Focus 2004.tif


170 Fo(tls on Gem/an SII/diu 

F[ank Wedekind 's 'Lulu' plays: 
Histo[y and Modern Myth 

Katherine Wilfo rd 

Frank Wedekind's 'Lulu' plays have long been regarded as his 
grea test literary creation, largely owing to lhe enigmatic and 

captivating figure of Lulu herself. She has been interpreted as a 
femme fatale. a high-class prostitute, a child o f nature, a victim 
of bourgeois socie ty and a symbol of human o r animal instincts. 
Consequent dispures about her characterisal'ion have dominated 
dIe critical discourse surrounding Erdglis/ and Die BII.hu tkr Palldora. 
Although critics have Tended to see the interpretation of Lulu as rhe 
key to understanding these plays and any message that Wedekind 
may have intended lhem to convey, no critical consensus has been 
reached about her or about the plays in their entiret)'. 

In recent years, however. the idea has emerged that the original, 
uncensored version of L1le plays can assist in our interpretation o f 
Lulu, and can therefor:e aid our: understanding of the interpretative 
puzzles that the plays set. Die Buchle tier Pal/dora: EillC Afol/slrelragodie. 
Eit! Bllchdrnma, (Q give it its full tiue (or the 'r-. (onstreuagOdie,' as 
it has become known, to a"oid confusion with the later play dlat 
also bears the tirle Die Buchu tier Pal/dora) was completed in 189-1 . 
However, it was neither performed nor published at the time, and 
only became available to scholars when the manusc.ript was acquired 
by {he f\ lunich Stadtbibliothek in 1971. During the 19805 a series of 
critical assessments of the 'Monstreuagodie' were made, graduaUy 
bri nging it [ 0 public attenrion. In 1988, Hartmlll Vln<;:on published 
the first cricical edicion o f the ' l\!o nstretragodie: based o n his own 
reconstruction of the play fwm the manuscript. 

The text of the '~ lonsuetragOdie' evokes maoy historical 
events and cultural phenomena that locate me [ext in the Germany, 
Paris and London of the 1890s. Some might find this surprising, 
because; Wedekind is generally seen as a dramatiSl bcfor:c his rime, 
owing fO his radical d ramaric sryle and daring themes, which have 
led to him often being described as a precursor of Brecht. In 
lhe opinion of N icholas \Vriglu, fo r example, who adapted rile 



172 Fot1ls 0" GerlJlan Stlldies 

'Monsueuag6d.ie' for performance at London's Almeida Theatre 
the 1894 text is "a profound and ambiguous masterpiece, wri t{e~ 
100 years before its time." However, [he <MonstreuagOdie' seems to 

denne Wedekind very much as a dramatist of his time, which was an 
age of transition. The radical narure of the 'MonsuetragOdie' p ushed 
~e. bo.undaries of what was lhen acceptable, thereby revealing the 
limiraaons, norms and values of dlC age and (he changes (ha( it was 
experiencing. Accordingly, a close analysis of different versions of 
the text reveals that, in what seems to have been a sysremacic effort 
[0 distance the later versions of the <Lulu' plays fcom rheir historical 
coneen, \'('edekind made many small textual changes {hac remove 
most of the references and allusions (0 Germany, Paris and London 
in rhe 1 8~Os. He also added symbolic and mytholOgical elements, 
lhe combmed effect of which was to rum Err/geisl and Die Biichse der 
Pandora ~tO a m7th fo r lhe modern world. T his lack o f specifi city is 
also marufested In an ambiguity in Lulu's characterisation in the later 
plays, which is absent from the 'tvfonsuctragbdic: T llis indisUncrncss 
may nOt only explain the fascination of me familiar Lulu character 
bur also why the later plays have retained their theatrical appeal and 
continue to be relevant ro audiences today. 

Relig ion and morali ty 

By engaging with comemporary themes, Wedekind rooted the 
'MonstretragOdie' in the historical context in which it was written . 
One example is his treaunent of religion and morality. \'(/edelci nd's 
era was one of increasing secularisation, as most famously 
encapsulated in Nietzsche's declaration thai "der alte GOtt nicht 

mehe lebt, an den aUe Welt geglaubt hat" in Also sprarh Zaralhllllra 
(~22). Alongside Nietzsche's hatred of Christian morality, Darwi.n's 
discoveries, which were spread in Germany by Ernst Haeckel, also 
raised questions abom the teachings of the Bible (Meyer 136-7). 
?ermany ~ad recencly undergone rapid industrialisation, whereby 
ItS populauon trebled over the course of the nineteemh cenrury 
a~~ there was a large-scale migration from tbe countryside to the 
cmes, bur also uneven growth, resulting in an era of 'boom and 

bust'. that culminated in the stock market crash of 1873 (Boa 5). 

