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Stefan George and the Theatre

Author(s): Ulrich K. Goldsmith


Source: PMLA, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Mar., 1951), pp. 85-95
Published by: Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/459591 .
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STEFAN GEORGE AND THE THEATRE
BY ULRICH K. GOLDSMITH

A LTHOUGH Stefan George's unyielding protest against the con-


temporary theatre lasted from the time of his graduation from the
Ludwig-Georg Gymnasium in Darmstadt (1888) until his death, his
hopes for its reform and his gradual disillusionment are generally little
known, since his sphere of influence was restricted to the realm of lyrical
poetry. This limitation was apparently both natural and logical for
George, whose peculiar genius was that of the lyricist. But it was not
entirely voluntary at first, for in his formative years he had been fas-
cinated by the world of the theatre.
The Darmstadt "Hoftheater" offered welcome distraction from school
drudgery. Since it was daring enough to vary its classical repertoire with
modern plays occasionally, George became acquainted with Ibsen's
work.1 He conceived such an enthusiasm for this author that he learned
Norwegian in a short time and read most of Ibsen in the original. He
translated portions of his plays into German,2 and wrote a dramatic
fragment of his own entitled "Manuel."3 This is a remarkable piece of
work because it presents a clear formulation, almost complete in itself,
of the spiritual and cultural mission which George undertook later and
which is rather concealed in his first five books of lyrical poetry (i.e.,
from Hymnen to Das Jahr der Seele). A second dramatic effort, called
"Phraortes," was also written during the school period, but it remains
unpublished.4 In view of this evidence it would be surprising indeed if
Stefan George had suddenly after graduation lost all interest in the
1 Friedrich Wolters, in Stefan Georgeund die BlOtterfiir die Kunst (Berlin: Georg Bondi,
1930), p. 15, plays down unjustifiably the importance of the Ibsen phase. Georg Fuchs, in
Sturm und Drang in Miinchen um die Jahrhundertwende(Munich: D. W. Callwey, 1936),
p. 126, gives it a little more credit, but adds that later George referred to the great Scan-
dinavian as "der alte Apotheker" or even as "der b6se Giftmischer aus dem Norden."
According to Hans Werner, a performance of Pillars of Society first kindled George's enthu-
siasm for Ibsen: "Stefan George als Gymnasiast," Deutsches Philologenblatt, XLI (1934),
369. Cf. also Carl Rouge, "Schulerinnerungen an den Dichter Stefan George," Volk und
Sclolle: Heimatblatterfur beide Hessen, Nassau und Frankfurt a. M. (1930), vmII,20-25.
Rouge enumerates Emperor and Galilean, Peer Gynt, and Brand among the reading of
George and his small group of friends and calls Ibsen their "idol" (p. 22).
2 "He . . . was probably the first to translate Ibsen's earliest play Catilina into German,

as well as The Vikings at Helgeland, and he read parts of these plays to us. Ibsen also had
an influence on his own early verse" (Rouge, loc. cit.).
3 There are two drafts which were written in the school period (1886 and 1888 respec-
tively). See Stefan George, Gesamntausgabe der Werke (hereafter referred to as GA in this
paper) (Berlin: Georg Bondi, 1927-34), xvnI, 6.
4 Cf.
Rouge, p. 24.
85
86 Stefan George and the Theatre

