{"id":187,"date":"2016-04-10T14:23:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T18:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/?p=187"},"modified":"2016-04-10T14:23:56","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T18:23:56","slug":"naturalism-and-human-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/urban-education\/naturalism-and-human-existence\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturalism and Human Existence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Georg B\u00fcchner\u2019s <em>Woyzeck<\/em> illuminates B\u00fcchner\u2019s thoughts on society and the pessimistic way in which he views the world. Written in 1837, <em>Woyzeck<\/em> stems from the beginnings of the realist movement, a wave of art and literature that attempted to showed the world with complete authenticity. With a starkly pessimistic and harsh look at the human experience, B\u00fcchner pushes beyond realist themes in <em>Woyzeck<\/em> as he no longer strives to uphold the balance of good and evil, but rather allows suffering to prevail. Some would say that B\u00fcchner\u2019s work is then more rooted in the philosophy and literary movement of naturalism. Naturalism is the belief that the world functions on natural laws and forces and that supernatural beings do not exist (1). This naturalist view aptly embodies B\u00fcchner\u2019s feelings toward his own world. Through his use of biblical allusions, frequent reference to animals, and language regarding time and existence, B\u00fcchner conveys his disgust for his unjust and nonsensical world.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00fcchner paradoxically plays with biblical language to reflect his belief that the world is not influenced by a higher god, but rather that mankind is left to suffer alone without help from a higher power. B\u00fcchner\u2019s tragic protagonist, Woyzeck, takes on a Christ-like role as he is tormented physically and psychologically by his thoughts, the Doctor, and even Drum-Major. In the first scene, Woyzeck almost clairvoyantly hallucinates about an apocalypse as \u201cfire [rages] around the sky\u201d ending with \u201cthe world [being] dead\u201d (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Works<\/em>, 137). We, as the audience, feel sorry for Woyzeck who must endure such torments as apocalyptic hallucinations and a starved diet of only peas. However, our views of the poor protagonist become jaded at the end of the play as Woyzeck kills his wife (a very non-Christ-like act). A similar paradox is created with the character, Marie, Woyzeck\u2019s wife. Marie illusively resembles the Virgin Mary: she is referred to as \u201cMrs. Virgin\u201d in the scene 4,2 (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Works<\/em>, 137), she frequently is seen with her baby \u2013 Christian \u2013 on her lap and her name so closely matches that of \u2018Mary.\u2019 Ironically, this \u201cVirgin Mary\u201d gets killed because of her flirtation with Drum-Major and is frequently called a \u201cwhore\u201d and \u201cbitch\u201d throughout B\u00fcchner\u2019s play. B\u00fcchner\u2019s cynicism toward the human experience is ever-present in these two tragic characters. As they both endure such harsh lives only to kill or be killed in the end of the play, B\u00fcchner ironically employs biblical allusions to convey the idea that there is no higher being influencing the world. If God were present, perhaps Woyzeck and Marie, would not turn at the hand of their immoral society, but since God is not present, Woyzeck and Marie are left to their own undoing. In this sense, B\u00fcchner\u2019s <em>Woyzeck<\/em> seems to parallel Samuel Beckett\u2019s <em>Waiting for Godot<\/em> as Vladimir and Estragon wait for a God that never arrives.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00fcchner\u2019s disgust for the human experience is also present in the way in which he elevates animals in his play. B\u00fcchner comments that animals have a \u201cbeastly wisdom [that] put[s] human society to shame\u201d (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Work<\/em>s, 139). He jabs at humans in saying that \u201cIt\u2019s all a matter of upbringing; [a monkey] is no brutish individual like a lot of people\u201d (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Works<\/em>, 139). Through his references to animals, B\u00fcchner establishes his antipathy for humans in his society in saying that they are less than creatures that do not even act by their own accord.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, B\u00fcchner\u2019s mere language concerning time and existence throughout the play is laden with disgust for the human experience. Through his characters, B\u00fcchner expresses his \u201cfear for the world when [he] thinks about eternity\u201d and how \u201cthirty years\u201d left on Earth is an \u201cungodly amount of time\u201d (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Works<\/em>, 141). B\u00fcchner believes that \u201ceverything goes to hell\u2026man and woman alike\u201d and questions, \u201cwhy does man exist? \u2026 Why doesn\u2019t God blow out the sun so that everything can roll around in lust, man and woman, man and beast\u201d (<em>B\u00fcchner\u2019s Major Works<\/em>, 147). Through this language, we see B\u00fcchner\u2019s utter contempt for human existence and his true sentiments on the reality of life.<\/p>\n<p>Questions:<\/p>\n<p>Do you think B\u00fcchner\u2019s views on society would be different today in the age of technology than they were back when he was writing <em>Woyzeck<\/em>? If so, how and why would they be different (i.e. what would technology do to change B\u00fcchner\u2019s mind about his failing society)? Would he feel more positively about the human experience or would technology engender further disgust for mankind?<\/p>\n<p>How might B\u00fcchner\u2019s thoughts about human existence manifest in social media today? Do we gain validity and\/or solace in our understanding of human existence through social media? Does social media re-affirm existence for some or help others feel a sense of comradery in life?<\/p>\n<p>(1) (2016). In <em>Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica<\/em>. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/naturalism-philosophy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Georg B\u00fcchner\u2019s Woyzeck illuminates B\u00fcchner\u2019s thoughts on society and the pessimistic way in which he views the world. Written in 1837, Woyzeck stems from the beginnings of the realist movement, a wave of art and literature that attempted to showed the world with complete authenticity. With a starkly pessimistic and harsh look at the human [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urban-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/theater-1504-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}