The lmpOrtance of money to Die Burhse der Pam:u;ra suggests that 

Wedekind's 'Lulu': History and Modern Myth 173 

ca pitalism, in many ways, started to oven ake Christianity as the new 
religion. Wedekind was highly aware of this phe[lomenon, which 
he encapsulated in the line "\'Venn ich 1-li llionar bin, \Verde ich dem 
lieben Got[ ein Denkmal setten" that he gives (0 Hanschen in IIl , 6 
of Friihliflgs Erwachtll. 

\Vtlh the weakening of religiOUS values came the common 
contemporary perception lhat moraij ry was declining as a resuh. 
This view, as represented by Bavaria's powerful Camolic population, 
led to the establishment of StriCt censorship of modernist theatre. 
tvfodernism therefore became associated with a questioning of 
religious belief and its associated traditions in favou r o f scientific 
knowledge. Plays such as Wedekind's were particularly affected by 
ccnsorsltip, because their depiction of perceived 'immoral' themes 
was seen as aiding that decline. 

T he first scene of the 'Monscretragodie' specifically locates 
the play in cllis era, when Schoning says of his dead wife thar "Sie 
war zu sehe Gattin und Mutter, als daB sic sich ZlI diescr I-I uldigung 
ihrer eigenen Person gegeniiber harre verstehen konnen" (147). 

T illS description makes her into an embodiment of the dying old 
order in which a womac was perceived as either a wife and mother, 
or a p rostitute, an expectation that the imaginative figure of Lulu 
challenges until money forccs her intO prostitu tion in London 
(Bovenschcn 53). However, in ErdgeiJ/, where th e portrait is of 
Schon's fiancee, th is aUusion to a specific era disapp o.!ars. The sense 
that the uarur.ional expectations of women are being overtaken is 
also illustrated by Schwarz's suicide on discovering that Lulu was nat 
a virgin when they ma rried. In cl1e 'f., lonscrctragorue; this inlpression 
is rcinforced when Alwa says of [he deceased painter: "Er war hinter 

seiner Zeit zuruck" (206). This comment disappears in Err/geis/, as 
it ties Schwarz and the play in which he appears to a time when 
expectations of female virginity until marriage were becoming 
unrealistic, as well as being part of a wider characterisation of 
Schwa rz as a Romantic figure unable to cope with the contemporary 
world (lvlidgley 208). 

N ie tzsche 

Thc 'tv{onsueuagodie' is specificaUy located in the era when 



174 Foals on Gmnan Studiu 

enthusiasm for Nietzsche was at its height by means of overt 
references [Q Nietzsche's life and work in connection with Alwa's 
baUee: 

GOIl (zu Alwa) Sagen Sic mal, jungcr Freund -
wie nenm sich denn rhr Drama? 
ALWA Zaramustrl. 
GOLL Zarathustra -
SCHONING Was soU ieh denn dabei .. ? 
GOLL l eh glaubrc, der ware Un Irre.nhaus. 
ALWA Sic meinen Nietzsche. 
GOLL Sic haben RedlL !eh verwechsle die 
Beiden. 
ALWiA Ich babe: den Sroff allerdings aus seinen 
Biichern. (158) 

In rhe 'Monsrrerragodie,' Alwa goes on to outline. the plot of 
the baUer, which draws its content from Alsosprach lara/hill/ra. Alwa's 