theatre and in dramatic literature. On the contrary, the young poet could
be expected to continue to be interested in a medium that promised
access to a large public.
The literature of the George-Kreis contains continual references to a
desired reform of the drama over a period of about twenty years, starting
at the time of the foundation of the BlOtterfur die Kunst (the first issue
of which appeared in October 1892). A closer examination of the litera-
ture reveals that George and his friends hoped to create a new theatre
by reforming the art of acting as well as by writing a different kind of
drama. George's efforts and hopes remained unrewarded. He blamed the
dominating influence of the commercialized theatre and its undiscrim-
inating public for the difficulties he encountered. In his exasperation he
was driven by two contradictory urges. On the one hand he belittled the
theatre as not necessarily the highest fulfilment of the artistic expression
of an age, for "there are whole peoples with periods of cultural flowering
who have not developed it ... ."5 On the other hand he urged reform.
This dual attitude illustrates an outstanding character trait in George;
he wanted either to rule a sphere of activity or to have nothing to do
with it. His stature as a poet is not lessened by the memory of his
abortive attempts to gain a hold on the theatre of his time; rather, his
ambitions are to be regarded as part of his development. His unsuccess-
ful endeavors help to explain why George, the pedagogue, confined
himself to writing non-dramatic poetry.
In the fourth issue of the Blitter (May 1893), the editor and Georgian
mouthpiece Carl August Klein published as the second of his "Unter-
haltungen im gruinen Salon" an essay entitled "Das Theatralische"6
in which he envisaged a form of the theatre which accorded with a new
esthetic creed. Excerpts from the Belgian poet Charles van Lerberghe's
"Flaireurs" were quoted to illustrate that, as with lyrical poetry, the
artists of the West had taken the lead in the theatre too.
Klein regarded a change in the art of acting as the first consideration
for any reform in the theatre. He felt that the literary merit of stage
plays had become a matter of secondary concern to stage managers-a
complaint which was not new at the time, and which is still made today.
Unworthy plays became stage successes because the adept "life-like"
impersonations presented by the actors offered sensational entertain-
ment. The new drama, according to Klein, set up requirements of re-
5 Blatterfiar die Kunst (1904), vII, 7; also in Blatterfilr die Kunst: Eine Auslese aus den
Jahren 1898-1904 (hereafter referred to as Auslese, II), p. 19.
6
Pages 112 ff. Not reprinted in Auslese aus den Jahren 1892-98 (hereafter referred to as
Auslese, I), nor in Klein's Die Sendung Stefan Georges(Berlin: Rabenpresse, 1935), which
contains "Unterhaltungen" i and IIi.
Ulrich K. Goldsmith 87

straint in speech and in gesture; in fact, it made necessary an effacement


of the actor's own personality. The genuine dramatist's words gain their
effect by their peculiar tone and rhythm, Klein explained, implying that
the dialogue ought to possess the highest poetic qualities. Restraint in
acting thus follows the same pattern which George set up for the reading
of lyrical poetry, and which taboos all emotional declamation. The poet
sought, apparently, to recapture the stately dignity of ancient Greek
tragedy. One thing was imperative, Klein continues: "boring stage
adaptations of national history" or plays treating "exciting questions
of topical interest, which could just as well be discussed in a daily
newspaper," should be banned from the theatre. Until the naturalists'
hold on the stage was broken and a change in the public's attitude had
taken place, so it was announced, all good plays would be forced of
necessity to reach their audiences in printed form. In such plays the
lyrical element would be predominant for a while.
The first attempt of play-writing of this order which came to Klein's
attention was the tragedy of "Phraortes," which in due course he hoped
to publish in the Blitter.7 This Georgian "Jugenddrama" was then
approximately five years old. Klein's promise to publish it was never
carried out, nor was the project ever mentioned again.8 From Klein's
brief description of the play's basic plan, the reasons for its failure to
be published suggest themselves. The drama was to follow the pattern
of Greek tragedy and was to be performed in a large amphitheatre where
the stage would be at a "far, veiling distance" (p. 116)-a point probably
directed against Strindberg's idea of the "theitre intime." As a special
feature, Klein lauds the re-introduction of the chorus which, "as Schiller
concluded in his preface to Die Braut von Messina, is not by any means
more improbable than the dialogue" (p. 116). The actor might even wear
a mask, for one "cannot accurately discern his face anyway." The doubt-
ful novelty value of this play must eventually have decided the poet
and his editor not to proceed with this particular tragedy. But the
hope of a reform of the theatre on Aristotelian lines was not yet aban-
doned. In Blitter, II, No. 2, we find the categorical sentence: "A revival
of the stage is conceivable only if the actor recedes into the background
entirely,"9 although the retreat from all plans for reform is left open
since the Blitter editor adds this question: "Why should stage drama be

