Expressionism
"I will open the world to you. Your momentary lack of resolution springs from your miserable condition." The Masked Man
(Wedekind The Awakening of Spring)
(Wedekind The Awakening of Spring)
Spring Awakening as written by Frank Wedekind (the source material for the musical) is intricately tied into the Expressionist movement. In turn, Expressionism grew directly out of the Realism and Impressionism movements.
Realism
Millet's piece of Realism, "The Gleaners"
Realism attempted to portray the world how it was. There was no emotional bias. In art it resembled as close to a photograph as could be artistically potrayed. This can be seen to the left in Millet’s Gleaners. In theatre, realists attempted to portray everyday, domestic life.
Impressionism
An Impressionist painting by Monet.
Impressionism tried to display the world as it appeared to a specific artist at a specific moment. The art was not very detailed. It often appeared as if the artist took no more than a passing glance at his subject. Monet is one of the most famous Impressionistic painters. There isn’t really any Impressionistic theatre.
Expressionism
Weisses' Expressionistic Haus in Dangast
The Expressionism movement attempted to show how an artist felt about his or her subject. Expressionists were concerned with portraying an internal reality rather than an external one. In painting this would mean the painting would not only be of an artist’s perception, but the artist would also include his or her emotions into the work. They believed this distortion would help reveal greater truth. Primarily a youth movement, Expressionism was one of the first artistic forms that did not either over romanticize adolescence or treat adolescents as miniature, under-developed adults.
Common features of Expressionist work, particularly German Expressionism:
- Stories from within the head of a protagonist, with the outside world often reflecting the internal world of that character
- Episodic structure
- symbolism and repeated imagery
- distortion of reality
- nightmarish imagery
- abstract characters
For even more information on German Expressionism check out a wonderful website put together by the Museum of Modern Art.
Wedekind
Frank Wedekind lived from 1864-1918. He wrote his first play, Spring Awakening, at the age of 27. The play was based on his own schooling in Germany and almost every scene was based on actual events in the life of Wedekind or his friends. For instance, two of Wedekind’s school friends committed suicide in the 1880s, leading to Moritz’ suicide within the play. Wedekind had his own share of adolescent angst to contend with outside of the school setting. Wedekind’s father wanted him to be a lawyer, which did not seem to line up with Wedekind’s own goals. Eventually, this conflict led to Wedekind being banished from home, though this was eventually lifted. This conflict parallels Melchoir’s journey. After all, he does not wish to give into the society as it exists, and he is banished to reform school after getting Wendla pregnant. More importantly, both Wedekind and Melchoir attempt to challenge society. Melchoir reads forbidden texts and gives his friends essays explaining their newfound desires and urges. Wedekind penned dramas extremely critical of society, especially in regards to his society’s feelings about sex. Although it was the first play Wedekind wrote, Spring Awakening was not the first to be produced primarily because of heavy presence of adolescent sexuality within the work. Wedekind’s later plays would continue to challenge society’s sexual mores, focusing on the conflict between adult sexuality and society. In 1898 Wedekind was forced to flee Germany on charges of libel for anti-government poems he had written. He returned the next year and was imprisoned in Leipzig. Wedekind, along with his publisher, was also charged with obscenity after the publishing of his play Pandora’s Box. The play was also banned from performance. Later, Wedekind would found the Wedekind-Bund organization in an effort to aide other writers in their struggle against the censor, mainly supplying money for adequate defenses.
Whether or not people were familiar with his work, Wedekind became a symbol for the avante-garde artist fighting against the censors. The fact that the theme of sexuality that appears in Spring Awakening shows up again and again in Wedekind’s other plays explains his constant battle with the censors. As seen in Spring Awakening, many of his plays put forward the idea that repression of sexuality causes unneeded tragedy. His plays satirized the extremely repressive culture that antagonizes the children in Spring Awakening. In addition to being a precursor to the Expressionism movement, Wedekind is often compared to Brecht. However, Wedekind was much more focused on the personal than Brecht, who wanted to distance the audience to further a political statement. While Wedekind made very deliberate critques of society, these commentaries were made through his characters and stories. Wedekind eventually died of complications from a hernia surgery when he returned to acting before being fully healed.