first act portrays the rope-dancer and the old and young women in 
the town, and orner figures from Nietzsche's Book I, and Alwa's 
second act is based o n the 'Tanzliecl' in Book n. Alwa claims to have 
had difficulty with the dUrd, an a(:count of Zarathustra's encounter 
with the fire-dog in the section 'Von grossen Ereignissen' in Book 
11 of Abo sprach Zaralhuslra. l1lC~ fourth act depictS his reoun to 
his cave, which appears as 'Za rathusrras Heimkeht' in Nietzsche's 
Dook Ill , and portrays Zarathustra in his cave with his animals, 
along with me twO kings and the celebration of dle donke~' from 
Niecz.sche's Book rv. T he comical rone o f me discussion of me 
ballet, resulting from Alwa's auempt ro present tlus philosophical 
text as an evening's theatrical entertainment, is very critical and 
mocking of Nietzsche and his !:hought. The same is true of me 
subsequent discussion of the 'Obermensch,' which includes Alwa's 
declaration: ' 'Der Obermensch [ ... ] ist ein gefhigelter Lockenkopf 
nut breiter Halskrause -- unter der Halskrause das Wcseniliche, urn 
sich nicht fort-, sondern hinauf- zu pflanzen" (160). The familiarity 
with Nietzsche's biography, the content of Also sprach Zaralhuslra 

and the idea of the 'Obermenscll' that this section demands is very 
much characreristic of me 18905, when Also spmch 2am/huslra was 

Wedekind's 'Lulu'; History and t-.'lodecn Myth 175 

at the height o f its popularity and Wedekind would cer tail1ly have 
expected his audience to be familiar with it. 

However, in De,. ErdgeiJJ of 1895, the plot summary has 
disappeared, removing the demand on me audicnce to be familiar 
with Also sprach Zara/hustra, which no longer forms rhe basis of lilC 

baUer: 

GO LL lch habe ganz vergessen - wie nennt sich 

doch lhr BaUen? 
ALWA Dalailama [sicl· 
GOLL Icb glaubre, der ware im l rrcnhaus. 
ALWA Sie meinen Niemeier. 
GOLL Sie haben Recht. k h verwechsle die 

Beidtn. 
ALWA lch habe dem Buddhismus auf die Beine 

geholfen. (329) 

As Niemeier is a common German (and particula rly Davarian) 
name, this superficiaUy removes all reference fO Nietzsche, and 
therefore [ 0 the 1890s, as Nietzsche died in 1900. H owever, owing 
to N ietzsche's immense popularity at tbe time, and the fim syllable 
of ~Niemeie[' being the same as that of 'Nietzsche,' the audiences 
may have expected 'Nietzsche' even without me reference to Abo 
sprach Zaralhllslra, mereby producing a comic effect. T lus expectation 
would have been strengthened by the appearance of the word 
'Dalailama' owing to the frequent association bet'\veen Buddhism 
and nihilism (both suggesting a rejection of current religious beliefs) 
in N ietzsche's work. Howeve r, for later audiences who \I.'ere perhaps 
less Familiar with Nietzsche, Wtdekind's use of Buddlusm in this 
context also evokes a general trend away from Christianity and 
tow3fds mysticism, which cannor be pinned down to any specific 
period since Wedekind's time. The 1913 text is almost identical With 
th at o f 1895, excep t thatAiwa tells Goll, "Sie meinen Nietzsche, Herr 
Sanitiitsrat" (4 14) instead of "Sic meinen Niemeier." Presumably 
this alteration was intended to aid [be flow of the dialogue by giving 
the audience what they expected, although it confl icts wilh the wider 
pam:rns or \,\ledekind's textual alterations. However, he may have 
included it -- given that Nietzsche's name remained well-known but 



• 

176 fi,ru.I on German Sllidies 

familiariry with his work declined - as a means of demon strating 
GoU's foolishness. In addition, Nietzsche's impact on Erdgthf is 
presen-ed when Sch6ning tells Lulu: " Du sehnSf dich nach dec 
Pei lsche zuruck" (191), aUuding to the famous line 'TIu gehsl zu 
Frauen? Vergiss die Pellsche nichd" in Auo sproch ZoralhuJtra (86). 

This quotation is retained in EnJgUsI, although Schoning no longer 
[ells Schwar..: "Sic: will die Peirscbel" (195). Such coven allusions [0 

Nietzsche, which do nOt require a dt":railed knowledge of his work 
but increase the impact o f the play if me reference is understood, 
are testimony [0 how well established Nietzsche's name had become 
by the orne mat Wedekind crcated ErdgeiJI. 

Commodifi ca tion 

Consistent with Nietzsche's proclamation o f the death of God, much 
of the explicit Christian imagery of me '1 lonstretragOdie' is absent 

from the later plays, including Schigolch.'s warning to Lulu "Du soUSt 
gestraft warden - wo du gesundigt hast" before she goes to find a 
client in V, I o f the <Monstretragodie: Equally, in this scene, Alwa 
calls Lulu "meine Ideine Marie" and she says mat Schigolch "soil 
sich eine barmherz'ge Sch\\'ester suchen," which are absent from [he 
1913 text. This heavy use of religious vocabulary in the context of 
prostitution suggests that Christian values ace being challenged by 
me need for money, which is becoming the new religion. 

