The Jews

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Data
Title: The Jews. A comedy in one act. Made in 1749
Genus: Comedy
Original language: German
Author: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Publishing year: 1754
Premiere: 1766
Place of premiere: Nuremberg
people
  • Martin Krumm , estate manager
  • Michel Stich , his friend
  • A traveller
  • Christoph , his servant
  • The baron , squire
  • A young lady , his daughter
  • Lisette

The Jews , his second comedy , was written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in Berlin in 1749 . In it he addresses religious tolerance and humanity . Today the comedy, which is seldom performed, is significant as a preliminary stage and comic counterpart to Nathan the Wise .

Origin background

Lessing himself writes about the origins of his early work:

“ It was the result of a very serious consideration of the shameful oppression in which a people must groan, which a Christian, I should think, cannot look upon without a kind of reverence [...] So I soon got the idea to try what an effect it would have on the stage if one showed the people virtue where they absolutely did not suspect it. "

- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Works. Volume 3, Munich 1970 ff., P. 524f.

The focus of the play is on the topics of anti-Semitism and religious tolerance. Before Lessing there was no positive and realistic representation of a Jew in German literature. Only Gellert describes an exemplary Jewish main character in the novel Life of the Swedish Countess von G *** . In contrast to Gellert, whose play is set in distant Siberia, Lessing transfers the Jews to Germany. The general anti-Semitism in literature and the title that heralded the ridiculous figure in the comedy tradition led the audience to expect a class satire. Lessing uses this misleading consciously in order to stimulate the prejudiced audience to think. Therein lies the provocative character of the piece, which shows and criticizes the widespread anti-Semitism.

Socio-cultural background

When writing the work, Lessing orientated himself on the situation of the Jews in Saxony and Prussia in the 17th and 18th centuries. The cities of these two states wanted to remain as free of Jews as possible. Only wealthy Jews were tolerated. The Great Elector recognized that the wealthy Jews could be beneficial to the state economy, and in 1671 issued a general escort in which he granted the Jews the right of residence and freedom of trade. His successor, Friedrich I , held fast to the General Escort, but demanded more taxes from the Jews.

When Friedrich Wilhelm I came to power in 1713, the situation of the Jewish minority worsened: From then on they were only allowed to stay with a “certificate of impeccable leadership” and a confirmed fortune of at least 10,000 thalers . In addition, the number of Jews was limited, and only one child per family was allowed to marry against payment of an annual “protection money”. In 1730 the king restricted the trade opportunities for the Jews. Because the Christian traders felt threatened, from then on the Jews were only allowed to trade in “junk and other trifles”.

In 1750, a year after the release of Lessing's work , the Jews that came from Frederick II. Adopted Revised General privilege and regulations before the Jews into force. This restricted the civil rights of almost all Jews. They were not allowed to hold state offices, mixed marriages were banned, and the acquisition of land was subject to special regulations. Jews were divided into “ordinary” and “extraordinary” protective Jews , the first having hereditary right of residence, the second only being granted a “non-transferable right of residence”. This group was not allowed to marry. All Jews were only allowed to live in ghettos .

content

The estate manager ( Vogt ) Martin Krumm attacked his lord, the baron, with the help of a friend. Both pretended to be Jews to camouflage themselves . However, the attack was thwarted by the intervention of a traveler. The play begins with a conversation between the two perpetrators who ended up empty-handed.

Krumm formulated the plan to return the favor by stealing his watch for the unsuccessful attack on the rescuer who spent the night on the estate out of gratitude from the gentleman, but then stole his tobacco box from the traveler. At first, the robbed does not notice anything and is willing to leave as soon as possible in order not to unnecessarily claim the lord's gratitude. At the request of the baron and his daughter, however, he allows himself to be softened and stays a day longer.

The daughter and the traveler have a deeper interest in one another. The good impression that the traveler makes is the reason for the father to instruct his servant Lisette to find out more about the status, property and life of the traveler. For this purpose, she should listen to his servant Christoph.

Krumm had previously given Lisette the loot, the silver tobacco box, more or less out of affection. With the prospect of owning them, Lisette leads Christoph, who has only recently met his master and knows hardly anything about him, to tell a fictional story about his master's origin. Due to the confusion that resulted and the lost tobacco jar, which is now in Christoph's possession, the truth about Krumm, the estate manager, comes to light in the course of events. Once again, the traveler saves the landlord from harm.