7 Ibid., p. 116.
8 The abortive"Phraortes" plan is omittedin Wolters'account,p. 42 (see n. 1, above),
of Klein'sarticleon the theatre.
9 Page 34; also Auslese,I, 13 f. AlthoughC. A. Klein figuredas editor of the BlOtter,
the unsignededitorialswere written under George'sstrict supervision,if they did not
actuallycomefromhis own pen. LaterKarl Wolfskehlalso contributedto them.
88 Stefan George and the Theatre

considered the highest form of poetry?" This sentence was written in


March 1894. The third version of some scenes from "Manuel" appeared
in this issue and in the fifth of the same volume (February 1895) and
stands in marked contrast to the second version. According to George
himself it reverts to the plan of the first version, which aimed at the
simplicity of a pre-Goethean pastoral play. Three scenes of the third
version exist in print.10 The manner in which the relationship between
the two young people, Manuel and Leila, who are in love with each
other, and the estrangement of Leila from her father are represented is
a more indirect one than that of the previous versions. Most of the
references to the concrete circumstances of their lives are omitted. These
scenes were written at a time when George applied the symbolist tech-
nique of evocation (as against direct statement) in his lyrical poetry.
The transference of this technique to the drama here is not very success-
ful.'l
In 1899 the editor of the Blitter announced the foundation of a
theatre called "Biihne der Blatter fur die Kunst."12The announcement
opens with a quotation from Anselm Feuerbach rejecting "the nonsense
of elaborate stage decoration." Klein rejoices that even some of the
famous actors of the day had realized that only the simplicity of the
Greek drama could save the modern stage. In private houses, so he
explains, the Bliiter would arrange for amateur actors to recite ("her-
sagen") some small new plays in verse. The importance of verse had
already been pointed out in Blitter, I, No. 3 (March 1893), where it
had been observed that the German poetic language lacked the tradi-
tion of strict rules that the French idiom had had for centuries. Therefore,
German poetry ought to acquire some of the formal perfection and
polish of the Parnassian school before it could graduate to the freedom
of vers libre. Readings of verse plays had apparently taken place at vari-
ous times from 1897 on at the Berlin home of the artists Reinhold and
Sabine Lepsius.13 Two lyrical playlets by George, "Die Herrin betet"
and "Die Aufnahme in den Orden," were published in the Blatter in
1894 and 1901 respectively.14 Karl Wolfskehl, who had become a close
10GA,xvm, 6 and43 ff.
11For instance,whereasin the secondversionManueland Leila speakabout love quite
plainly,hereManuelasksLeila to allowhim to pick flowerswith her, to whichshe replies
that the wide meadowbelongsto both of them.
12
Blitter,iv, No. 5, 129f.; Auslese,II, 12 f.
13 See "Nachrichten," Bltter, iv, No. 5, 156.
14
Bltiter,n, No. 2, and v; GA, xvm, 53-59 and 61-70. "Die Herrinbetet" can hardly
be describedas drama.Of its 88 lines, 34 are "descriptive"-versifiedstage directionsas it
were.The poet specifiesthat this part serves "zurerrichtungder biihneund stellungder
gruppenwahrendderwortlichangeftihrteden gestaltenin den mundgelegtoderin leiden-
schaftslos getragener sprache im hintergrund hergesagt wird" (GA, xvIII, 54).
Ulrich K. Goldsmith 89

personal friend of George's since 1893, wrote a drama entitled "Saul."


