by subjecting it to the deceptive simplicity of a self-constructed formula. The result is a calcification of the human spirit, either through the meaningless clichés of the aristocrats and of Woyzeck's Captain, or through the rigid dogma of the Robespierre-St. Just faction. An indication of the spiritual kinship of both groups is their reliance on the shopworn concept, "Tugend". For the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy it epitomizes the vacuous ideals of their artificial morality; for Robespierre it is the ultimate ideal of a strict code of ethics based upon historical necessity. It is the power which guides the state toward the fulfillment of its Revolutionary mission. This unyielding abstraction, "Tugend", isolates the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, and Robespierre10 from all those who do not or who cannot afford to believe in it. The Captain believes he is summarizing Woyzeck's problem when he says, "Woyzeck, Er hat keine Tugend! Er ist kein tugendhafter Mensch!" (p. 152) The 11 It must be remembered that Robespierre is the only Revolutionary who actively believes in this concept. His faction ridicules him because of it.

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aristocrats claim a monopoly on the appreciation of the beauties of nature: "nur die Tugend hat Augen dafür." (p. 38) Robespierre is aghast at Danton's firm assertion that such a concept is a meaningless construct: "Du leugnest die T u g e n d ? . . . Keine Tugend! Die Tugend ein Absatz meiner Schuhe!" (pp. 30-31) To return to "Eine Promenade": later in the scene, the First and Second Gentleman appear, talking of the latest theatrical spectacle (against which Camille and Danton inveigh in the following scene). The Second Gentleman then asks for help to get around a puddle: Zweiter Herr: . . . das konnte gefährlich werden! Erster Herr: Sie fürchteten doch nicht? Zweiter Herr: Ja, die Erde ist eine dünne Kruste; ich meine immer, ich könnte durchfallen, wo so ein Loch ist. - Man muss mit Vorsicht auftreten, man könnte durchbrechen." (p. 39) Once again Büchner breaks open the shell of his type to reveal the insecure individual beneath. This sentiment is, of course, not wholly uncharacteristic of a caricatured aristocrat, for his grotesquely exaggerated fear of the puddle is quite in keeping with his portrayal as a fragile weakling. Yet the tragicomic ambiguity of his words cannot be overlooked. He is not sure whether he can trust the reality which he sees; he dimly senses a greater truth behind it. Out of this insoluble question grows an indefinable fear, the "Daseinsangst" of the Captain and of Robespierre, a fear which became a central theme of — quite surprisingly — a comedy: Leonce und Lena.

D. LEONCE

UND LENA:

K I N G PETER A N D VALERIO

At the head of the farcical kingdom of Popo stands King Peter, surely one of the most undignified monarchs in literature. Before he says a word in this play, he is already a laughingstock, for in a most unkingly manner he is running around a room without any clothes on: Peter (während er angekleidet wird): Der Mensch muss denken, und ich muss für meine Untertanen denken; denn sie denken nicht, sie den11

Cf. Woyzeck, stamping on the ground: "Hohl, hörst du? Alles hohl da unten!" (p. 153)

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fast

nackt im Zimmer herum.) Begriffen? An-sich ist an sich, versteht ihr? (P- H S )

He begins his dramatic existence with a formula, or more specifically, a universal imperative: "Der Mensch muss denken." As Jürgen Schröder indicates, the imperatives in this passage are not based on the self-assurance of knowledge, but they betray the maniacal intensity of a fixed idea.12 Only in thinking is there stability, says Peter; the act of thinking is the "either" of human existence, where the alternative, the "or", is too terrible to contemplate. Life teems with confusion, and man's only recourse is to attempt to find and live by a system wherein order will yield meaning. We have seen that the Captain's rigid norms were the props of his existence; anything which did not conform to them was disorderly and unnatural. For King Peter a philosophical order, rather than a moral order, prevails. Both attitudes are reprehensible because they are arbitrarily contrived, and Büchner wastes no time reducing them to ludicrous absurdity. Through King Peter he demolishes the philosophical idealism of Hegel and Fichte,13 thereby closely foreshadowing a remark by Kierkegaard upon this subject: W e n n die Philosophie [d.h. die hegelische} unter anderem doch auch daran dächte, dass es einem Menschen einfallen könne nach ihren Lehren zu handeln: das würde eine sonderbare Komödie geben! 14

A rigid philosophical system is as dehumanizing as the political ideology of the Revolutionaries in Dantons Tod or the moral code of Woyzeck's oppressors. It is in all cases an untenable simplification, a willful attrition of man's intuition of the complexities of existence.15 18

Georg Bächners "Leotice und Lend', p. 38. See Werner R. Lehmann, "Prolegomena zu einer historisch-kritischen Büchner-Ausgabe", Gratulatio: Festschrift für Christian Wegner (Hamburg, 1963), pp. 190-225. As a student in Darmstadt, Büchner copied freely from Fichte's essays. 14 Fear and Trembling - quoted in Gustav Beckers, Georg Büchners "Leonce und Lend', p. 20. 18 Büchner's criticism of systematic philosophy is not restricted to the farcical figure of King Peter. In semi-serious fashion Valerio and Leonce touch upon the subject: Valerio: Ach, die Wissenschaft, die Wissenschaft! Wir wollen Gelehrte werden! A priori? oder a posteriori? Leonce: A priori, das muss man bei meinem Herrn Vater lernen; und a poste-

