Language and Mimetic Action in Lessing’s Miss Sara Sampson
1965; Routledge; Volume: 40; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/19306962.1965.11787225
ISSN1930-6962
Autores ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size NotesLessing, Sämtliche Schriften, ed. Karl Lachmann, 3rd ed. revised by Franz Muncker (Stuttgart, 1886–1924), XIX, 45. Subsequent quotations from Lessing’s works and letters are taken from this edition, with the exception of the text of Miss Sara Sampson, which I cite according to Vol. II of Lessings Werke, ed. Theodor Matthias (Leipzig, n.d. [1899)).Mme Hensel’s gesture so captivated Lessing that he promptly wrote to his brother Karl, requesting from his library the volume “Von dem Zupfen der Sterbenden”: “Ich weiß nicht, wie der Verfasser heißt, auch kann ich mich auf den lateinischen Titel nicht besinnen. Du wirst sie aber bald erkennen, und sie muß zuverlässig da seyn. Schicke mir sie gleich” (XVII, 232).There had been earlier performances: on July 10, 1755, in Frankfurt an der Oder; and in April, 1756, in Leipzig. But the Leipzig performance by Koch’s ensemble was hampered by its conventional form of acting. See Heinz Kindermann, Theatergeschichte der Goethezeit (Wien, 1948), p. 101; and Hans Oberländer, Die geistige Entwicklung der deutschen Schauspielkunst im 18. Jahrhundert (Hamburg und Leipzig, 1889), p. 114.“Das deutsche Theater” (1859) in: Hebbels Werke, ed. Franz Zinkemagel (Leipzig und Wien, n.d.), VI, 134.Quoted by Oberländer, p. 95.For background information I have relied largely upon the cited works by Kindermann and Oberländer; Edwin Duerr, The Length and Depth of Acting (New York, 1962), esp. eh. 7: “The Successful Eighteenth Century,” pp. 201–286; Toby Cole and Helen Krieh Chinoy, eds., Actors on Acting (New York, 1949), esp. eh. IX: “Germany,” pp. 234–291. I am also indebted to my colleague, Prof. Benjamin Hunningher, for much valuable advice.Oberländer, pp. 4–14.When I outlined the historical situation to a distinguished contemporary director, he immediately recognized the entire debate as one that is still lively in theatrical circles today.Oberländer, p. 136.Oberländer, p. 41.Oberländer, p. 136. We should note in this connection that Lessing later (Hamburgische Dramaturgie, 16. Stück) saw in Ekhof’s acting the perfect fulfillment of Sainte Albine’s theory. This change in Ekhof’s style is generally attributed to the influence of Ackermann, with whose “Hamburger Schule” Ekhof was later associated. See Oberländer, p. 129.Duerr, The Length and Depth of Acting, p. 238.J. G. Robertson, Lessing’s Dramatic Theory (Cambridge, 1939), ch. xvii: “The Art of the Actor,” is oriented primarily toward the later Lessing of the Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Otto G. Graf, “Lessing and the Art of Acting,” in Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, XL (1955) (1954 Meeting), 293–301, is concerned with the influence of Sainte Albine on the Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Both Robertson and Graf tend, by implication at least, to underestimate the impact of Riccoboni while playing down Lessing’s criticism of Sainte Albine.Schriften, IV, 54.Schriften, VI, 120–152.Schriften, VI, 151–152. It is perhaps not irrelevant to recall, in this connection, the experiments of more recent scholars like Joseph Rutz and Eduard Sievers, who believed that proper delivery could be induced in an actor or singer by causing him to assume the posture-type of the author or composer. See Oskar Walzel, Wachstum und Wandel. Lebenserinnerungen, ed. Carl Enders (Berlin, 1956), pp. 157–161.Schriften, XIV, 179–189. Regarding the date of this fragment see editor’s note here, and Robertson, p. 473.This corresponds to the use of the word “gesture” in classical rhetoric. See Charles Batteux, Principes de la littérature (Paris, 1764), I, 319: “Nous entendons par geste, les mouvements extérieurs et les attitudes du corps: Gestus, dit Ciceron, est conformatio quaedam et figura totius oris et corporis” (quoted by Robertson, p. 479).Letter to Mendelssohn, September 14, 1757. Schriften, XVII, 121–122.I should like to call attention to Emil Staiger’s brilliant interpretation of such passages in the role of Marwood in his essay “Rasende Weiber in der deutschen Tragödie des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts,” in Stilwandel: Studien zur Vorgeschichte der Goethezeit (Zürich, 1963), pp. 25–74.See H. B. Garland, Lessing, the Founder of Modern German Literature, 2nd ed. (London, 1962), p. 144.Friedrich Düsel, Der dramatische Monolog in der Poetik des 17, und 18. Jahrhunderts und in den Dramen Lessings (Hamburg und Leipzig, 1897), pp. 39–40.Unfortunately there seems to exist a breakdown of communication between historians of literature and scholars of the theater. Though there are certain specialized studies (e.g., on Grillparzer and Hauptmann), most histories of German literature ignore the influence of the theater upon drama; studies of the theater, on the other hand, often tend to regard the stage as the province of the actor and director alone, consigning the poor dramatist to a negligible position in the wings. A history of German drama is needed which will take into account the interaction of theater and drama. Sometimes, as in the case of Büchner, the very absence of a lively contact produced striking new results.Cf. Iphigenie auf Tauris, I, 2: O fänd’ ich auch den Blick der Priesterin,Der wer ten, vielgeehrten, deinen Blick,O heil’ge Jungfrau, heller, leuchtender ….Or Torquato Tasso, I, 1: Du siehst mich lächelnd an, Eleonore,Und siehst dich selber an und lächelst wied er.*A portion of this paper was presented at the third Internationaler Germanistenkongress in Amsterdam in August, 1965.
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