After a few experiments with these and other works the idea of the
"Biihne der Blatter fir die Kunst" was given up as a failure in Berlin,
but it was somewhat more successful in Munich.'5 There "Die Aufnahme
in den Orden" was performed at one of the festive gatherings that made
the Schwabing artists' colony famous in its day. This short play, called
"Ein Weihespiel" in the subtitle, is as significant in the development of
George's career as reformer and pedagogue as is the early "Manuel"
version. A youth forsakes the world after having gone astray in it and
he seeks to enter a monastic order, which is variously referred to as
"gilde," "bund," and "kreis." After soul-searching tests he is received
into the order by the "Grossmeister." Friedrich Wolters describes the
Schwabing performance as follows: "Young men and women in festive
garb, without a stage, formed a circle and expressed the action solely
by poetic recitation and by restrained gestures. Even in the bold experi-
ment of presenting the chorus in the elevated mode of speech the little
group was successful."'l
The Kreis had become fairly numerous at the turn of the century, and
the Munich apartment of Karl and Hanna Wolfskehl was frequently the
scene of their meetings.17Here or in other private houses they celebrated
the carnival in more elevated modes than the rabble, we are told.'8
The festivities took the form of Bals masques, in the course of which so-
called "masked processions," rather solemn, previously rehearsed affairs
formed part of the entertainment. One such feast, called "Das Antike
Fest," was held at the Wolfskehl home on February 22, 1903. The four-
teen-year-old Maximilian Kronberger, who had known Stefan George
for about a year, was invited and noted in his diary afterwards that ten
persons formed a splendid procession, "all in very beautiful costumes;
George as Caesar,19a Persephone, a Hermes, and other famous figures."20
16 See Sabine Lepsius, Stefan George:Geschzichte einer Freundschaft (Berlin: Die Runde,
1935), p. 33: "I remember the evening (it was on February 3, 1898) when George and
Wolfskehl were with us to discuss our plans for dramatic performances. Scenes from
George's 'Manuel' ranked first on the list, then came Wolfskehl, whose drama 'Saul' was
to be performed. The experiment was a failure, both here and later in Jena. It seemed that
Wolfskehl's personality did not kindle any sparks north of the Main line..." See also
p. 35.
16Wolters, p. 275.
17 See Franz Diilberg, "Karl Wolfskehl: Versuch eines Bildnisses," Preussische Jahr-
biicler (1931), ccxxiv, 260-261.
18 Oscar A. H.
Schmitz, Ddmon Welt (Munich: Georg Miller, 1926), pp. 269 f.
l9 One previous instance of participation in amateur acting on the part of George is re-
corded by Wolters, p. 18. This episode took place when the young poet was in Switzerland
in 1888: "Moliere's 'Misanthrope' was thought to be the suitable role for the serious young
German."
90 Stefan George and the Theatre

Persephone was represented by the highly original archaeologist Alfred


Schuler, who was a member of the so-called "Kosmische Runde." At
this time George and Wolfskehl were still on good terms with Schuler
and his friend Ludwig Klages and shared their interest in Greek and
Roman antiquity and especially in Johann Jakob Bachofen's Mutter-
recht.21A photograph taken at the feast shows "how George sat there
as a wreathed Caesar, deep in thought, and below him Schuler as the
great mother, with a dark veil over his head, completely transformed
into a feminine figure and of unbelievable beauty, leaning against his
[i.e., George's] knee."22At another party, on February 14, 1904, at the
house of Henry von Heiseler, a "Poet's Procession"-Dichterzug-was
staged. Wolfskehl, as Homer, spoke some of his own verse.23George, as
Dante, was led by Maximilian Kronberger, who wore the costume of a
Florentine page: red stockings and a red silk cloak. In his hand he held
a red candle, on his head he wore a wreath of red carnations. George
spoke his translation of "The Girding with the Reed" from the first canto
of the Purgatorio.24He was clad in "a white cloak, a white headdress, and
a laurel wreath."2 This is not quite the garb of humility for which the
passage in question would call, nor is the title clear in George's transla-
tion; instead of "Die Bekrinzung mit dem Schilf," "Umgiirtung" would
have been more appropriate. But apparently no one was disturbed by
Stefan George's arbitrary handling of Dante's meaning in that particular
canto. What mattered to him and to his friends was the re-creation of
the aura of heroic figures of the past.26To impersonate Dante, just as he