Out of gratitude and appreciation, the baron advocates the connection between his daughter and the traveler until it is learned that the traveler is Jewish. The noble demeanor of the Jewish traveler has led to the fact that it has been proven that he can ask to be less prejudiced about members of his religious community in the future.

characters

The traveler

The traveler is the main character in the play. He behaves socially, is intelligent and sensible and thus stands in contrast to the other characters in the piece. In the beginning he heroically saved the baron from an attack and was therefore gratefully received by him. Later it becomes evident that the traveler is an exemplary, almost ideal person. Only at the end of the play do those involved find out, to their surprise, that he is Jewish. Jews often have to struggle with prejudices in the play, but the traveler proves with his exemplary behavior that these prejudices are unfounded.

Martin Krumm

Martin Krumm with his speaking name is the bailiff of the baron and also secretly engages in the thieving trade. He and his accomplice Michel Stich and he, disguised as Jews, attack the carriage in which the baron and the traveler are with his servant. The attack failed. In the subsequent conversation with the traveler, he pretends to thank him, but almost reveals himself several times. He blames the attack on the Jews, against whom he has prejudices. While he allegedly shows how criminal the Jews are, he steals the traveller's snuffbox. So he corresponds to the typical cliché of the criminal who is greedy and a bit clumsy. From the start, he therefore assumed that, like his father and grandfather, he would die on the gallows.

Michel Stich

Michel Stich is a thief and the accomplice of Martin Krumm. Almost nothing is known about his person, as he only appears in the first appearance. However, he has traits similar to Martin Krumm: greedy and stupid. Unlike his colleague, he does not believe in death on the gallows.

The baron

The baron is a wealthy representative of the nobility. Driven by gratitude for his salvation, he offers the traveler accommodation. His estate is in the country and, apart from few acquaintances, he has no friends. The baron himself is a war veteran; on the basis of previous experiences, he does not have a good opinion of Jews. Since he considers it impolite to question his guest, he puts Lisette on Christoph to find out more about him. He believes that he owes something to the traveler for salvation and offers him riches which the other refuses. Then he wants to marry his daughter to him, but this does not happen when he learns that the traveler is a Jew.

Christoph

He is the common servant of the traveler who picked him up in Hamburg four weeks before the play happened. Since then he has been traveling with his master without knowing his name and status. He often shows himself to be disrespectful to him and does not mind if he rebukes him for his somewhat insolent manner. Nevertheless, you can tell that he too has prejudices against Jews and women. Christoph says of himself that he is honest and talkative. He loves drinking beer and wine, regardless of the time of day. At the beginning of the play he makes a declaration of love to Lisette and receives the tobacco box from her as a token of affection.

Lisette

She is one of the baron's servants. He gives her the job of finding out more about the traveler through Christoph. She likes to be flattered by different admirers and also plays something with them, such as B. with Martin Krumm or Christoph. In the action, she represents the connection person between the two, which ultimately turns out to be a significant connection.

A young lady

The young lady has youthful impetus, although she sometimes neglects etiquette a little. She is attracted to the traveler from the start, and her saying that she tries to please everyone suggests a somewhat vain character. Completely convinced of herself, she speaks to men, despite her father's prohibition. Her self-confident manner comes to the fore often, and she does not hold back her opinion either. A certain naivety manifests itself when Lisette suggests that the young woman give her a few years of life and thus make the young woman older and herself younger. The young lady is the only one who has no prejudices about the Jews, which is more due to ignorance than openness to the world.

Form and language

shape

The comedy is a one-act play that is divided into 23 appearances . The units of time, place and action are observed. The title, which is based on the "early Enlightenment comedy", made the contemporary audience expect a class satire about the Jews. In truth, the comedy does not mock the Jewish protagonist, but the prejudiced readers and viewers who expect such a mockery. Apart from that, the piece takes up numerous elements of the type comedy: the unruly servants (Lisette and Christoph), the intrigues (tobacco box) and a happy ending with the marriage. In this case it is Lisette and Christoph's servant marriage and not the expected marriage of their masters, the traveler and the young lady. This is thwarted by the prevailing prohibition of mixed marriage .

language

The comedy is written in prose . The choice of words in the character speech reflects the level of education of the respective character. While the two robbers and the servant Christoph express themselves very popularly and sometimes coarse, the traveler has a chosen language that in no way refers to his religious origin ( Yiddish ). In general, the sentences are kept short. An important stylistic device alongside the ellipse and the aposiopesis is the antilabe . This is used particularly effectively when the traveler reveals his religious affiliation in the 22nd appearance:

The traveler: […] I am - -
The baron: Maybe already married?
The Traveler: No - -
The Baron: Well? What?
The Traveler: I am a Jew.
The baron. A jew? cruel coincidence!
Christoph: A Jew?
Lisette: A Jew?
THE Fraulein: Well, what is that doing?
Lisette: St! Miss, st! I will tell you afterwards what that does.