Whether or not people were familiar with his work, Wedekind became a symbol for the avante-garde artist fighting against the censors. The fact that the theme of sexuality that appears in Spring Awakening shows up again and again in Wedekind’s other plays explains his constant battle with the censors. As seen in Spring Awakening, many of his plays put forward the idea that repression of sexuality causes unneeded tragedy. His plays satirized the extremely repressive culture that antagonizes the children in Spring Awakening. In addition to being a precursor to the Expressionism movement, Wedekind is often compared to Brecht. However, Wedekind was much more focused on the personal than Brecht, who wanted to distance the audience to further a political statement. While Wedekind made very deliberate critques of society, these commentaries were made through his characters and stories. Wedekind eventually died of complications from a hernia surgery when he returned to acting before being fully healed.
Spring Awakening
Wedekind wrote Spring Awakening in 1981 and described his process in writing Spring Awakening as, “I started to write, without any sort of plan, merely aiming to set down whatever appeared to me. The plan emerged after the third scene and was compiled from my own personal experiences or the experiences of my class-mates.” After it was banned from Germany, Wedekind published Spring Awakening in Switzerland at his own expense. Although it was banned, that did not mean it was completely unliked. Wedekind records the following account in his journal in 1892, “Frl. Breslau writes to Frl. Hüny about my Spring Awakening that it’s full of talent, in spite of its incredible crudities. “ Additionally, although it was banned, not everyone recognized some of the aspects with which the censors took issue. The same year Wedekind recorded in his journal, “Muth has read my Spring Awakening the previous evening. He had simply failed to notice the act of sexual intercourse that figures into the play.”
The first edition of Spring Awakening was dedicated to the Masked Man character that appears at the end, a part Wedekind would later play himself. Wedekind included this character because he wanted to show the potential for these children, particularly Melchoir, to be adults. In a second edition of the play produced by Wedekind in 1984 he had added a scene between the teachers where they explored their self-acknowledged hypocrisy by remembering their own adolescence. This scene was soon deleted as Wedekind believed the “blind stupidity” of the teachers was more effective.
Spring Awakening was censored for 12 years in Germany, and it was produced for the first time around 1908 at the German Theater in Berlin, directed by Max Reinhardt. This shift most likely owed itself to the fact that by around that time plays and novels dealing with teenage sexuality and suicide were becoming more popular in the mainstream culture. Wedekind said of this trend, “For ten years—1891 till about 1901—the play Spring’s Awakening was generally regarded as unheard-of filth. Since about 1901, it has been regarded as an angry, deadly, earnest tragedy, as a thesis play, as a polemic in the service of sexual enlightenment.” Spring Awakening was one of the first of a trend of German plays that sympathized with the youth and explored their problems. By WWI Wedekind’s play was permanently in repertoire at some German theatres.
The first edition of Spring Awakening was dedicated to the Masked Man character that appears at the end, a part Wedekind would later play himself. Wedekind included this character because he wanted to show the potential for these children, particularly Melchoir, to be adults. In a second edition of the play produced by Wedekind in 1984 he had added a scene between the teachers where they explored their self-acknowledged hypocrisy by remembering their own adolescence. This scene was soon deleted as Wedekind believed the “blind stupidity” of the teachers was more effective.
Spring Awakening was censored for 12 years in Germany, and it was produced for the first time around 1908 at the German Theater in Berlin, directed by Max Reinhardt. This shift most likely owed itself to the fact that by around that time plays and novels dealing with teenage sexuality and suicide were becoming more popular in the mainstream culture. Wedekind said of this trend, “For ten years—1891 till about 1901—the play Spring’s Awakening was generally regarded as unheard-of filth. Since about 1901, it has been regarded as an angry, deadly, earnest tragedy, as a thesis play, as a polemic in the service of sexual enlightenment.” Spring Awakening was one of the first of a trend of German plays that sympathized with the youth and explored their problems. By WWI Wedekind’s play was permanently in repertoire at some German theatres.
How Wedekind's Spring Awakening is Expressionistic
Dark, internally driven subject matter
Expressionists often saw the world as darker. Additionally, the focus on seeing the world colored by emotions meant they dealt much more with the internal than the external.
Episodic structure
The scenes are episodic, and short, keeping with the favorite writing style of Expressionism. This makes sense considering episodic plays put increasing emphasis on character, and the individual was extremely important to the Expressionists.
Long monologues expressing internal emotions
The long monologues revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of a character allows the audience to see the world from their point-of-view. In addition to allowing the audience a clue into the inner thoughts of a character, these monologues are close to stream of consciousness writing, the idea that a person’s thoughts and feelings are expressed in a continuous flow, a style very popular within German Expressionism.