The question of monetary value as opposed to human values 
is far more present in the '[\'[onsrrerragOdie' than in me Ialer 

plays. Many of these indicators are centred on prostitution. In the 
~r-. lonstreuagOdie: Schoning's rhetorical question "\'(/er p rosrm[[ [Ii~ 
sich nicht! " (200) sugges ts thac Wedekind interpreted tbe idea o f 
'selling oneself' in a very broad sense, including many differem kinds 
of work, and thereby emphasising the importance of capitalism fo r 
his era. Equally, he tells Schwarz "Sie ist dein Eigenthum - laB sie das 
ruhlen" (200). However, neither of these lines is included in Erdyisl. 
The question of monetary value, as opposed (Q human self-worth, 
is also raised when Jack asks Lulu, " Don't you be ashamed yourself, 
(0 sell your love?" to which she replies "'Vhat could I do?" (308). 

Mlhough the theme of commodification of human relationships 
dominates, Wedekind also considers me question of value olllside 

Wedekind's 'Lulu'; History and Modern Myth 177 

the comext o f sexuality. For example, when Lulu desuoys Schwar.: 's 
paintings in the '1ionsrrcmgooie,' he is concerned with the loss of 
luxuries such as a aip to Norway, raising questions about the value 
of money and Schwar, 's personal values, whereas .in Erdgtisl her 
actions leave him genuindy facing financial ruin. 

The resonance tha t such a theme of commodification would 
have had in Wedekind's time is demonstrated by its similadties with 
the contemporary thought on money in Georg Simmel's PhiloIophit 
des Geldes, published in 1900. The basis of Simmel's argument is that 
trade is a special forl11 of social interaction whereby the value of the 
object being exchanged is C5tablished by the subjective oplflion o f 
those invo lved, namely how much or what the buycr is prepared to 
give, and how much or what lhe seller will accept, rather than the 
object having any intrinsic value. In the part of Simmel's text thai 
was published in newspapers and journals in the 1890s (and so might 
have been read by Wedekind), he in terprets the inAuence of money 

on both the individual and an entire culru[~ Significantly, Simmel 
thought that money created distance between people because of its 
use as a tool in climbing tile social ladder, which in men (Iuestions 
the value of human relationships, and argued that "die Verhaitnisse 
des modernen Menschen zu seinen Umgebungen c ntwickeln sich 
im Ganzen so, daB er semen nachsten Kreisen ferne r rucki, um sich 
den femeren mehr zu nahem" (406). If, for example, economic 
interests contradicted fanuly IntereSts, the tendency would be to 

choose the former, resulting 11\ the loosening of family ties, and the 
same is true in other spheres o f life. 

Simmcl's suggestion that nothing has an intrinsic value (as 
indicated by \'I/edckind's 'Jungfrauaktien,) and his questions about 
the value o f money as opposed to the valLIe o f human relationships 
and self-worth are, therefore, precisely those raised in the 
'Monsuetragodie.' The choice between money and living our chosen 
lives, as represented by Lulu's nun to prostitution and the reacuons 
of others (0 her decision, cchoes Simmel's concern with Ihe effect 
that money was having on society. Although money remains crucial 
to the later Die Bii.hu der Pandora, the later plays do nor echo 
contemporary thought on the relationship between money and the 

social culrure of lht time 10 the same \I,'2y as the 'Monsueuagodie: 



178 FMI.I Oil Ctrman Stlldiu 

Polhical and social h is to ry 

The historical speci ficity of the 't-. lonstretrag6die' implicates 
Wedekind's own society in the sociaJ criticism of the play, thereby 
making its members appear 1'0 be the 'monstres' of the subthle. A line 
spoken, by Madeleine de Mardle (0 a group of other charaC[crs in rv, 
1, ''1t:aJS - vous t:tcs des monsrccs," suggests this interpreta rion of 
~le word 'MonstrecragOdie: particularly as rJlis tine does not appear 
III th~ lat~ Die Bikhsl dtr pQlI(/qra. Instead, the absence of many of 
the hisloncal references and allusions of the 'l\[onstretragOdie' from 
Err/grill and Die Biichu tier Pandcro creates a senS(: of umelessness 
in these plays, and mcrcfore no longer incriminates Wedekind's 
contemporary audiences as the object of his social criticism. 

