Spiritual Murder in Georg Buchner's Woyzeck
Throughout dramatic history, tragedies have depicted a hero's humanity being stripped from him. Usually, as in Shakespeare's classic paradigms, we see the hero, whether King Lear or Othello, reduced from his original noble stature to nothingness and death. Yet Georg Buchner's fragmentary play Woyzeck shows us a protagonist already stripped of humanity, transformed into and treated as an animal. Indeed, Woyzeck, far from being a simple tale of a village murder, shows us the systematic debasement, even intellectual and spiritual "murder," of the protagonist and all his class.
Like August Strindberg's Ghost Sonata, Woyzeck identifies most of its characters only by professions or descriptions, not by names. Franz Woyzeck and Marie are surrounded by a whirl of anonymous figures: the Captain, Doctor, Drum Major, Barker, Grandmother. Perhaps this shows the world as it appears from Woyzeck's point of view. For Woyzeck sees the world as filled with anonymous forces. In scene I, Woyzeck talks of "the Freemasons!" as responsible for the rolling heads and underground passages he hallucinates into being. In scene VIII, Woyzeck speaks of "the toadstools, Doctor. There -- that's where it is. Have you seen how they grow in patterns? If only someone could read that." Woyzeck's world is filled with and controlled by great forces only occasionally glimpsed, and perhaps he attributes to the Doctor and Captain some of the same mysteriousness and respect he gives his hallucinations.
Animal imagery appears throughout Woyzeck -- appropriate, since the rough society Woyzeck exists in has been lowered to the animalistic level. Marie is a sensuous, animal woman, ...
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... or not. The Captain's and the Doctor's relentless scorn and disparagement have killed his intellectual, rational part. Marie has murdered Woyzeck's emotional side almost from the moment he saw her with the Drum Major's earrings -- the red necklace of blood which signals Marie's death is only justice, in Woyzeck's eyes. Viewed as "the lowest level of the human race", no better than a dressed monkey, Woyzeck is systematically stripped of his humanity and oppressed. To the Captain, to the Doctor, he is no better than a spider or a Proteus bacterium. Perhaps he would empathize with Gloucester, in Shakespeare's King Lear, another tale of humanity supremely stripped away:
"As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods:
They kill us for their sport."
(King Lear, IV.i.36-7)
Work Cited
Woyzeck, by George Buchner. Ed. Henry J. Schmidt Avon Books (New York) 1969
The relationship between these animals portray the ideas of the Holocaust very well. Mice are small and scrawny creatures which are usually hunted by Cats. Cats chase mice and attempt to devour them, much like the Germans hunted down the Jews during the mass genocide. Pigs are very greedy and self centered. During the story, the Polish(Pigs) sold out the Jewish people on many occasions (Maus I p. 143). An example is when Vladek and his family were staying at Kawka’s farm. “They may come search here any minute! You’ve got to leave!” In this situation, Kawka was not telling the truth, but only trying to protect herself. Dogs chase cats, which in the book was symbolic because the Americans sympathized with the Jewish people. These are very rudimentary overviews of the animals, but they will serve for the purposes of this essay.
Heroes in literature and history, more often than not, meet tragic ends, unless they were created by Walt Disney. These particular people are often seen as someone who is apart from the masses in morals and attempt to accomplish a higher calling for the common good. The problem with this type of hero is that they are destined for suffering.Two such characters exist in classic literature, Winston Smith of George Orwell’s 1984 and Hamlet of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Hamlet is the true classic tragic hero, though, because he is of noble birth, possesses high moral standards, completes the task he is given to better the world, and causes tragedy in both his life and the lives of others.
Within each of us lurks a beast waiting for the first opportunity to bare its ugly fangs. A vestige of ages past, when violence and destruction was man’s only language, the beast only needs a bit of chaos to resurface. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is hinged on this idea. In the story, a group of English schoolboys are stranded on an island without a single adult. They try initially to keep a rough semblance of civilization in place, calling assemblies and lighting signal fires, but the beast is soon awoken from its primeval slumber to wreak terror among them. Golding makes it his duty to reveal the innate evil of the human soul in Lord of the Flies by not only displaying general chaos, but detailing specific instances where the violent nature of man bleeds through. The “darkness of man’s heart” (Golding 202) is demonstrated when Roger feels the sudden urge to throw rocks toward a younger boy, when the boys’ game of mock hunting turns a little too real, and when the little savages murder Simon in a passionate frenzy.
All three texts portray leading characters who suffer due to flaws within their own personalities; however, it could be argued that the flaws these individuals fall victim to are directly a product of their environments rather than being innate within themselves. These texts were written between 1623 and 1989 and depict figures from all levels of the social hierarchy; from a King in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale to a servant in Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day and a socialite in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, showing that falling victim to a weakness within one’s own character is not an experience exclusive to one era or one class of people.