20 Nachlass
(Zurich: Adolf Biirdeke [1937?]), pp. 53 f. For another description of this
feast see FranzDiilberg,"Henryvon Heiseler:ein Schicksalund ein Werk,"Preussische
Jahrbiicher (1933),ccxxxi, 261.
21 See George's"A. S.": "So war sie wirklichdiese runde?"(GA, iv, 86), "PortaNigra:
IngenioAlf. Scolari"(Blatter[1902-03],vi, 7 f., andGA,vi/vII, 16f.), and "Du alterhaus-
geist der um alte mauernwittert" (GA, vIII, 45). Schulerbelievedin reincarnation.See
Ludwig Klages' introduction to Schuler's Fragmenteund Vortrageaus dem Nachlass (Leip-
zig: J. A. Barth, 1940),pp. 59-60. This introductioncomprises119pages,but fails to con-
vince the readerof Schuler'sgenuinenessand allegedmysteriousgreatness.And the "cos-
mic" philosophyis moreclearlyanalyzedby the unsympatheticWolters(pp. 258 ff.). Cf.
also Franz Diilberg, "SehnsuchtsvolleHungerleider,"DeutscheRundschau(1930), LVI,
53, and LudwigCurtius,"MiinchnerPortraits,"Merkur(1950), iv, No. 1, 38-55 (esp.
"LudwigKlagesund AlfredSchuler,"pp. 50-55).
22Wolters, p. 276. Cf. George's poem "Maskenzug": "... der vordre-/ Verhiillt-ist
mannund muttermit der lampe."GA, vi/vII, 211.
23 Publishedin Blatter
(1904),va, 58.
24Lines 94-136; Bl4tter, vII, 30-32; also GA, x/xi, 70-72. The reed ("giunco")that
growson the shoreof MountPurgatoryis the symbolof humilityand Dante was to wear
a reedgirdlebeforehe startedon the ascent.
26
Kronberger, pp. 68 f.
26
Presumablythe re-creationof the heroicattitudes of otherlands and epochs was ex-
Ulrich K. Goldsmith 91

had previously posed as Caesar, must have given George a deep satis-
faction, and his friends were enabled to worship his impressive features
which have frequently been likened to those of Dante.
More than mere heroic and celebrative gesture was the performance
of the last procession on record, the "Maskenzug" that took place on
March 24, 1904, before a very exclusive audience in Wolfskehl's home.
It was in honor of the publication of the seventh volume of the Blatter
in which its text was printed.27Not only did the figure Seven have special
sanctity for George, but it was in this volume that he and Wolfskehl
renounced the "Kosmische Runde," although in terms which must seem
rather veiled and obscure to the outsider. The "Maskenzug" deals
figuratively with the conflict within the George circle that had just come
to a head, and its symbolism requires some commentary. The groups
and individuals forming the procession appeared in the following order:
Dionysus,28 Algabal and Gianino (the latter from Hofmannsthal's "Tod
des Tizian"),29 Manuel and Leila, the Lost Traveler ("Irrfahrer"), the
Master and the Disciples,30 the Women's Chorus, and the Red Child.
The dialogue, written by Wolfskehl, represents a remarkable combina-
tion of "life celebration and book publication," to use Wolters' expression
(p. 276). The four poetic figures from George's and Hofmannsthal's
works are introduced by the god Dionysus and celebrate themselves
and their authors. The "Lost Traveler" in mourning clothes represents
the "Cosmics,"31for whom fate holds nothing more than cold despair.32

pected to help the Germans find a genuine native "gesture," i.e., the outward sign of a
style of life peculiarly their own. Cf. BlOtter(1900-01), v, 3; also Auslese, II, 15: "Dass der
Deutsche endlich einmal eine geste: die deutsche geste bekomme-das ist ihm wichtiger
also zehn eroberte provinzen."
27 Albert
Verwey, the Dutch poet, received a copy of the volume with a note from George
which said: "Sie sehen daraus besser wie aus Briefberichten wie sich der Kreis hier ge-
andert hat und welche dreik6pfige Schlange endlich erledigt ist." Mein Verlidltniszu Stefan
George:Erinnerungen aus den Jahren 1895-1928, transl. from the Dutch by Antoinette
Eggink (Strassburg: Heitz, 1936), p. 45. Cf. also Wolters, p. 269.
28 Enacted by Wolfskehl. See Diilberg, "Henry von Heiseler," p. 261; Diilberg seems to
have confused some incidents of the "Antike Fest" with those of the "Maskenzug."
29Cf. Hofmannsthal's
response "Fur Karl Wolfskehl" (1904). Gedichte und lyrische
Dramen, ed. Herbert Steiner (Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer, 1946), p. 203.
30 Wolters, p. 316, mentions a second performance of the "Maskenzug" at which Kron-

