Kaspar, the human

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Kaspar, der Mensch is a comedy written by Adolf Glaßbrenner in Hamburg . It appeared in 1850.

Glass burner and politics

In order to be able to classify Glaßbrenner's work correctly, one must first take a look at the political circumstances of his time, because Glaßbrenner was always a very political person. The first half of the 19th century was marked by famine , unemployment on the one hand and poor working conditions on the other. The dissatisfaction of the people grew and with it the criticism of the absolutist ruling heads of the country. In order to express this discontent, opposition movements also formed in the literary field. The young Germany group , to which, for example, the writers Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne belonged, was in charge . The most important demands of the time included freedom of expression and speech , as well as freedom of assembly and the press . There was also the demand for political and economic reforms. This revolutionary movement culminated in the March Revolution of 1848, which, however, was quickly suppressed. Most of the revolutionary heads of the time then withdrew.
Glaßbrenner himself was an enthusiastic supporter of Börne and fought for the revolution for most of his life. Many of his texts were politically colored and were therefore banned shortly after they were published. Due to his political opinion, his permission to travel to Berlin or to work as an editor in his home country was temporarily withdrawn. Nevertheless - or maybe because of it - he achieved a very high level of awareness during his lifetime.

The piece

The structure

The play Kaspar, the man can be described as a reading drama , because it is much more like a political pamphlet than a play. Stage directions such as “(A break of one hour.)” Show that it was not intended for the performance on stage.

Formally, the play is divided by the prologue and the various acts with the following characters:

  • prolog
  • 1st act: Kaspar, the devil, the choir of invisible angels, twelve conspirators, the police captain
  • Act 2: Harun al Meyer (Caliph of PiffPaffPuh and King of the Ugly Isles), Nanuu (Grand Vezyr), Wees-nich (a learned sheikh), Füselmatentus (chief master of ceremonies), Bimbambum (first favorite of the caliph), Lolla (second favorite of the Khalifa), Jule (third favorite of the Khalifa), choir of the privy councilors, choir of the harem, choir of the tax-
    rich metamorphosis: Kaspar, Jule, choir of the reformers
    Parabase: devil
  • 3rd act: Kaspar, choir of the privy councilors, Harun al Meyer, Füselmatentus, Pimpernella (wife of the caliph), Nanuu, choir of the harem, Karlinëide, choir of the tax rich, Jule
    Metamorphosis. Last scene: pilgrims, Kaspar, Harun al Meyer, people, devils, Jule, various voices

The names Glaßbrenner used for his figures are striking. With a few exceptions, these are descriptive names that directly characterize the figures. A very good example of this is Wees-nich - the Berlin dialect for "I don't know" - the "learned" sheikh. The fantastic names also exclude any direct reference to ruling princes from Glaßbrenner's time. The piece gains in generality.

The prologue

Kaspar's prologue , man can be read as an aesthetic-political declaration of war. The prologue voice, which can be equated with Glaßbrenner, calls for a revolution in poetry and the state. This is made clear on the stylistic level. Here, the three Aristotelian units sought by Aristotle and Hegel are deliberately not adhered to . Adhering to these would mean accepting the lack of civil rights in society. For just as the literary-aesthetic laws are changeable, so are the laws in society not irrevocable.

Of everything that the drama is otherwise
entitled to demand , we hardly grant it
as much as the German people's basic rights,
The German people's basic rights rulers,
the German people.

It is also announced that the following piece will be even more filthy than that of Aristophanes without giving the impression of belonging to high literary culture. The high culture in the piece is embodied by the elements of the Faust and Turandot material . In contrast are the elements of the Punch and Judy game. In the prologue, the intention of the play is made clear: to call the audience to the barricades and thus to turn against the laws, just as Glaßbrenner rebelled against literary laws with this play. "Revolution and anarchy / In the realm of poetry broke out."

The 1st act

The opening scene of the first act is a parody of the opening scene of Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . The relationship established here between Kaspar and Faust raises the question of the relationship between these two figures. While the Faust figure strives for over-knowledge, the only question that arises for Kaspar is what the sciences can achieve in society. With lines like “[…] That the whole guild of philosophers / Flags and tortures healthy reason; / That the themiserable jurists, [...] us the injustice of an ancient world / as the right of the living [...] ” it becomes clear that strong criticism of the sciences is being exercised in this scene. Instead of bringing clarity, it suppresses people's natural instinct and is only committed to its own benefit, not to the truth.

The 2nd act

In the second act, particular attention is given to court life. The act begins with an audience that reveals the lavish life of Harun al Meyer, the arbitrariness of his government, the lack of intelligence of his officials and thus the problems of an absolutist form of government in general. With its absurdity, this scene provides the best background for the following conversation between Kaspar and Jule, in which Kaspar's revolutionary plans are announced. Especially in the second act is that here in the dialogue between Kaspar and Jule different Punch and Judy traditions are directly addressed: “Kaspar: Tell me, mia Sposa! / Am I coming from Italy as Doctor Kasparosa? Jule: No, as a German, grumpy at first, roughly grabbed, / Kasparwirtzig, funny then, coarse and unpolished. ” This dialogue not only gives a characterization of the puppet figure in general, but also a preview of the third act.