Other dramaturgical peculiarities are messenger report , dramatic irony , speaking aside and polyptoton .

interpretation

Lessing's comedy is considered a “contribution to the tolerance discussion that began in Germany in the 18th century”. According to Komi Kouma Kougblenou, it is a "serious comedy", which is supposed to bring about "the relaxation and gradual removal" of anti-Semitic prejudices. The central force here is humanism, the “commandment to love one's neighbor”, which should apply regardless of any religion. In doing so, Lessing establishes “an ethical position above all religions”, man. It is about “the abstraction of all differences”, not about the question of whether the Jews are the better or the worse people, but about the fact that they are people too.

According to Wilhelm Große, Lessing foresaw "the way in which a social and legal improvement in the position of German Jews could be achieved". At the same time he pointed in his comedy "to the nature of the prejudices against the Jews, proved their questionability and tried to weaken their devastating effect with his comedy". "Based on several characters appearing in the comedy and their different reactions to the unveiling of the traveler: I am a Jew , Lessing shadowed the prejudice against the Jews." faithful, "but allows exceptions and no longer shares the pride of Christians". While this fickleness also has a comic side, Lessing uses the character of Martin Krumm to drastically illustrate the pronounced anti-Semitism of the common people. Things are not much better with the nobility, however, as the baron also shows himself to be marked by anti-Semitic resentment based on a singular event. The only one who is still unaffected by the anti-Semitic attitudes of the other characters is the baron's daughter, although she is already influenced by Lisette: “St! Miss, st! I want to tell you afterwards what that does. "

In the course of the play, the baron has to shed his prejudices piece by piece. Große is convinced: “The learning process of the baron is the learning process of the viewer.” Because the title led readers of the time to assume that this piece would make fun of the Jews. “The goal is no longer the central figure of the event, rather the people surrounding this figure have all the features of goals.” The outcome of the play also does not correspond to the norms of the time, “because the happy ending in the form of the wedding was part of the tradition of comedy in 18th century". In his play Lessing thus violated some dramaturgical traditions, at the same time "destroying [he] the prejudice against the Jews by generally rejecting the illegitimacy of the procedure to infer the general from the individual". Thus, in Die Juden, a first step towards the later work of Nathan can be seen, even if the “utopia of a human family” as in Nathan is still a long way off.

reception

The latent anti-Semitism of contemporary critics was so pronounced that they criticized "the all too improbable portrayal of the noble Jew". Accordingly, the piece was rarely performed. The date of the premiere is controversial. For example, in Kindler's New Literature Lexicon (Volume 10, p. 318), the premiere is set for the year 1749 in Leipzig, performed by the Neubersche troupe. However, there is no evidence of this. Another variant relocates the first performance to Nuremberg in 1766. In 1936, Jewish actors rehearsed the play in Berlin; however, the performance was banned. Today the work hardly ever comes on stage. An example of a current performance is the staging in the Berliner Ensemble in 2015, directed by George Tabori . Thus, the Jews are today “primarily seen as the forerunner of the more complex dramatic poem Nathan the Wise ”.

Radio play version

literature

  • Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , pp. 70-88.
  • Marion Siems (ed.): Reclam's actor leader. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-010526-9 , p. 148f.
  • Komi Kouma Kougblenou: Studies on the Development of the Cultural Norm "Tolerance". Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-631-61216-3 , pp. 53-66.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b See Detlef Döring : The enlightened Jew as an enlightened German. Aron Salomon Gumpertz, a Jewish 'lover of wisdom' in correspondence with Johann Christoph Gottsched. In: Stephan Wendehorst (Ed.): Building blocks of a Jewish history of the University of Leipzig. Leipzig 2006, pp. 451–471, here p. 453, footnote 11. ( online )
  2. ↑ Lessing: Werke, Vol. 3. Retrieved on March 3, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , pp. 77f.
  4. ^ A b c Wilhelm Große: Afterword, in: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Die Juden. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 80.
  5. ↑ a b c Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 81.
  6. ↑ Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 76.
  7. ↑ Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 43f.
  8. ↑ a b c d Komi Kouma Kougblenou: Studies on the development of the cultural norm "tolerance". Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-631-61216-3 , p. 66.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 82.
  10. ↑ Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 82f.
  11. ↑ Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 83.
  12. ↑ The fact that the traveler is a Jew.
  13. ↑ Wilhelm Große: Afterword. In: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: The Jews. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-007679-8 , p. 83.
  14. ^ A b c Marion Siems (ed.): Reclams actor. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-010526-9 , p. 149.