18

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Büchner's parody begins with the incongruity of setting and content: Peter runs around his room nearly naked, spouting philosophical jargon. Fichtean terminology determines the procedure of his getting dressed. His speech, especially at the outset, is monotonously singsong, beginning nowhere, arriving nowhere. Ponderous repetition makes a silly thought absurd ("denn sie denken nicht, sie denken nicht"). Like the Captain, Peter can only define terms by themselves, after which he patronizingly asks his audience for confirmation: "An-sich ist an sich, versteht ihr?" 18 As soon as they are faced with a response, intelligent or not, both King Peter and the Captain sink into utter confusion. After Peter "recovers", the horseplay continues, now and again with satirical overtones ("Ja, das ist's, das ist's: Ich wollte mich an mein Volk erinnern"), until a new note is sounded in Peter's speech before his Council of State. It is immediately obvious that the machinery which propels Peter the Automaton-King is yet more out of order than the mechanical soul of Woyzeck's Doctor. Peter's speech commences in meaningless "Beamtendeutsch": "Meine Lieben und Getreuen, ich wollte euch hiermit kund und zu wissen t u n . . ."—the mechanism jams and the phrase is repeated: "kund und zu wissen tun — denn, entweder verheiratet sich mein Sohn, oder nicht — (legt den Finger an die Nase): entweder, oder —ihr versteht mich doch? Ein Drittes gibt es nicht." He believes that he can come to grips with his problem by forcing it into a semantic pattern. With that insight, he has exhausted his mental faculties, and, to gain strength, he abruptly reverts to his leitmotiv: "Der Mensch muss denken. (Steht eine Zeit lang sinnend.)" Then: "Wenn ich so laut rede, so weiss ich nicht, wer es eigentlich ist, ich oder ein anderer; das ängstigt mich." Once again an abyss breaks open at the feet of a Biichnerian figure. There is a sudden jump to a deeper, more serious context below the veneer of farce, a transformation of perspective from a specific representation to the more generally symbolic. The Second Gentleman of Dantons Tod is afraid of illusion, the Captain broods about his mortality, and King riori fängt alles an, wie ein altes Märchen: es war einmal, (p. 127) In his inaugural lecture, "Über Schädelnerven", Büchner disputes the principles of the teleological, a priori school of thought, which maintained that nature is dependent upon purpose, (see p. 351) 16 The Captain to Woyzeck: "Ewig: das ist ewig, das ist ewig — das siehst du ein." (p. 151)

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Peter suffers a crisis of identity — much the same as that expressed by Leonce and Valerio. Once again Büchner uses a character in a reflective function: his central theme emerges in another distorted guise o n a secondary level. Like the Captain, K i n g Peter is a double-edged caricature. H e is a grotesque representation of an unintelligent ruler of a petty principality, w h o dabbles in the latest philosophical mode, and at the same time he is a vehicle for Biichner's liberating selfridicule. 17 His model is Leonce. Leonce spends his time in verbal play. W i t h great poetic skill he tries through endless metaphorical formulations to grasp the elusiveness of his o w n being, realizing that his thoughts are self-defeating. True self-knowledge is possible only by achieving a distance which lies beyond man's limitations: "O, wer einmal jemand anders sein könnte! N u r 'ne Minute lang." (p. 116) This minute of recognition would make man a god. But man cannot escape the confines of space and time, and even within these limits he cannot be sure of himself or his environment: Ich wage kaum die Hände auszustrecken, wie in einem engen Spiegelzimmer, aus Furcht, überall anzustossen, dass die schönen Figuren in 17 A literary antecedent to King Peter is the King in Ludwig Tieck's Der gestiefelte Kater (1797). The kingdom of Popo and the realm of Tieck's king are equally tiny, and both playwrights make much of this unnatural remnant of feudal politics. Both Tieck and Büchner invest their respective kings with the belief that intelligence is directly proportional to position. King Peter, who feels called upon to think for his subordinates, sounds like an echo of Tieck's king, who complains at one point: "Ich muss an alles denken, sonst wird's doch immer schief ausgerichtet." (Ludwig Tieck, Werke in vier Bänden, Marianne Thalmann, ed. (München), II, 234.) King Peter is captivated by philosophical categories, Tieck's king by large numbers: "Millionen, Trillionen — da hat man doch dran zu denken." (Ibid., p. 236.) Behind Tieck's fairy-tale king, however, there is an actor who is not playing his role very well, and the mechanics of the theater and the constant interruptions of the audience within the play destroy the consistency of mood and characterization. Satire remains on one level. In comparing the two characters, it must be remembered that Tieck's play is a literary satire, while Büchner's is a proto-existentialist comedy.

Tieck called his Prinz Zerbino "gewissermassen eine Fortsetzung des gestiefelten Katers" (Ludwig Tieck's [sie] Schriften, Vol. X (Berlin, 1828), p. 1). In König Gottlieb and the old King (previously of Der gestiefelte Kater) one again discovers representations of empty-headed monarchs surrounded by halfwitted peasants and doctors who prattle in Latin. King Gottlieb, like King Peter and the Captain, is easily exhausted by his duties (Ibid., p. 27). The parody of the aristocracy is broad, but it is not sustained in this seemingly endless play.

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Scherben auf dem Boden lägen und ich vor der kahlen nackten W a n d stünde. (p. 130)

Not only is the reality of matter questioned, but the nature of the ego itself. Leonce, Valerio, and King Peter are all engaged in the search for the self behind the masks they wear. "Wenn ich so laut rede, so weiss ich nicht, wer es eigentlich ist" . . . that is, when Peter assumes his role as ruler, he loses his identity. He finds himself in the illusory world of the theater, acting a badly memorized part. From Danton's "Wir stehen immer auf dem Theater, wenn wir auch zuletzt im Ernst erstochen werden" (p. 36) to the Carnival scene in Woyzeck, the theatrum mund't image prevails as an expression of Büchnerian fatalism. In Leonce und Lena this metaphor frames the entire comedy. Peter must play the King, and he loses his bearings; Leonce must play the Prince, but his intelligence does not let him accept the confines of his life-part. For both there is, however, no escape. Valerio, on the other hand, is a free agent, for he has no function to fulfill in the social structure. He is in effect a Shakespearean fool, but this "role" is by no means a restricting one, for the fool traditionally has the freedom to say and do as he likes. Valerio may improvise endlessly on the large white sheet of paper which Leonce calls life (p. 123), and he tries on parts as people would try on hats. Being weightless (i.e., free from obligation), he is free from despair. His occasional complaining has no serious undertones. The play of ideas and words are a release for Leonce — a release from the confines of his role — but for Valerio they are his whole existence; he is pure play, pure illusion, without the restraint of an anchor in reality. One might simply call him a disembodied Leonce, an illusory reflection.18 He functions as a complement to Leonce, countering romantic idealism with irony or irony with romantic idealism,19 to the effect that the verbal interchanges between the two characters remain in a constant state of tension, and reality and illusion become hopelessly entangled. 18

Leonce on Valerio: "Mensch, du bist nichts als ein schlechtes Wortspiel. Du hast weder Vater noch Mutter, sondern die fünf Vokale haben dich miteinander erzeugt." (p. 126) " See Herbert Lindenberger, Georg Büchner, p. 58. Lindenberger indicates (p. 32) that punning reveals a skepticism towards the possibility of grasping reality through language.