berger "spoke jointly with Gulndolf the two 'disciples': clad in a simple blue tunic, with a
wreath of violets in his hair."
31George was aware of the differences in temperament and ideas between Klages and
himself quite early. See the poem "L. K." (GA, rv, 87), where he chided him for fleeing
from him. Schuler and Klages, however, considered George and Wolfskehl defaulters from
the common cause. Each side in the controversy claims to have taken the initiative for the
break. See Wolters, p. 269, and Klages, introd. to Schuler, pp. 75-76.
32The Lost Traveler says: "Drangt mich von meer zu meere / Frost mein genoss / Zur
lautlos letzten leere?" Blitter, vII, 152.
92 Stefan George and the Theatre

The Master and the Disciples speak about their own difficult journeys
into the future, and the former alone is able to visualize an eventual
safe return to port. The seven Women of the Chorus impersonate the
seven issues of the Blitter fur die Kunst, celebrating solemnly their own
offerings as heavy-scented wreaths, fruit of the orchards, and as foun-
tainheads and guardians of eternal stirrings. Finally the Red Child
appears, symbolizing the ideal of the Circle, the "New Life." As its turn
to speak comes, it calls for its mother, whereupon Dionysus announces
in hymnic form that the time for the sacrifice and renascence of the god
has come. All the actors then chant, in a "complete chorus," words of
blessing and encouragement to the child.33
Although a certain artistic merit must not be denied this symbolical
refutation of the mother-cultists in favor of a larger community, this
community yet remains limited enough. The relationships and conflicts
within the George circle could hardly provide adequate material for a
revival of the German drama. There is, moreover, no indication that
George seriously thought so. By now he realized that far more necessary
than a reform of stagecraft and acting was the emergence of a great
dramatic poet. None of the non-Georgian dramatists of the day was
given any consideration or credit. But George was not so blind as not to
see that there was no great dramatic talent among his own followers.34
One long-cherished hope was left to the Master: Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
George's efforts to educate this sensitive and charming Austrian and to
make him align himself entirely with the Blatter had been frequently
repulsed, but he believed for a long time that Hofmannsthal might
become the reviver of the drama. His little lyrical plays "Der Tod des
Tizian" and "Der Tor und der Tod" had given much promise in the
early nineties. It was a great event for the whole Kreis when on March
18, 1899, "Das Deutsche Theater" in Berlin performed Hofmannsthal's
Der Abenteurerund die Sdngerin. O. A. H. Schmitz, at that time a mem-
ber of the Kreis, notes: "George himself had come to Berlin and had
condescended for the first time to visit a theatre. He sat hidden in one
of the boxes at the rear of the dress circle, shielded by a few of his faithful
ones."35 George also went to the first night of Hofmannsthal's Elektra
in Berlin (October 30, 1903).36His reaction to these two plays was ap-
parently not one of unqualified enthusiasm.
33They exclaim: "Siehe wir alle dir mutter: gliihendes kind!" (p. 155).
34For poets who were under the influence of George it was difficult to develop dramatic
talent. Andre von Gronicka finds that George's influence was "detrimental to Heiseler's
dramatic art," which was mostly "lyrical or choric in character." Henry von Heiseler (New
York: King's Crown Press, 1944), p. 166.
35 Ddmon Welt, p. 218.