Perhaps the most specific historical change is Alwa's line "Der 
.. der Reichsrag ist aufgelosr' (20 1). The historical reference here is 
to we dissolution of the Reichsrag by Caprivi in 1893 in an attempt 
to make the Padiamenl pass a bill on changes (0 the strength o f 
the Gerrruln army (cf. Craig 258). The fact that \'<'edekind seems 
to have completed Acts II and m in Paris in 1893 'xfore leaving 
for London supporrs the idea that the dissolution of me Reichsrag 
would have been at the forefrom of his mind when he ~ writing 
these passages. It also alludes co the politica l situation of the 18905, 
when me Reichsrag had far I(:ss power than the Emperor and his 
appointed ChancelioL However, in ErrJ!!uJ. this hne is changed to 
"In Pans ist Revolution ausgebrochen" (358 and 441), which is 
hislOrically implausible gi"en mat there was no revolution in Paris 
in the 1890s. Indeed, lhe 'era of revolutions' in France ended in 
1871, and was followed by (he relative political stabili ty of the Third 
Republic. However, given that " ~ln meir own eyes, and those of 
o thers, lhe French since 1789 have been the revolutionary nation" 
(fombs 7), Wedekind's reference ro a revolution in Paris creat(:s 
a 'timeless' effect, as no audience since \Vedekind's time would 
have been overly surprised at the idCi; of anomer revolution III 

France. The importance of this reference is emphasized by Schon's 
repetition of 'In Paris ist Revolution ausgebrochen" in Act IV of 
BragulJ, shortly before his confrontation with Lulu, which does not 
appear in the equivalem scene of the ~IOnStrelCagodie: 

It is undeniable mat Wedekind included some elemems in the 

Wedekind's 'Lulu': History and Modem Myth 179 

later plays mat do have a historical resonance. O ne such example is 
cholera. which is crucial to the new Act I of Die BUlhJe Jer Pondora. 
Although lhere was a cholera epidemic in Hamburg in 1892 (Rothe 
39), cholera has largely disappeared from the modem developed 
world. However, other infectious diseases are now a mreat, and any 
audience could imagine what cholera might be like, so the dramatic 
effect is retained. Equally, me importance of Jack the Ripper to 
the plo( would not be diminished if the historical allusion was not 
recognised. Therefore, the later plays are not separate from history, 
but th ey do not have the same spectrum of specific and diffuse 
histoClcal allusion that IS present in the 'Monstretragoo ie: 

Modern myth 

Alongside removing historical detail from the text, Wede~nd 
enhanced the mythological effect of the later plays by rdinmg 
me charactcrisation of Lulu to create morc uncertainty about he:r 
origms. For example, in 1,4 of the 'MonsueuagOdic' (171), Lulu 
claims to be 18, whereas in Err/geisl, this reference to her age: has 
disappeared. Similarly, Schomng tells Schwar2: "ich kenne sic seit 
drcizehn Jahren" (196) in the <Monsu euagOdie,' willch changes 
to Ihe less precise "Erwa seil iluem zwolften Jahr" in Erd,gtisl. 
making it impossible to estabhsh Lulu's age from rhe (cxrual details 
given, almough mis calculation is possible on dle basis of the 
'MonstreuagOdic.' By removing many of the basic facts from Lulu's 
past, lind thereby enabling her to dum that she is a 'Wunderkind' 
because she has no father (467), Wedekind opens the possibility 
of reading her as a symbolic, or even mythological figure, as she 
has no certain father, no mothC!r, and not even a definirc age. The 
mythological element of ErrJgtiJI and Dit BiI,hJt dtr P(JIt(WfU owes a 
cernun amount to their titles, referring to Goetlle's Follll in the first 
instance, and the Pandora myth in rhe second. The mOlTO to Erd!!isl, 
taken from Schiller's IWallensltins ToO, also adds to lhis aspect of 
the play through its comment "Dem bOsen Geist gehort die Erde, 
nicht / dem Guten", and its invitation (Q read symbolically rather 
than literally in order to establish the connections between the play 
and its moUo. Above aU, lhe Prologue to Erd!!ul can only be read 
symbolically, as it has no literal connection to tbe pbys themsdves, 



180 Foais on German Studiu 

but raLiler establishes metaphorical links berween characters and 
animaJs, and associates Lulu with the biblical myth of Eve in the 
Gaeden of Eden through irs references to her as a snake. All of 
these. elements combine to give the later Lulu lhe timeless quality 
mat was noted by Rothe (55). 