The 3rd act

In the third act, Kasper alone brings about the revolution. He achieves what the German people failed to do in the March Revolution . The act ends with the ascent to heaven by the devil and Kaspar. This apotheosis is accompanied by the solemn words of Kaspar, which are intended to encourage the revolution: “And the necessary strength? I want! ... already enough! Because will / is strength - it is easy to notice! "

The figures

Kaspar

In this piece Kaspar stands for the radical, democratic, popular reactionary on the one hand, but he also embodies the traditional puppet figure of the fair theater. Typical of this puppet figure is the strong ranting and the sometimes brutal beating. It is noticeable, however, that Kaspar in no way - as one might assume - uses faecal or genital language to scold. He articulates himself in a well-chosen way and complains primarily with technical vocabulary on a political level. So here Kaspar distances himself from the traditional corporeality of his figure.
The distance to the popular Punch and Judy tradition is also evident in his relationship with Jule. Here it is not the antipathy that makes the love affair between the two impossible, but Kaspar's “task” to break up the absolutist court. Although he loves Jule, he does not want to let her stop him from realizing his goal. The puppet figure shows itself here very purposefully and not as in the traditional way.
Despite all the changes, there are also typical Kasperl behavior. For example there is a scene in which Kaspar insults the audience. Situations characterized by misunderstandings can also be found in the piece:

"Kaspar: [...] We, a couple? Are we not?
Jule: No, something is still missing.
Kaspar: You are mine and I am yours, isn't that complete?
Jule: One more!
Kaspar: Still a third one? That wouldn't be a duet that!
Jule: Who blesses us! "

The devil

In this play, the devil embodies a force that is hostile to progress and thus to the revolution. As a reactionary, Kaspar mocks him simply because of his dialectical way of speaking. But just like the puppet figure, the devil is also divided. As a “prince of hell”, on the one hand, he embodies a discourse of power, on the other hand, he often acts like a typical devil from the carnival tradition. Examples of this are that he tries to hit Punch with a “Who! Hu! Hu! ” To frighten.

Harun al Meyer

The portrayal of Prince Harun al Meyer during the audience in the second act of the play is not very positive. As already indicated in Chapter 2, Harun al Meyer does not represent a very specific prince of the 19th century. Representing all absolutist rulers, he is presented here as lazy and stupid. This becomes clear, for example, at the beginning of the second act, when Harun al Meyer falls asleep from his throne during an audience.

Meaning of the piece

Adolf Glaßbrenner thought Kaspar, the human being, was his most successful piece. In this comedy Glaßbrenner shows himself to be more radical and democratic than ever and thus grows beyond his previous writings. In this piece he manifests his anger at the failure of the March Revolution . However, this high point of his creative period was followed by a phase of resignation. This is also supported by the fact that the planned second part of Glaßbrenner's comedy was never published. Until his death, Glaßbrenner published only a few titles with political content and often limited himself to humorous stories without a political background.

literature

  • Adolf Glaßbrenner: Kaspar, the person. In: Adolf Glaßbrenner. Informing the nation. Volume 3. Edited by Horst Denkler , Bernd Balzer et al. Cologne: CW Leske Verlag, 1981. pp. 47–108.
  • Glaßbrenner, Adolf: The political corner player. Selection and afterword by Jost Hermand. Reclams Universal Library. No. 5226-28. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1969.
  • Horst Denkler: Introduction. In: Adolf Glaßbrenner. Informing the nation. Volume 3. Edited by Horst Denkler, Bernd Balzer et al. Cologne: CW Leske Verlag, 1981.
  • Ingrid Heinrich-Jost: Adolf Glaßbrenner . In: Prussian Heads. Published by Heinz Ohff. Berlin: Stapp Verlag, 1981.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Hermand, Jost: Afterword. In: Glaßbrenner, Adolf: The political corner player. Selection and afterword by Jost Hermand. Reclams Universal Library. No. 5226-28. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1969. pp. 231-243.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glaßbrenner, Adolf: Kaspar, der Mensch. In: Adolf Glaßbrenner. Informing the nation. Volume 3. Edited by Horst Denkler, Bernd Balzer et al. Cologne: CW Leske Verlag, 1981.
  3. ↑ Denkler, Horst: Introduction. In: Adolf Glaßbrenner. Informing the nation. Volume 3. Edited by Horst Denkler, Bernd Balzer et al. Cologne: CW Leske Verlag, 1981. pp. 45–47
  4. ^ Heinrich-Jost, Ingrid: Adolf Glaßbrenner. In: Prussian Heads. Published by Heinz Ohff. Berlin: Stapp Verlag, 1981. p. 116.