The excited
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| Title: | The excited |
| Genus: | Political drama |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Johann Wolfgang Goethe |
| Publishing year: | 1793/1817 |
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The Excited is a fragmented political drama in five acts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . It was created in 1793 under the influence of the first coalition war against revolutionary France.
background
In autumn 1792, Goethe took part in a campaign by the old powers of Europe against revolutionary France as the companion of Duke Karl August von Weimar . The events made a lasting impression on him. Back in Weimar , he processed his experiences in, among other things, the play The Excited . The work, however, remained unfinished: Of the five planned acts, Goethe only carried out the first, second and fourth.
It was not until 1817 that Goethe decided to publish the play . He did this mainly because he saw it as a document of his political stance in the 1790s. The first draft was thoroughly revised for publication, and Goethe replaced the missing parts with brief descriptions of the contents.
content
Spurred on by the barber Breme von Bremenfeld, a group of rural residents is planning an uprising against the manor . It was triggered by an old dispute about feudal rights, in which the peasants were taken advantage of and cheated: At the core, it is about a document of documented freedoms for the peasants that was deliberately withheld by the lordly bailiff.
The leader of the farmers, Breme von Bremenfeld, is a caricature-like exaggerated figure who is characterized by vanity and boasting. Breme has no qualms about deliberately deceiving his colleagues in order to get them excited about the uprising. With all this he also thinks of his own advantage and, where necessary, even involves his daughter in the intrigues.
The counterpart to Breme is a countess, whom Goethe describes as a "beautiful character" in an interlude. She is at the head of the manor and has just returned from revolutionary Paris. Due to her stay in France, the countess is liberal-minded and, against the advice of her bailiff, wants to free the peasants from illegal oppression.
In the end the riot dissolves in favor because the countess helps the peasants to their rights on her own initiative.
meaning
To Johann Peter Eckermann , Goethe described The Excited as his "political creed of that time". He saw it as a testimony to the fact that he was not a friend of the French Revolution, but - contrary to what is often claimed - neither a friend of imperious arbitrariness.
Indeed, in this piece Goethe shows the negative consequences of princely oppression and shows understanding for the peasants' indignation. The countess, for her part, has been purified by the experience of the revolution in France: as she herself emphasizes, she will no longer remain silent on injustice in society, at court or in the city, and at the same time help the peasants to achieve their rights.
At the same time, however, Goethe does not shake the boundaries of class with this piece of the revolution: everyone should do what is right and just in his or her place. In the end, the solution does not come through rebellion, but through the understanding of good princes.
effect
The drama was soon forgotten. Today it is one of Goethe's little-known dramas and is more of a historical document than a play.
The Swiss writer Adolf Muschg brought Die Aufgeregten into a playable version in 1970 and added the missing parts. Under the title Die Aufgeregten von Goethe , the adaptation of Muschg was premiered on October 10, 1970 in the Schauspielhaus Zurich . A German premiere followed on April 17, 1971 in the Schlosspark Theater Berlin.
Quotes
- Everyone can only judge and criticize his own status. All reproach, upwards or downwards, is mixed up with subsidiary terms and trifles. (Councilor)
- You good people do not know that everything in the world is moving forward and that today is possible what was not possible ten years ago. (Breme)
- I now say that what one cannot have in kindness should be taken by force. (Breme)
- So many take up the cause of freedom, of general equality, only to make an exception for themselves, only to work in whatever way. (Luise)
Web links
literature
- Waltraud Loos: Die Aufgeregten, epilogue , in: Goethes Werke (Hamburg edition), vol. 5, ed. by Erich Trunz, CH Beck, Munich 1994, pp. 569-578.
- Eberhard Haufe : On the text history of the "excited" , in: Goethes Werke (Hamburg edition), Vol. 5, ed. by Erich Trunz, CH Beck, Munich 1994, pp. 579-580.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Waltraud Loos: Die Aufgeregten, epilogue , in: Goethes Werke (Hamburg edition), Vol. 5, ed. by Erich Trunz, CH Beck, Munich 1994, p. 569f.
- ↑ See for example Rüdiger Safranski: Goethe. Artwork of Life , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2013, p. 372ff.
- ↑ Eberhard Haufe: On the text history of the "excited" , in: Goethes Werke (Hamburg edition), Vol. 5, ed. by Erich Trunz, CH Beck, Munich 1994, pp. 579-580.
- ↑ See above all: The Excited , First Act.
- ↑ See above all: The Excited , Third Act, First Appearance.
- ^ Johann Peter Eckermann, Conversations with Goethe in the last years of his life, conversation of January 4, 1824 , in: Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Rüdiger Safranski: Goethe. Artwork of Life , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2013, p. 378f.
- ↑ Actually sad , Spiegel (43) 1970.
- ↑ Adolf Muschg, Die Aufgeregten von Goethe , advertisement by Suhrkamp Theater Verlag, 2017.