Lenz' Komoedie "Der Hofmeister oder Vorteile der Privaterziehung": Ein neuer Blick.
Item
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Title
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Lenz' Komoedie "Der Hofmeister oder Vorteile der Privaterziehung": Ein neuer Blick.
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Identifier
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AAI9108114
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identifier
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9108114
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Creator
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Hansen, Angela.
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Contributor
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Adviser: E. Allen McCormick
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Date
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1990
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Language
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German
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Germanic | Theater
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Abstract
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The very title of this dissertation indicates a revaluation of Lenz' much-discussed, first play Der Hofmeister. At the same time it refers to Lenz' own "new look" at his time that attributes a specific role to him within the 18th century.;This shows itself especially in Lauffer, the main character. He is not only the son of a theologian who is socially oppressed, but the worldly student who is denied emancipation and a true alternative and, who can be compared to Goethe's Faust in his rebellion and wants.;In contrast to Goethe, Lenz presents Lauffer and the other characters as specific representatives of the 18th century. He uses direct psychological means in every day speech, for example Freudian slips and rhythmical prose instead of verse.;Furthermore, Lauffer and the other young people are portrayed as adolescents in conflict with the father and mother figures. Lenz unmasks the negating and destructive behavior of the adults giving insight into its causes. He does not only show that the social conditions have a crippling effect, but the prevailing authoritarian attitude at the root of Lauffers changing from subordination to rebellion. Illustrated is also the dichotomy between heart and head and, most of all, the religious rigidity and denial.;In his criticism of Christianity, Lenz goes much further than in his essays and far beyond what could be expected in Germany at the time.;His ending of the Lauffer plot makes this especially clear. The worldly son rebells against "Jenseitigkeit" in favor of beauty and pursuit of happiness. The Storm and Stress author takes his own stance by expressing the wants of the young people of the middle and lower class in terms of the aristocratic rococo culture.;He also finds his own answers to the theme of sexuality, which fascinated the 18th century, by developing the motif of the fallen girl to a happy end in contrast to Goethe, Wagner, and Hebbel.;Not only the characters and endings show Lenz' new technique of the "new look" but also the plot and the development of the conflicts bringing about a change of the traditional genres by the young author.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