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There can be no question of one character being a caricature of the other, because Leonce and Valerio are constantly changing roles, mocking each other and themselves. In Act III, Valerio seems to undergo an identity crisis similar to that of King Peter. Valerio appears, leading the masked prince and princess: Peter: Wer seid Ihr? Valerio: Weiss ich's? (fir nimmt langsam hintereinander mehrere Masken ab.) Bin ich das? Oder das? oder das? Wahrhaftig, ich bekomme Angst, ich könnte mich so ganz auseinanderschälen und -blättern. Peter (verlegen): Aber — aber etwas müsst Ihr denn doch sein? Valerio: Wenn Eure Majestät es so befehlen! (p. 143) — that is, if Valerio is to assume a role, by which his existence would be "defined". 20 H e continues: Aber, meine Herren, hängen Sie dann die Spiegel herum und verstecken Sie Ihre blanken Knöpfe etwas, and sehen Sie mich nicht so an, dass ich mich in Ihren Augen spiegeln muss, oder ich weiss wahrhaftig nicht mehr, was ich eigentlich bin. A mirror provides only an imperfect reflection of the self, a half-truth as ambiguous as the person who stands before it. Peter: Der Mensch bringt mich in Konfusion, zur Desperation! Ich bin in der grössten Verwirrung. Valerio: Aber eigentlich wollte ich einer hohen und geehrten Gesellschaft verkündigen, dass hiermit die zwei weltberühmten Automaten angekommen sind, und dass ich vielleicht der dritte und merkwürdigste von beiden bin, wenn ich eigentlich selbst recht wüsste, wer ich wäre, worüber man übrigens sich nicht wundern dürfte, da ich selbst gar nichts von dem weiss, was ich rede, ja auch nicht einmal weiss, dass ich es nicht weiss, so dass es höchst wahrscheinlich ist, dass man mich nur so reden lässt, und es eigentlich nichts als Walzen und Windschläuche sind, die alles sagen. (pp. 143-144) Valerio's cleverness betrays the fact that this apparent lack of stability is, like everything else in his life, a playful hypothesis. This devastating self-recognition does not affect him in the slightest. He remains in complete control, floating effortlessly above the abyss of despair on a 20

Valerio as Minister of State (p. 147) will still be the same clown as before, for the office will merely be another platform for his humor.

THE MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVE 21

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cloud of words. His endlessly profuse irony may relativize everything, including himself, out of existence, but since language is itself an illusion, he remains secure. King Peter, however, fights a losing battle with language. In his faltering speech he gropes blindly, desperately for a straw that will help him maintain his balance. He searches for the magic formula that will make him real, but the attempt is hopeless. The question, "what am I?" is answered in a meaningless circle: "Ich bin ich. — Was halten Sie davon, Präsident?" (p. 119) Immediately his parrot-like court transforms the tone of the dialogue back to its previous level of farce, but the serious note of pity for an individual who falls from his role into doubt is not forgotten. In summation: when the despairing cry of a lost individual does manage to penetrate through the dead exterior of a caricature, there is revealed a personality too weak to sustain itself, let alone bear the suffering of others. Woyzeck's Captain turns in vain to the Doctor for reassurance, the Second Gentleman in Dantons Tod needs assistance to cross a puddle, and King Peter must rely on his court to help him sustain his role as a king. The single exception is Robespierre, who is endowed with keen insight and with the ability to experience true affection. He has the potential to change his course, yet he chooses to suppress his humanity in order to continue functioning in his adopted role. In the last analysis, it is less painful to shield oneself from the truth than to attempt to come face to face with it.

21

See Gerhart Baumann, Georg Büchner, p. 91.

V GEORG BÜCHNER'S SATIRIC TENDENCIES

Ever since literary critics have been writing about Büchner, they have encountered unusual difficulty and frustration in defining his unique philosophy, aesthetics, and dramatic style. Definitions and labels profferred by one critic are quickly demolished by the next, who in reexamining the material, determines that designations such as "nihilist", "atheist", "revolutionary", or "realist" are not the last word and are too limited in scope to aid in grasping the thought and writings of Georg Büchner. A case in point: the two articles on Büchner in Benno von Wiese's Das deutsche Drama1 are both specifically directed against a nihilistic interpretation of Dantons Tod and Woyzeck, of which von Wiese himself is a leading proponent. Each critical appraisal uncovers new complexities and finer shadings in Büchner's works, and there can be no better tribute to the genius of this man than the tendency to return constantly to the little that exists by him and assess its value anew. If there is to be a last word, it will necessarily be as cautious and ambivalent as Büchner himself was. Herbert Lindenberger writes: "Büchner poses far more questions than he attempts to answer; his very technique, to the extent that his dramatic situations are reexamined in one analogous situation after another, eschews any airtight answers."2 Critics need only turn to Büchner himself for an enlightened warning: we must not, like the Doctor, the Captain, or King Peter, escape complexity by retreating into the illusory security of formulas. 1

Walter Höllerer, "Dantons Tod", Das deutsche Drama, Vol. II, Benno von Wiese, ed. (Düsseldorf, I960), pp. 65-88; Kurt May, "Büchner: Woyzeck" (same volume), pp. 89-100. 8 Georg Büchner, p. 94.

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The coloration of Biichner's style is truly kaleidoscopic. The basic structural element of Biichner's dramaturgy, as Helmut Krapp points out, is the contrastive construction,® through which Büchner brings about the artistic re-creation of the "Schöpfung, die glühend, brausend und leuchtend . . . sich jeden Augenblick neu gebiert." (Dantons Tod, p. 40) Büchner's dramatic perspective is broad enough to accommodate a St. Just and a Marion, a King Peter and a Lena, a Doctor and a Marie, allowing these characters to exist on their own terms in their own environment. They are products of Büchner's intellect and intuition, which had to be extraordinary to produce such extraordinary figures. In this respect critics face an even greater frustration. The sources for information on Büchner's personality are meager, and even the most important materials — Büchner's letters — are incomplete and inconclusive. Critics have attempted to construct a portrait of Büchner the writer, scientist, and politician from these sources, but such a portrait must necessarily remain a rough sketch. The sources are often unreliable: Büchner's letters to his parents were often designed to mislead them about his revolutionary activity; most of his letters have been extensively edited by Ludwig Büchner, and the originals are lost (see p. 753 of the 1922 Bergemann edition); many of the reminiscences about Büchner were written forty years after his death. The purpose of this final chapter is to investigate the satiric tendencies in the personality of Georg Büchner as an extension of the previous textual analyses of his plays. Especially since the material on the playwright is so sparse, this chapter cannot be much more than an appendix, for there is little in Büchnerian documentation, besides that which has been already mentioned, which would add to the interpretation of the plays. We aim at suppositions rather than at conclusions. This reappraisal of Büchner material is motivated by the conviction that there exist a number of misinterpretations and misapplications of these sources, especially in regard to the topic of this book. Büchner's contrastive technique produces a constantly fluctuating attitude of affirmation and negation. Many interpreters have separated and analyzed the strands which constitute the fabric of his writings, and, while such investigations have greatly contributed to the under8

Der Dialog bei Georg Bächner, p. 145.