Conclusio n 

This analysis has indicated that Wedekind deliberately al tered lhe 
character of Lulu fro m the way in which it appeared in the o riginal 
text so that it became ambiguous and mythological in the final 
version. A full consideration of this shift in the characterisation of 
Lulu is Olltside me scope of this paper. However, it is significan t 
thac a comparison of the different versions of the 'Lulu' plays 
reveals mat me changes rhat Wedekind made to his central character 
mirror sinular changes to te.xlUal detail in other aspecrs of the 

plays. Wedekind's conception of his drama changed significantly, 
shifring from the historical context of the 1890s to an indefinite and 
mythological, but distinctly modem, setting. The overaU effect of 
these alterations is undoubtedly to distance the later versions of the 
plays from the era in which they are rooted. The panern of changes 
that \X/edekind made to dle text reveals that Lulu's characrensation 
was jusr one consequence of that wider change. It seems tllat it is 
precisely rhe timelessness, flexibility and inherent ambiguity in the 
later plays that leave the character of Lulu open to imerprenllion 
and has thereby contributed to the lasting fascination with EnigtiJI 

and Die Bu(hu der PandiJra. Rather than providing any answers to the 
questions raised by the Lulu character, the '1!onstn:tngodie' reveals 
that Lulu is nOt the key to solving Wedekind's interpretative puzzle, 
bUl rather an imponanr manifestation of his approach to the plays 
in their entirery. I n addition, the pattern of changes described in this 
article demonstrates that the 'Monsueuagodie' cannot be: the key to 
understanding the mOre familiar ErdgliJl and Die Bjidm der Pandora, 
because the ambiguity of me la ter plays was created in dire:ct ContnSl 
ro me specificity of the original version. It therefore: remains to be 
questioned why Wedekind made mese changes to the 'Lulu' plays, 

and what effect he intended them ro have. 
The removal of the plays from their historical and social 

Wedekind's 'Lulu': History and Modern Myth 181 

context of Germany. Paris and London in the 1890s distanced the 
later plays from the social criticism of Wedekind's comemporaries 
that is apparent in the original version. J t must be remembered that, 
alongside the threat o f censorship with which Wedekind 's work is. so 
often connected, the 'Lulu' plays also had to be capable of attracung 
an audience in order for any theaue to stage a performance of the 

play, so as to reduce the financial risk of an empty house. Wedekind 
could not persuade any theatre to stage a performance of the 
'110nsueuagOdie.' h is possible that making the plays less critical 
of their audience was one fac to r that cont nbuted to the later plays' 
greater commercial success because they were less open to o bjection 
from the theatre-going public, as well as being less vulnerable to 
censorship. By making the plays less historical, Wedekind changed 
tilt themes contained within Ultm from specific echoes of his 
own ern into genernlly rclevant modern themes such as religion, 
morality, sexuality, value and com modification. Finally, Wedekmd's 
mythologization of Erdgei!J and Dit Bu(blt tkr Pandora leaVeS their 
moral standpoint open to interpretation because of the absence 
of any cleat criticism or approval of tile plays' themes, which has 
undoubtedly led to the critical preoccupation With inrerpretation 
of the morality or immon.lity of the Lulu plays. This lack of direct 
engagement with any particular culture or era stves me later plays 
their enduring appeal and relevance to even the most coiltcmporary 

audiences. 

Cantbridgt Univt:rJifJ 

Works Ci ted 

Boa, Elizabeth. The Sv..""Ual Cirrus: 117ldtkind's Tbla/rt of Subvmi(JII. Oxford: 

Blackwell, 1987. 
Bovenschcn, Silvia. Oil lmagtnlff1t Il7tiblidJJ:.tit: Extmplarisf/Jt Unltrrllfhllngtrl 

zu k.llltllrgts(hifhlluhtn JIIId IitenlnJtMIl PrtiJtntallOnifrmllln des l17tibli(mn. 

Fnnkfun/Main: Suhrkamp, 2003. 
Craig, Gordon A.. Gtnnalt.J 1866·1945. O)[.for& Clarendon, 1978. 
Kintzeli, Jeff and Peler Schneider, eds. CtO'! Simmlls 'Phikllopme du Gddu.' 