The Masked Man
The appearance of the Masked Man is one of scholar’s favorite things to point out when making the case for Wedekind’s work being a forerunner of the Expressionistic movement. The Masked Man is extremely symbolic, Wedekind adding the figure because he said he couldn’t abide having a play about children without showing any prospect of their lives as adults. At least one scholar has hypothesized the Masked Man could be a symbol for life itself. Expressionists often used symbolism and repeated imagery to help portray the inner world of the character. The Masked Man is the German Expressionistic abstract character.
Moritz returning from the dead with his head under his arm
This is an extremely dark and macabre image, fitting in with Expressionism in that way. German Expressionism was especially tied with the idea of creating a nightmare of sorts on the stage. Additionally, the appearance of Moritz as this dark specter moves away from reality completely. The rules of the real world have been thrown out the window.
Expressionists often saw the world as darker. Additionally, the focus on seeing the world colored by emotions meant they dealt much more with the internal than the external.
Episodic structure
The scenes are episodic, and short, keeping with the favorite writing style of Expressionism. This makes sense considering episodic plays put increasing emphasis on character, and the individual was extremely important to the Expressionists.
Long monologues expressing internal emotions
The long monologues revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of a character allows the audience to see the world from their point-of-view. In addition to allowing the audience a clue into the inner thoughts of a character, these monologues are close to stream of consciousness writing, the idea that a person’s thoughts and feelings are expressed in a continuous flow, a style very popular within German Expressionism.
The Masked Man
The appearance of the Masked Man is one of scholar’s favorite things to point out when making the case for Wedekind’s work being a forerunner of the Expressionistic movement. The Masked Man is extremely symbolic, Wedekind adding the figure because he said he couldn’t abide having a play about children without showing any prospect of their lives as adults. At least one scholar has hypothesized the Masked Man could be a symbol for life itself. Expressionists often used symbolism and repeated imagery to help portray the inner world of the character. The Masked Man is the German Expressionistic abstract character.
Moritz returning from the dead with his head under his arm
This is an extremely dark and macabre image, fitting in with Expressionism in that way. German Expressionism was especially tied with the idea of creating a nightmare of sorts on the stage. Additionally, the appearance of Moritz as this dark specter moves away from reality completely. The rules of the real world have been thrown out the window.
Expressionism and the Musical
The Expressionistic ties of Wedekind’s original play carry over in many ways to the musical production. The language of the scenes in the musical remains very true to the tone of Wedekind’s original work. The monologues of self-exploration have been swapped with music serving the same purpose. The scenes themselves, oppressive and confined are reminiscent of German Expressionist woodcuts, dark and constrained. These kids live in a very oppressive world. Therefore, true to Expressionism, the reflection of this reality is subdued, bleak, and contained. How the world makes them feel is projected back on the world itself. The music, representative of the timeless, inner monologue, free this world, allowing the adolescents to explore and express their most inner feelings. The shift that comes with songs, complete with vibrant lighting and frantic staging, also draw inspiration from Expressionism, particularly artists like Weisses that use vibrant colors. Spring Awakening the musical was written with a distance from the Expressionist movement, but Expressionism is still all throughout the script and Ball State’s design choices. Therefore, an understanding of Expressionism becomes vitally important when thinking about bringing Spring Awakening the musical to life.
The inner world of these characters, the world of song and inner monologue, is bright, chaotic, vibrant, and angsty. This mirrors the Expressionist movement, and it still rings true today. After all, adolescence is a time when all feelings are felt strongly and where everything is of vital importance. The teenage years are in many ways both the most real and unreal period of a person’s life. The Expressionist movement itself was filled with young artists. They were often playing off the same passions and confusions that occupy the inner world of the adolescents in Spring Awakening, the same passions and confusions that occupy the inner world of teenagers today.
The last scene of the musical is a wonderful example of how the musical retains the Expressionistic influences of the play. Melchoir is alone, and everything that occurs is clearly from his point-of-view. This is similar to the Expressionist tendency to present the world through the lens of one character. The ghostly figures of Moritz and Wendla create the darkness that is associated with much of Expressionsim. However, these figures could be occurring only in Melchoir’s head, pulling on Expressionism’s fascination with the psychological. Moritz and Wendla become ghostly symbols of forgiveness and renewal. Even without an appearance from the original text’s Masked Man, the graveyard scene features many Expressionistic attributes, and these can be seen throughout the musical.