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standing of the relationship between Büchner's studies in anatomy and medicine, his literary production, and his political activity, they occasionally create a false sense of proportion by giving too much weight to a chosen number of passages from his writings. This occurs most frequently in discussions of Büchner's aesthetic principles. By and large the discussions center on three sources: the "Kunstgespräch" between Camille and Danton in the scene, "Ein Zimmer" in Act II of Dantons Tod; Büchner's letter to his parents on Dantons Tod, written from Strassburg on July 28, 1835; and the "Kunstmonolog" in Lenz — all in all about five pages of text, not without repetition, having as a single theme the obligations of the artist to Nature. The three passages are of great relevance to the style and content of Lenz and the three plays, and they also shed light on Büchner's sympathies in the political sphere and on his anti-teleological position as set forth in his lecture, "Über Schädelnerven". Yet there is, of course, much that is still unexplained,4 and other texts are used to fill some of the gaps: the fatalism which dominates Dantons Tod and Woyzeck is traced primarily to the letter to Minna Jaegl6, written presumably in November, 1833; the satiric elements of the plays are said to have evolved from the "Spott des Hasses" mentioned in the fiery letter to his parents in February, 1834. But these sources are still too limited to be valid bases for appraisal of important aspects of Büchner's dramas. We have seen how complex and varied are the motivations of the satirist. Judging from this evidence, it is an oversimplification to say, as Vietor8 and Mayer" and many others have done, that Büchner is acting as a social critic and not as a true artist when he created King Peter's court, the Doctor, and the Captain. Such a formulation is not only restricting but actually a disparagement of Büchner, for it implies that there is relatively little artistic merit in a considerable part of his dramatic production. The textual analyses of Chapter III and IV have attempted to disprove this theory. Using the remarks on the purpose and technique of satire as a basis, the extant documentation on Büchner It is revealing that Helmut Krapp, who bases his analysis of Büchner's style largely on the principles outlined in the passages mentioned above, neglects entirely the characterizations which seem to come from another creative impulse (i.e., King Peter, the Doctor, the Captain, etc.). 5 Georg Büchner, p. 192. • Georg Büchner und seine Zeit, p. 438.

1

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will now be examined for clues which will hopefully yield further insight into the temperament which created these caricatures. Büchners pre-university life is especially difficult to reconstruct. There exists some derivative poetry of no particular significance, a few unrelated remarks collected by Karl Emil Franzos, some idle marginal scribbling in notebooks, and a few compositions. The marginal notes — those that are not quotations from Shakespeare — are private little outcries of a spirited student trapped in a boring class. T o pass the time he pokes fun at his teachers. Already there is a seed of antipathy against empty pathos in the words: "Scharfsinn, Verstand, gesunde Vernunft! lauter leere Namen." (p. 458) The compositions dating from this period appear to be prescribed exercises, based on no particular convictions. This theory is strongly supported by Werner Lehmann's discovery that much of "Heldentod der vierhundert Pforzheimer" is copied from Fichte's "Rede an die deutsche Nation: Rede V I I I " . 7 It seems superfluous to elaborate upon the Fichtean influence upon this "Gymnasiast", for Büchner at this point can hardly be called an independent thinker. Nevertheless, the fervent idealism expressed in these essays was not totally without influence later on; although Büchner soon turned to the more pragmatic French thinkers, his political views during the years at Strassburg and Giessen reflected an idealized belief in universal freedom and equality. The most penetrating glimpse into Büchner's life in Darmstadt is afforded by the memoirs of Friedrich Zimmermann (pp. 552-554) and Ludwig Wilhelm Luck (pp. 555-559). Concerning Büchner's temperament, Zimmermann speaks of Büchner's "mächtig strebender Geist" which followed its own inclinations, and he calls him "ein kühner Skeptiker". 8 Luck's more detailed description bears this out, and the character traits he saw in Büchner are strikingly similar to the temperament of a satirist. "Es war jedoch nicht seine Art, sich andern unge"Prolegomena zu einer historisch-kritischen Büchner-Ausgabe". See also Büchner's diploma, where C. Dilthey, the school director, writes: "Den Religionsstunden hat er mit Aufmerksamkeit beigewohnt und in denselben manche treffliche Beweise von selbständigem Nachdenken gegeben . . von seinem klaren und durchdringenden Verstände hegen wir eine viel zu vorteilhafte Ansicht, als dass wir glauben könnten, er würde jemals durch Erschlaffung, Versäumnis oder voreilig absprechende Urtheile seinem eigenen Lebensglück im W e g e stehen." (p. 5 5 2 )

7

8

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prüft und voreilig hinzugeben, er war vielmehr ein ruhiger, gründlicher, mehr zurückhaltender Beobachter", reports Luck. However, he stresses that Büchner was by no means a cynic: "Wo er aber fand, dass jemand wirklich wahres Leben suchte, da konnte er auch warm, ja enthusiastisch werden." Büchner and the Zimmermann brothers employed their quick intelligence "zu allerlei kritischem und humoristischem Wetteifer in Beurteilung der Zustände", which Luck could appreciate but not take part in ("für den ich zu ernst und zu schwer war", he adds modestly). Büchner had a pronounced taste for parody, spoofing clergymen with Shakespearian quotations (p. 558) and making fun of lectures in his notebooks." His sense of humor, which sustained him even in times of crisis, seems not to have been inherited from either parent. Büchner's father was a sober and dedicated physician, competent but unimaginative. His mother was of a far more sensitive, poetical nature, but she did not share her son's intellectual irony.10 Both Luck and Zimmermann mention Büchner's early interest in scientific, philosophical, and metaphysical questions. Luck notes an awakening of political consciousness, a growing awareness of the inequalities existing in the German states. The young Büchner seems to have been extremely active in the search for knowledge and mental stimulation, proceeding in many areas with the skeptical caution of the scientific observer. Whatever was assimilated was evaluated. Luck reports: In seinem Denken und T u n durch das Streben nach Wesenhaftigkeit und Wahrhaftigkeit frühe durchaus selbständig, vermochte ihm keine äusserliche Autorität noch nichtiger Schein zu imponieren. D a s Bewusstsein des erworbenen geistigen Fonds drängte ihn fortwährend zu einer unerbittlichen Kritik dessen, was in der menschlichen Gesellschaft oder Philosophie und Kunst Alleinberechtigung beanspruchte oder erlistete. - Daher sein vernichtender, manchmal übermütiger Hohn über Taschenspielerkünste Hegelischer Dialektik und Begriffsformulationen, z.B.: "Alles, was wirklich, ist auch vernünftig, und was vernünftig, auch wirklich." A u f s tiefste verachtete er, die sich und andere mit wesenlosen Formeln 9