182 Foals on German Sludiu 

Frankfurt/Main: Hain, 1993. 

l\ leyer, /'.lichad. Thtakrzl1lslIT'in A'fiindxn /900·1918: Guchichtt lind Entuid:lzlIIg 
tkr polizdlichtn Zmlur lmd dt! Thtauqtllsllrhtiraus IInttr hl.1ondtrtr 
Berlic/eJichtigung funk IVidtkinds. Munich: Kommissionsverlag UN I­
D ruck, 1982. 

Midgley, David. "Wedekind's 'Lulu': from 'Schaue,,:ragodie' 10 Social 
Comedy." German Ufo and Utters 38 (1985): 205-32. 

Nietzsche, Friedrich. " . .'\1so sprach Zanllhusua." KdtiJ{m Studimausgoh. Ed. 
Giorgio Colli and Mazzino !'I fonUnari. Vol. 4. Munich: Deutscher 
Taschenbuch Verlag, 1999. 

Rothe, Friedrich. Ii/huh"," Omlllen: JUifnduil 'INd ubtn1fJhiMSOphit. StultgaU: 
J. B. MetZler, 1968. 

Tombs, Raben, TTOJla/814·1914. London: Longman, 1996. 
Wedekind, Frank. IVtrkt: lVitis(be Studienallsgah Ed. Hartmut Vin~on. Vol. 

3/1. Darmsradc Hausser, 1996. 
Wright, Nicholas. "Object of Desire." DaifJ Telegraph. 24 February 200 1. 13 

["o.uy 2003 < hnpJ /web.1exis-nexis.com/professional>. 

Zwischen Konstruktivismus und Inruirion: 
Zum Verhaltnis von Ethik und As thetik 

bei Robert Musil 

David \'(!acincr 

B ei det Klarung der Feage, in welcher Weise aslhetische Eefahrung 
cine ethischc Dimension entfaltcn bnn, stell( das Thema cincr 

kunsclerischen Gesraimng der eigenen Exislenz an zentra\er SteUe. 
Inwiefern kann eine astllccische Einsrellung zu sich selbst wie zue 
Welt bei der SeJbstgestal tung von Individuum und Gcsellschaft eine 
tragende RoUe spielen? Wie isr diese Selbsrgestalrung un Rahmen 
des Asthecischen genauee zu dcnken? 

Robert Musils i lauprwerk Dtr Manit ohne EigtlUchafttll 
themacisicrt diese Frage auf grundlegendc Weise. Das in ihm 
etabliene Ethos eines ex perimenteUen Selbsr- und Wei(Vechalmisses 
stehr einem rein hedo niscischen Versrandnis des Asthecischen 
eben so emgegen wie dec Vorslellung ciner blofl kompensatorischen 
Entlasrungsfunktion von Kunst. Den n asthcusche Erfahrung srehr 
filr Robcn Musil un Zentrum einer konslrukciven Sdbsternodung 
des von tradicioneUen moralischen Bindungen befreilen t -Ienschen, 
dec zu einem ergebnisoffenen Experiment mit den eigenen 
Seinsmoglichkei(cn bereit ist. Oieses EcllOS dec Selbsrgesralrung 
enrwickclt Musil in zwci komplementaren Perspcktivcn, die einander 
zunachst entgegengesetzt werden, clercn mogliche Vermittlung 
jcdoch das Hauptanlicgen seiner Philosoph ic darsrelk Die erste 
Perspektive wird hier mit dem Lcilbegriff ,Konsuuhivismus' 
charaklensien . Sic basien auf dec Vocslellung einer bewuflten 
und ratio nal besummren Selbsterfindung eines Menschen, dec die 
Wirkiichkcir auf ihre !loch unverwirklichten M6glichkeiren hin 
analysiert und am Leitfaclen dieser M6glichkeiren neu konSlcuien. 
Indem der Roman jedocb diese konsrrukuvistische: Disposition 
an ihfe Grenzen fuhrr, weist er auf die NO£wcndigkeir tine r 
e. rganzenden Pccspekcivt! run, der gemafi sich Ethik lind Asrheuk 
niche im rationalen Konsrrukcionsprojckt, sondeen im lvfedium der 
Intuition LCeffcn. In dieser Imuicion erfahn sich das 1ndividuum als