When something bad happens, it’s easy to get angry, to point fingers; however, it eventually gets difficult to silence the sneaky voice in our heads whispering that it was all our own fault, that we deserved it. In this soliloquy, Wolsey is coming to terms with his own downfall, and he flies through this myriad of emotions. Shakespeare evokes the elements of allusion, figurative language, and tone to depict the full scope of Wolsey’s complicated, divided reaction to being removed from his job.
This paper will explore the three elements of innate evil within William Golding's, Lord of the Flies, the change from civilization to savagery, the beast, and the battle on the island. Golding represents evil through his character's, their actions, and symbolism. The island becomes the biggest representation of evil because it's where the entire novel takes place. The change from civilization to savagery is another representation of how easily people can change from good to evil under unusual circumstances. Golding also explores the evil within all humans though the beast, because it's their only chance for survival and survival instinct takes over. In doing so, this paper will prove that Lord of the Flies exemplifies the innate evil that exists within all humans.
In the York Play The Crucifixion, a scene dealing with the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life, namely the Crucifixion, readers will find that the primary focus of the play is not Jesus himself but the four soldiers bringing him to his fate. These men see no malice in their actions, just simply following directions and trusting their leader, defying the characteristics of Humanism in this Era. However, in this scene, a reader would find them crucifying a man they know very little about but are so inclined to do so while employing personal downfalls to him, not giving much thought to the whole ordeal. This scene explores how one may become desensitized at their job and exemplifies how easy it can be to deceive oneself of evil while under rule of a higher figure, “The sector of rulers is the very sector of the spectacle.”
Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worse attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point were they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous example used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were. After being forced into concentration camps, Elie was rudely awakened into reality. Traumatizing incidents such as Nazi persecution or even the mistreatment among fellow prisoners pushed Elie to realize the cruelty around him; Or even the wickedness Elie himself is capable of doing. This resulted in the loss of faith, innocence, and the close bonds with others.
In his novel Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov as a vessel for several different philosophies that were particularly prominent at the time in order to obliquely express his opinions concerning those schools of thought. Raskolnikov begins his journey in Crime and Punishment with a nihilistic worldview and eventually transitions to a more optimistic one strongly resembling Christian existentialism, the philosophy Dostoevsky preferred, although it could be argued that it is not a complete conversion. Nonetheless, by the end of his journey Raskolnikov has undergone a fundamental shift in character. This transformation is due in large part to the influence other characters have on him, particularly Sonia. Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia plays a significant role in furthering his character development and shaping the philosophical themes of the novel.
Throughout life, one encounters people who are to be pitied and people who don’t deserve to be pitied. Abram defined the term tragic hero as someone who is to be pitied, someone who is quite arrogant in his or her remarks, and who is influenced by his “error of judgment”, or tragic flaw. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, a respected soldier, Macbeth, is to be bombarded with the most awful misfortune. In this case, Macbeth has two out of the three conditions to qualify as a tragic hero; extreme arrogance and tragic flaw. Even though Macbeth qualifies for most of the conditions of a tragic hero, he does not deserve the remaining condition; pity.
Maupassant, Guy De. “The Necklace.” Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2008. 4-11. Print
characteristics are sometimes found in abundant quantities or limited amounts in each of his short stories. However, no matter what short story Washington Irving wrote, the Age of Romanticism and its defining characteristics are found in each of his selections. So, too, do each of the author’s short stories present a unique study about the author’s intentions for creating his work. In Washington Irving’s selection “The Three Kings of Bermuda”, the author portrays tone in a way that he changes it often throughout his writing to help the reader understand the emotion and atmosphere taking place during this short story. He brings his readers almost on a rollercoaster of tone by giving different points to look at what is going on. Washington Irving gives many insights and key points by doing this. This blend of both Romanticism and this particular one of the author’s many purposes for writing this work will enrich the reader’s understanding of this selection. It will also make the reader aware of the author’s other works and their meaning/ themes. Using both the characteristics of Romanticism and a significant idea about the story, Washington Irving creates an interesting and meaningful selection for his readers’ enjoyment and learning.
clear catharsis achieved in the emotions for the tragic hero: At the outset of the play the audience
One Writer;two tragedies and two really different murderers. William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth are generally common tragedies. Hamlet and Macbeth successfully deal with the need for royal power and its bad after effects.This essay examines the probable corollary that a tragic villain may possess and or including characteristics that may be on the same passing level with the tragic-heroes. Being hero-villains, Macbeth and Claudius present similarities.Both of them are magnanimous,driven by ambition,suffer internally,lack conscience and smart.
Typically the main protagonist of tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him.”