Wolves, Sheep, and the Shepherd: Legality, Legitimacy, and Hobbesian Political Theory in Goethe's <i>Götz von Berlichingen</i>
2001; Volume: 10; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/gyr.2011.0062
ISSN1940-9087
Autores ResumoHORST LANGE Wolves, Sheep, and the Shepherd: Legality, Legitimacy, and Hobbesian Political Theory in Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen Goetz de Berlichingen ... est heureusement choisi pour représenter quelle étoit l'indépendance des nobles avant que l'autorité de gouvernement pesât sur tous. Dans le moyen âge, chaque château étoit une forteresse, chaque seigneur un souverain. . . . Mme. de Staël, De Γ Allemagne I TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATIONS HOLD THAT Goethe became enamored of Götz von Berlichingen's autobiography because he discovered in the historical figure of Götz the perfect embodiment of the ideal Sturm und Drang character, the Kraflkerl. Frequently they cite the report of Henry Crabb Robinson, who after a visit with Goethe's mother disseminated the following anecdote: He came home one evening in high spirits. Oh mother, he said, I have found such a book in the public library, and will make a play of it! What great eyes the Philistines will make at the Knight with the Ironhand ! That's glorious—the Iron-hand!1 According to this account, the discovery of the indomitable knight not only provided the spark which kindled Goethe's creativity—it also instilled in the unknown and ambitious poet the desire to achieve in the field of drama what Götz had accomplished on the battlefield: clearly the Goethe of the anecdote sets out to rattle his narrow-minded age just as Götz's iron fist supposedly unnerved his contemporaries. If we furthermore recall, as a number of interpretations do, the aphorism by Matthias Claudius that the play attacks Aristotle's three unities "wie sein edler tapfrer Götz . . . die blanken Esquadrons feindlicher Reiter, "2 a particularly seductive model for the play's interpretation emerges, 2 Horst Lange seamlessly tying the play's content (rebellion against a corrupt world), its form (rebellion against literary conventions), and the intention of its author (rebellion against his age) into one compact and defiant aesthetic statement. Such a reading no doubt suggests itself, not least because it squares so nicely with the conventional view of the Sturm und Drang as a revolt against the cold rationalism of orthodox Enlightenment and an expression of the political frustrations of the Bürgertum of eighteenthcentury Germany. However, the important presupposition it makes, namely that Goethe's Götz was meant to be a positive hero and a role model for his feeble age, may very well be called into question by a sober look at the play. It is quite conspicuous, for example, how much Götz seems to love violence for its own sake. This is perhaps best illustrated in the scene where the newly arrived Lerse offers his services to Götz and the two bond by vividly recalling a previous military engagement in which they faced each other as enemies (603-5).3 Far from expressing any regret over having met in battle, Lerse and Götz warmly relive this encounter, and Lerse even rejoices at having had the opportunity to prove his mettle against Götz (605). They both engage in rather smug mutual admiration for each other's skill and valor, recalling Lerse's feat of injuring Götz with particular fondness. Any regret over the fact that violence and death are so commonplace in the lives they lead is strikingly absent in their nostalgic celebration of past skirmishes: "Fünf und zwanzig gegen acht! Da galts kein feiren. Erhard Truchses durchstach mir einen Knecht, dafür rannt ich ihn vom Pferde" (604). If Götz had an aversion to violence, it would be hard to explain why he never regrets the fact that his life of endless warfare prevents him from enjoying a peaceful life on his estate. Indeed, when the emperor effectively places Götz under house arrest, Götz does not enjoy the peacefulness of his existence, but develops such a severe form of cabin fever that for the first time in his life he breaks his word and enters the fray of the Bauernkrieg (incidentally not to end it, but to steer its violence in a more productive direction). And during the "last supper" with his men just before his surrender to the imperial...
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