According to Franzos, Büchner once rewrote Schiller's "Graf Eberhard der Greiner" in the Swabian dialect, but nothing more is known about this. (Georg Büchner's Sämmtliche Werke, xxiii.) 10 Hans Mayer, Georg Büchner und seine Zeit, pp. 32-39.

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abspeisten, anstatt für sich selbst das Lebensbrot der Wahrheit zu erwerben und es andern zu geben.

This passage provides a singularly appropriate commentary to the figures of King Peter, the Doctor, and the Captain. Luck continues: "Man sah ihm an, an Stirne, Augen und Lippen, dass er auch, wenn er schwieg, diese Kritik in seinem in sich verschlossnen Denken übte... Die zuckenden Lippen verrieten, wie oft er mit der Welt im Widerspruch und Streit lag." Biichner's critical outlook was so much a part of his nature that his uncompromising personality often provoked dislike in those who could not gain his friendship or understand his views. Carl Vogt, a witness to Biichner's unhappy days in Giessen, describes Büchner as an intelligent but unapproachable revolutionary, (pp. 559-560) Büchner's letters span a period of little more than five years. Fritz Bergemann's summary of the insights they offer is apt: "Hier spricht der Dichter unmittelbar aus, was ihn bewegt, verstimmt, beschäftigt, hier lernen wir ihn als Menschen kennen in seiner sprühenden Laune und seiner sensiblen Reizbarkeit, in seinem sozialen Mitgefühl und seinem revolutionären Zorn, in seiner Naturfreude, seiner teilnehmenden Freundschaft und seiner trauten Zwiesprache mit der Geliebten, auch in seinem beruflichen Streben, seiner künstlerischen und politischen Meinungsbildung und seiner weltanschaulichen Gesinnung." (Nachwort, p. 602) The letters, like the plays, reflect a wide spectrum of interest and activity, as well as abrupt changes of moods. Already in the first extant letter there appears a perplexing Büchnerian twist. Almost as an afterthought, Büchner seems to deflate his own idealism. He describes the reception in Strassburg of the Polish General Ramorino, a leader in the recently suppressed Polish revolution. Ramorino was heralded as a symbol of the liberal freedom movement flourishing during the 1830's. Büchner was among the students who broke through police barriers to welcome Ramorino. His description of the event is coolly objective, and he concludes with the words: "Darauf erscheint Ramorino auf dem Balkon, dankt, man ruft Vivat — und die Komödie ist fertig." (p. 366) It does not seem likely that these words were meant to mislead Büchner's parents regarding his political interests, for he had just arrived in Strassburg, and political involvement would have had dangerous consequences only if Büchner were still in

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Germany. "Und die Komödie ist fertig" is in retrospect not as surprising as at first, for the tone of the letter is singularly dry. The phrase most probably indicates Büchner's dislike of ceremonies and demonstrations which have no practical results.11 Büchner constantly strove toward the concrete goal; he demanded action which would effect lasting change —and herein lies his idealism. "Was nennt Ihr denn gesetzlichen Zustand?" he writes in 1833. " . . . dies Gesetz ist eine ewige, rohe Gewalt, angetan dem Recht und der gesunden Vernunft, und ich werde mit Mund und Hand dagegen kämpfen, wo ich kann. Wenn ich an dem, was geschehen, keinen Teil genommen und an dem, was vielleicht geschieht, keinen Teil nehmen werde, so geschieht es weder aus Missbilligung noch aus Furcht, sondern nur weil ich im gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt jede revolutionäre Bewegung als eine vergebliche Unternehmung betrachte und nicht die Verblendung derer teile, welche in den Deutschen ein zum Kampf für sein Recht bereites Volk sehen." (p. 369) The latter statement is belied by Büchner's later revolutionary activity, but his basic attitude — the critical examination of every factor of a problem, the flexible perspective — never changed. Even Der Hessische Landbote, a tract of firm conviction and urgency, was not a blind gamble. August Becker stated in court: "Mit der von ihm [Büchner] geschriebenen Flugschrift wollte er vorderhand nur die Stimmung des Volks und der deutschen Revolutionärs erforschen. Als er später hörte, dass die Bauern die meisten gefundenen Flugschriften auf die Polizei abgeliefert hätten, als er vernahm, dass sich auch die Patrioten gegen seine Flugschrift ausgesprochen, gab er alle seine politischen Hoffnungen in bezug auf ein Anderswerden auf." ("Aus August Beckers gerichtlichen Angaben", p. 562.) The definitive manner in which Becker announces the termination of Büchner's political activity was designed to protect Büchner from arrest. Büchner continued his secret political agitation after his return to Darmstadt in August, 1834. Becker significantly uses the word "erforschen"; Büchner wrote and distributed the Landbote as an experiment so that he might observe the impact of his viewpoint (which differed from that of Weidig and other more moderate co-revolutionaries) upon the masses. The experiment failed, but Büchner, proceeding in a scientific fashion, had gained valuable insight into his audience — a must for a 11

Mayer, p. 67.