The inner world of these characters, the world of song and inner monologue, is bright, chaotic, vibrant, and angsty. This mirrors the Expressionist movement, and it still rings true today. After all, adolescence is a time when all feelings are felt strongly and where everything is of vital importance. The teenage years are in many ways both the most real and unreal period of a person’s life. The Expressionist movement itself was filled with young artists. They were often playing off the same passions and confusions that occupy the inner world of the adolescents in Spring Awakening, the same passions and confusions that occupy the inner world of teenagers today.
The last scene of the musical is a wonderful example of how the musical retains the Expressionistic influences of the play. Melchoir is alone, and everything that occurs is clearly from his point-of-view. This is similar to the Expressionist tendency to present the world through the lens of one character. The ghostly figures of Moritz and Wendla create the darkness that is associated with much of Expressionsim. However, these figures could be occurring only in Melchoir’s head, pulling on Expressionism’s fascination with the psychological. Moritz and Wendla become ghostly symbols of forgiveness and renewal. Even without an appearance from the original text’s Masked Man, the graveyard scene features many Expressionistic attributes, and these can be seen throughout the musical.
Information Drawn From
Bassie, Ashley. Expressionism. New York: Parkstone International, 2008. Print.
Borowitz, Helen O. "Youth as Metaphor and Image in Wedekind, Kokoschka, and Schiele." Art Journal
33.3 (1974): 219-25. JSTOR. Web. 30 May 2012.
"expressionism" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Michael Kennedy and Joyce Kennedy. Oxford
University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Ball State University
Library. 30 May 2012 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?
subview=Main&entry=t76.e3175>
"Expressionism" The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Ed. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found.
Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Ball State
University Library. 30 May 2012
<http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.htmlsubview=Main&entry=t79.e1036>
Fishman, Sterling. "The History of Childhood Sexuality." Journal of Contemporary History 17.2 (1982):
269-83. JSTOR. Web. 31 May 2012.
Fishman, Sterling. "Suicide, Sex, and the Discovery of the German Adolescent." History of Education
Quarterly 10.2 (1970): 170-88. JSTOR. Web. 30 May 2012.
Hibberd, J.L. "Imaginary Numbers and ‘Humor’: On Wedekind's ‘Frühlings Erwachen’" The Modern
Language Review 74.3 (1979): 633-47. JSTOR. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
Simon, John. "How Sex Killed Frank Wedekind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov.
1990. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/books/how-sex-killed-frank-
wedekind.html?pagewanted=all>.
Smith, Tyler. "Alternatives to Realism." Modern Theatre History. Ball State University, Muncie, IN. 2012.
Lecture.
Wedekind, Frank, and Gerhard Hay. Diary of an Erotic Life. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1990. Print.
Borowitz, Helen O. "Youth as Metaphor and Image in Wedekind, Kokoschka, and Schiele." Art Journal
33.3 (1974): 219-25. JSTOR. Web. 30 May 2012.
"expressionism" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Michael Kennedy and Joyce Kennedy. Oxford
University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Ball State University
Library. 30 May 2012 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?
subview=Main&entry=t76.e3175>
"Expressionism" The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Ed. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found.
Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Ball State
University Library. 30 May 2012
<http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.htmlsubview=Main&entry=t79.e1036>
Fishman, Sterling. "The History of Childhood Sexuality." Journal of Contemporary History 17.2 (1982):
269-83. JSTOR. Web. 31 May 2012.
Fishman, Sterling. "Suicide, Sex, and the Discovery of the German Adolescent." History of Education
Quarterly 10.2 (1970): 170-88. JSTOR. Web. 30 May 2012.
Hibberd, J.L. "Imaginary Numbers and ‘Humor’: On Wedekind's ‘Frühlings Erwachen’" The Modern
Language Review 74.3 (1979): 633-47. JSTOR. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
Simon, John. "How Sex Killed Frank Wedekind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov.
1990. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/books/how-sex-killed-frank-
wedekind.html?pagewanted=all>.
Smith, Tyler. "Alternatives to Realism." Modern Theatre History. Ball State University, Muncie, IN. 2012.
Lecture.
Wedekind, Frank, and Gerhard Hay. Diary of an Erotic Life. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1990. Print.