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political satirist who seeks to reform his public through his writings. Although the experience was a disappointment, Büchner remained level-headed enough to register a brazen complaint against the very authorities who were seeking to implicate him in revolutionary activity, (pp. 385-388) To this, too, Büchner might have added the epitaph, "und die Komödie ist fertig". Despite Büchner's tendency to disparage his own beliefs, his antipathy toward the oppressors of the masses was unwavering. We have already spoken of the "Spott des Hasses" which Büchner directs against those who scorn those socially beneath them. The political situation in France, Büchner writes, "ist doch nur eine Komödie. Der König und die Kammern regieren, und das Volk klatscht und bezahlt". (Strassburg, December, 1832, p. 367) As for Germany: "Unsere Landstände sind eine Satire auf die gesunde Vernunft." (Strassburg, April 5, 1833, p. 368) Or, in a letter dating from Büchner's second sojourn in Strassburg: "Der König von Bayern lässt unsittliche Bücher verbieten ! da darf er seine Biographie nicht erscheinen lassen, denn die wäre das Schmutzigste, was je geschrieben worden ! Der Grossherzog von Baden, erster Ritter vom doppelten Mopsorden, macht sich zum Ritter vom Heiligen Geist und lässt Gutzkow arretieren, und der liebe deutsche Michel glaubt, es geschähe alles aus Religion und Christentum und klatscht in die Hände." (January 1, 1836, p. 407) In these instances Büchner is writing with a satirist's pen. He demeans his victims with uncomplimentary appellations; he relies heavily upon irony and sarcasm, seeking out damaging contradiction, and he does not refrain from name-calling. In his words: "Es fällt mir nicht mehr ein, vor den Paradegäulen und Eckstehern der Geschichte mich zu bücken." (Giessen, November, 1833, p. 374) In the Landbote, he intensifies and animates his style through satiric imagery. In the letter of 1836, he is not being polemical, but he savors the ironies of political decrees and actions. His desire for direct action is sublimated into verbal ridicule. In this connection it is especially regrettable that Büchner's drama about Pietro Aretino has never been found. According to a letter written less than two months before his death, Büchner informed his fiancée Minna Jaeglé that he was planning to publish Leonce und Lena and two other dramas, (p. 422) Franzos discovered the Woyzeck man-

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uscripts in 1879, but the drama mentioned by Ludwig Büchner in his edition of his brother's works (1850) never appeared. Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) was a writer of comedies and satiric poetry —not a literary satirist, but a satirist with a vengeance. He used his wit as a powerful weapon, wielding it daringly for his personal advantage, unscrupulously, cynically, often obscenely. His talents enabled him to rise from a lowly origin to become the friend of Giovanni de' Medici, Francis I of France, and the pope. He became rich by extorting money from nobles by threatening them with the power of his satire. In his own estimation he was "divine" and the "scourge of princes".12 It is obvious why Büchner was attracted to Aretino: a poor man rises to challenge and dominate the aristocracy with the might of his pen; a satirist fearlessly exposes the weaknesses of an unjust society, disregarding conventional standards of order and morality. In personality and outlook the Italian and the German differed greatly, but both shared an esprit libre which could not be contained by their restrictive environments.There remains the fascinating question: how did Büchner mold Aretino into a Büchnerian hero? Now that Büchner's satiric tendencies have been touched upon, it is necessary once again to point out that satire was not his primary goal, either artistically or otherwise, nor can he be called exclusively a satirist in temperament. Büchner was a great ironist, but the root of his irony was not based on an attacker-victim relationship. To repeat his words: "Man nennt mich einen Spötter. Es ist wahr, ich lache oft; aber ich lache nicht darüber, wie jemand ein Mensch, sondern nur darüber, dass er ein Mensch ist, wofür er ohnehin nichts kann, und lache dabei über mich selbst, der ich sein Schicksal teile." (pp. 377-378) This is more than satiric laughter. The satirist laughs at people, at their weaknesses, either out of personal enjoyment or out of the desire to improve his fellow men. Büchner's is a laughter of general despair, based on the recognition of the smallness of his own self, impotent against fate. This self-irony was, as we have seen, deeply rooted in his personality, and time and again he makes light of projects in which he was deeply involved. He speaks slightingly of his plays, calling them "Ferkeldramen" (p. 535; Gutzkow is apparently quoting Büchner in 11 "Pietro Aretino", Encyclopaedia p. 456.

Britannica,

11th ed. ( 1 9 1 1 ) , Vol.

II,

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this letter), he makes fun of his projected lectures on philosophy: "Ich habe mich jetzt ganz auf das Studium der Naturwissenschaften und der Philosophie gelegt und werde in kurzem nach Zürich gehen, um in meiner Eigenschaft als überflüssiges Mitglied der Gesellschaft meinen Mitmenschen Vorlesungen über etwas ebenfalls höchst Überflüssiges, nämlich über die philosophischen Systeme der Deutschen seit Cartesius und Spinoza, zu halten." (p. 417) At one point he sees himself as ä model for a grotesque caricature: "Ich hätte Herrn Callot-Hoffmann sitzen können" — a reference to E. T. A. Hoffmann, who had written Phantasiestücke in Callots Manier, based on the sketches of Jacques Callot (1592-1635). That this trait was more than just modesty is evident in that self-irony functions as a significant stylistic element in Dantons Tod and Leonce und Lena. Danton, his friends, Leonce, and Valerio are constantly holding up mirrors to themselves and laughing at their reflections. Their wit acts as a balm against the pain of existence; it lets them hold the world —and themselves — at a distance, whereby they preserve their conscious identities. For Büchner and his heroes, wit is activity — mental stimulation, a release from the chronic boredom which afflicts the perceptive individual. Danton and Leonce are for the most part dramatically inert — here they differ sharply from their spiritual cousin Hamlet —they are observers, as was Büchner himself. Yet neither of them is sure of his own vantage point. Selfdoubt is made tolerable through self-irony. Self-deprecation is the only sure check against self-deception. A primary commandment of Büchnerian philosophy is that man must recognize his nature and live according to his potential; he cannot build existence upon an illusion. His fellow men are as he is, subject to the same painful mortality. Yet within this common fate there rests a powerful affirmation of existence: kinship and warmth among men. At one point in his correspondence Büchner elevates this attitude above the satiric with indisputable clarity: "Ich hoffe noch immer, dass ich leidenden, gedrückten Gestalten mehr mitleidige Blicke zugeworfen als kalten, vornehmen Herzen bittere Worte gesagt habe." (Giessen, February, 1834, p. 378) The balance is in favor of sympathy, not sarcasm, and Büchner's works bear this out. Their most remarkable feature is their depth of compassion for the human condition — the abandoned Lenz and Woyzeck, the doubting philosophers Danton and Leonce, the spontaneous warmth

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of Marion, Julie, Lucile, Lena, and Marie. Deep sensitivity and love suffuse Biichner's letters to Minna Jaegle, and this "selige Empfindung" sustained him through periods of illness and mental depression. His scientific works reflect an admiration for the limitless diversity of nature. Those who have isolated themselves from the wholeness of life Biichner demolishes with the weapons of satire. Satire is in his works a servant of his affirmation of existence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES Büchner, Georg, Georg Büchner" s Sämmtliche Werke, Karl Emil Franzos, ed. (Frankfurt a.M., 1879). —, Georg Büchners Sämtliche Werke und Briefe, Auf Grund des handschriftlichen Nachlasses Georg Büchners, Fritz Bergemann, ed. (Leipzig, 1922). —, Georg Büchner: Werke und Briefe (Gesamtausgabe), Neue, durchgesehene Ausgabe, Fritz Bergemann, ed. (Wiesbaden, 1958). —, Georg Büchner: Sämtliche Werke und Briefe, Historisch-kritische Ausgabe mit Kommentar, Vol. I, Werner R. Lehmann, ed. (Hamburg, 1967). —, La Mort de Danton de Georges Büchner, Richard Thieberger, ed. (Paris, 1953). —, and Ludwig Weidig, Der Hessische Landbote: Texte, Briefe, Prozessakten, Kommentiert von Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Frankfurt a.M., 1965). —, Georg Büchner, Woyzeck ("Dichtung und Wirklichkeit"), Hans Mayer, ed. (Frankfurt a.M., 1963). Lenz, Jakob Michael Reinhold, "Anmerkungen übers Theater", Meisterwerke deutscher Literaturkritik, Hans Mayer, ed. (Berlin, 1954). Schiller, Friedrich, Schillers Werke, Arthur Kutscher, ed. (Berlin). Tieck, Ludwig, Ludwig Tieck's Schriften (Berlin, 1828). —, Werke in vier Bänden, Marianne Thalmann, ed. (München).

SECONDARY SOURCES: GEORG BÜCHNER Baumann, Gerhart, Georg Büchner: Die dramatische Ausdruckswelt (Göttingen, 1961). Beckers, Gustav, Georg Büchners "Leonce und Lend': Ein Lustspiel der Langeweile (Heidelberg, 1961). Bergemann, Fritz, "Entwicklung und Stand der Georg-Büchner-Forschung", Geistige Arbeit, IV (1937), Nr. 8, 5-7. —, "Georg-Büchner Schrifttum seit 1937", Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte, XXV (1951), Heft 1, 112-121. Brinkmann, Donald, Georg Büchner als Philosoph (Zürich, 1958). Büttner, Ludwig, Georg Büchner: Revolutionär und Pessimist (Nürnberg, 1948).

116

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Celan, Paul, Der Meridian, Rede anlässlich der Verleihung des Georg-BüchnerPreises 1960 (Frankfurt a.M., 1961). Cowen, Roy C., "Grabbe's Don Juan und Faust and Büchner's Dantons Tod: Epicureanism and Weltschmerz", PMLA, LXXXII No. 5 (October, 1967), 342-351. Dietze, Walter, Junges Deutschland und deutsche Klassik: zur Ästhetik und Literaturtheorie des Vormärz, ("Neue Beiträge zur Literaturwissenschaft, Vol. 6") (Berlin, 1957). Dosenheimer, Elise, Das deutsche soziale Drama von Lessing bis Sternheim (Konstanz, 1949). (Georg Büchner: pp. 64-81.) Dymschitz, Alexander L., "Die ästhetischen Anschauungen Georg Büchners", Weimarer Beiträge: Zeitschrift für deutsche Literaturgeschichte (1962), Heft 1, 108-123. Elema, J., "Der verstümmelte Woyzeck", Neophilologus, XLIX (1965), 131155. Guthke, Karl S., Geschichte und Poetik der deutschen Tragikomödie (Göttingen, 1961). Hamburger, Michael, Reason and Energy: Studies in German Literature (New York, 1957) (Georg Büchner: pp. 179-208). Hauser, Ronald, "Georg Büchner's 'Leonce und Lena' ", Monatshefte, Vol. LIII, No. 7 (December, 1961), 338-346. Höllerer, Walter, Zwischen Klassik und Moderne (Stuttgart, 1958) (Georg Büchner: pp. 100-142). —, "Dantons Tod", Das deutsche Drama, Vol. II, Benno von Wiese, ed. (Düsseldorf, 1960), pp. 65-88. Johann, Ernst, Georg Büchner in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten (Hamburg, 1958). Kaiser, Ursula, Die Mechanisierung des Lebens im dichterischen Werk Georg Büchners (Phil. Diss., Frankfurt a.M., 1962). Kästner, Erich, "Wohin gehört Büchner?" Merkur, XI (1957), 1134-1143. Klotz, Volker, Geschlossene und offene Form im Drama (München). Knight, A. H. J., Georg Büchner (Oxford, 1951). Krapp, Helmut, Der Dialog bei Georg Büchner (Darmstadt, 1958). Krolow, Karl, "Ansprache anlässlich der Verleihung des Georg-Büchner-Preises: über 'Leonce und Lena' ", Akzente, III (1956), 541-547. Kupsch, Walther, Wozzeck: Ein Beitrag zum Schaffen Georg Büchners (= Germanische Studien, Heft 4) (Berlin, 1920). Lehmann, Werner R., "Dantons Tod", Euphorion, LVII (1963), Heft 1/2, 210-217. —, "Prolegomena zu einer historisch-kritischen Büchner-Ausgabe", Gratulatio: Festschrift für Christian Wegner (Hamburg, 1963), pp. 190-225. Lindenberger, Herbert, Georg Büchner (Carbondale, 1964). Majut, Rudolf, "Aufriss und Probleme der modernen Büchner-Forschung", Germanisch-romanische Monatsschrift, XVII (1929), 356-372. —, Studien um Büchner: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der problematischen Natur ("Germanische Studien, Heft 121") (Berlin, 1932). Martens, Wolfgang, "Zur Karikatur in der Dichtung Büchners (Woyzecks Hauptmann)", Germanisch-romanische Monatsschrift, Neue Folge VIII (1958), 64-71.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

117

—, "Der Barbier in Büchners 'Woyzeck' (Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Motivgeschichte der Barbiersfigur)", Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie, LXXIX ( i 9 6 0 ) , 361-383. May, Kurt, "Büchner: Woyzeck", Das deutsche Drama, Vol. II, Benno von Wiese, ed. (Düsseldorf, i960), pp. 89-100. Mayer, Hans, Georg Büchner und seine Zeit (Wiesbaden, 1959). Oppel, Horst, Die tragische Dichtung Georg Büchners (Stuttgart, 1951). —, "Stand und Aufgaben der Büchner-Forschung", Euphorion, XLIX (1955), 91-109. Renker, Armin, Georg Büchner und das Lustspiel der Romantik ("Germanische Studien, Heft 34") (Berlin, 1924). Schröder, Jürgen, Georg Büchners "Leonce und Lena": Eine verkehrte Komödie (München, 1966). Monatshefte, Schwarz, Egon, "Tod und Witz im Werke Georg Büchners", XLVI, No. 2 (February, 1954), 123-136. Stern, J. P., "A World of Suffering: Georg Büchner", Re-interpretations: Seven Studies in Nineteenth-Century German Literature (London, 1964), pp. 78-155. Strudthoff, Ingeborg, Die Rezeption Georg Büchners durch das deutsche Theater (Berlin, 1957). Vietor, Karl, "Die Quellen von Büchners Drama Dantons Tod", Euphorion, XXXIV (1933), 357-379. —, Georg Büchner: Politik, Dichtung, Wissenschaft (Bern, 1949). Vogeley, Heinrich, Georg Büchner und Shakespeare (Phil. Diss., Marburg, 1934). Vogt, Carl, Aus meinem Leben: Erinnerungen und Rückblicke (Stuttgart, 1896). Wege der Forschung: Georg Büchner, Wolfgang Martens, ed., Vol. LIII (Darmstadt, 1965). Pertinent

articles:

Fink, Gonthier-Louis, "Leonce und Lena: Komödie und Realismus bei Georg Büchner", pp. 488-506. Gundolf, Friedrich, "Georg Büchner", pp. 82-91. Landau, Paul, "Dantons Tod", "Lenz", "Leonce und Lena", "Wozzeck", pp. 16-81.

Lukacs, Georg, "Der faschistisch verfälschte und der wirkliche Georg Büchner", pp. 197-224. Martens, Wolfgang, "Zum Menschenbild Georg Büchners: 'Woyzeck', und die Marionszene in 'Dantons Tod' ", pp. 373-385. —, "Ideologie und Verzweiflung: Religiöse Motive in Büchners Revolutionsdrama", pp. 406-442. Mautner, Franz H., "Wortgewebe, Sinngefüge und 'Idee' in Büchners 'Woyzeck' ", pp. 507-554. May, Kurt, "Büchners 'Woyzeck' ", pp. 241-251. Mühlher, Robert, "Georg Büchner und die Mythologie des Nihilismus", pp. 252-288. Peacock, Ronald, "A Note on Georg Büchner's Plays", pp. 360-372. Vietor, Karl, "Die Tragödie des heldischen Pessimismus: Über Büchners Drama 'Dantons Tod' ", pp. 98-137.

118

BIBLIOGRAPHY

von Wiese, Benno, Die deutsche Tragödie von Lessing bis Hebbel (Hamburg, 1961) (Georg Büchner: pp. 513-534.) Winkler, Hans, Georg Büchners "Woyzeck" (Greifswald, 1925). Ziegler, Klaus, "Das deutsche Drama der Neuzeit", Deutsche Philologie im Aufriss, 2. überarbeitete Auflage, Wolfgang Stammler, ed., Vol. II (Berlin, 1960), 1998-2350.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR CHAPTERS II A N D IV-A Appel, Alfred Jr., A Season of Dreams: The Fiction of Eudora Welty (Baton Rouge, 1965). Brinkmann, Richard, Wirklichkeit und Illusion: Studien über Gehalt und Grenzen des Begriffs Realismus für die erzählende Dichtung des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (Tübingen, 1957). Bohne, Friedrich, Der Deutsche in seiner Karikatur (1963). Bühler, Charlotte, "Die Typisierung in der Dichtung", Germanisch-romanische Monatsschrift, IX (1921), 129-139Buschmeyer, Lothar, Die ästhetischen Wirkungen des Puppenspiels (Phil. Diss., Jena, 1930) (Oppeln, 1931). Demetz, Peter, Formen des Realismus. Theodor Fontane: Kritische Untersuchungen (München, 1964). Elliott, Robert C., The Power of Satire: Magic, Ritual, Art (Princeton, New Jersey, I960). —, "The Definition of Satire: A Note on Method", Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature, XI (1962), 19-23. Feinberg, Leonard, The Satirist: His Temperament, Motivation, and Influence (New York, 1964). Flögel, Karl Friedrich, Flögeis Geschichte des grotesk-komischen (Leipzig, 1788). Hermann, Georg, Die deutsche Karikatur im 19. Jahrhundert (Bielefeld und Leipzig, 1901). Heuss, Theodor, Zur Ästhetik der Karikatur (Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen zum 31. Januar 1954). Highet, Gilbert, The Anatomy of Satire (Princeton, New Jersey, 1962). Hofmann, Werner, "Bemerkungen zur Karikatur", Merkur, VII (1953), 949957. —, Die Karikatur von Leonardo bis Picasso (Wien, 1956). Kayser, Wolfgang, Das Groteske: Seine Gestaltung in Malerei und Dichtung (Oldenburg, 1961). Kernan, Alvin B., The Plot of Satire (New Haven and London, 1965). Kris, Ernst and Ernst Gombrich, "The Principles of Caricature", British Journal of Medical Psychology, XVII (1938), 319-341. Lazarowicz, Klaus, Verkehrte Welt: Vorstudien zu einer Geschichte der deutschen Satire (Tübingen, 1963). Majut, Rudolf, Lebensbühne und Marionette: Ein Beitrag zur seelengeschichtlichen Entwicklung von der Genie-Zeit bis zum Biedermeier ("Germanische Studien, Heft 100") (Berlin, 1931).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

119

Martini, Fritz, Deutsche Literatur im bürgerlichen Realismus: 1848-1898 ("Epochen der deutschen Literatur, V / 2 " ) (Stuttgart, 1962). Rapp, Eleonore, Die Marionette in der deutschen Dichtung vom Sturm und Drang bis zur Romantik (Leipzig, 1924). Reed, Eugene E. "Dürrenmatt's 'Der Besuch der alten Dame': A Study in the Grotesque", Monatshefte, LIII, No. 1 (January, 1961), 9-14. Schneegans, Heinrich, Geschichte der grotesken Satire (Strassburg, 1894). Schoenberner, Franz, "Wit: a political Weapon?" American-German Review, XXXII, No. 1 (October-November, 1965), 17-20. Strohschneider-Kohrs, Ingrid, Die romantische Ironie in Theorie und Gestaltung (Tübingen, I960). Wright, Thomas, A History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art (London, 1865).

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