3i See Briefwechsel zwischen Georgeund Hofmannsthal, ed. Robert Boehringer (Berlin:


Georg Bondi, 1938), p. 258. A scene from Elektra was printed in Bltter, vii, 40-43.
Ulrich K. Goldsmith 93

Stefan George felt that the great new play remained to be written.
Its one basic requirement was that it should express what is most noble
in man, irrespective of his special associations in time. Hence an imitation
of Greek tragedy as such was not necessarily assured of George's ap-
proval. In a letter to Hofmannsthal of December 1904 he showed that
he saw the essential qualities of true drama in Shakespeare's plays as
well as in the great Greeks, and he defined succinctly the difference
between Shakespeare and the modern social and historical drama as
he saw it: "In Shakespeare the dramatic action springs from the charac-
ters which his passionate soul has created; in the modern play: from
thought constructions, from plots which depend on certain external
conditions. With the former everything stands as rough and untamed
necessity, the latter deal in defiling superfluities and titillations."37
George sought to encourage Hofmannsthal to create the original mod-
ern drama which would lack those accidental elements of social milieu
and, instead, would have a mythical quality. He both threatened and
cajoled: "The great work for the stage has not been accomplished yet.
We would not know from whom to expect it, if not from you."
The gradual estrangement between the two men was deepening during
those years, for their temperaments and opinions were at variance.
George's chief criticism of Hofmannsthal was that he compromised his
high calling by cooperating in journalistic and other enterprises of the
day instead of keeping aloof from the World as the Master himself did.
The final break came over a small incident in 1906. Once severed from
the Kreis Hofmannsthal was considered by it an apostate who failed
to live up to a great mission. His collaboration with Richard Strauss,
which began in 1909, can only have confirmed that opinion, since modern
music was by that time on the Georgian index of culturally degenerate
forces.38By 1910 George had no longer any illusions that the changes
in the theatre which he desired would take place. Herbert Steiner ob-
serves that George said to him in that year that he had seen Eleanora
Duse and considered her art "a significant individual achievement,"
but "the modern theatre could not be saved."39
The editorial notes "Uber das drama" in the eighth Bldtter volume
(1909) reflect the attitude to which George had now resigned himself.
37 "Bei ibm bildet sich die
handlungaus gestalten seinerleidenschaftlichenseele bei
den heutigenaus gedanklichem:aus abwickelungen bei diesenoderjenenvoraussetzungen *
dortist alles rauheund rohenotwendigkeit-hieraberbefleckendezutat odergar kitzel."
Briefwechsel, p. 223.
38 For the Georgiancontemptfor modern music cf. Wolfskehl, "Uberden Geist der
Musik,"Jahrbuchfiirdie geistigeBewegung(1912),Im, 20-32 (esp.24-25), and ErichWolff
and Carl Petersen,Das Schicksalder Musik von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (Breslau:
F. Hirt, 1923),esp. pp. 191-261.
39Begegnungmit StefanGeorge(Aurora:Wells Coll. Press, 1942),pp. 7-8.
94 Stefan George and the Theatre

The editor recognizes that a reform of the arts of acting and staging
could never result in a new theatre. A refutation of the efficacy of merely
a "new gesture" is implied when it is suggested that one might as well
try to revive great painting by building a large factory for better and
more tasteful frames. "With such childish hopes they start today to
improve and to renew the exterior scaffolding in order to revive the
drama. All these efforts of the stage-manager, painter, and actor serve
only to draw attention to secondary things and to consign the true
meaning of drama to oblivion." The incontestable conclusion of the
article is that "if a renewal of the drama should come about, it will only
come through rhythm and through the living voice of a poet." But that
had now become a forlorn hope for the Georgians, for "no dramatic
wind fills the community, no elemental dramatic urge pushes the indi-
vidual as in Shakespeare's days."40 Sorrowful contempt was liberally
heaped upon the theatrical business. The criticism pointed out that the
theatre owed its successes, indeed its very existence, only to the opera-
tions of cunning financiers who exploited the lethargic habits of unedu-
cated audiences and fooled them by startling feats of stage mechanics.
Karl Wolfskehl's preoccupation with the drama did not last much
longer than his Master's. In his essay "Uber das Drama" in the seventh
Bltiter volume he too concluded with a heavy note of resignation:
"Those poetic works which are written in dramatic form today are
hardly ever meant to be performed on the stage if they have any artistic
value. They are either plays written in antiquated style or, usually,
lyrical poetry in dialogue form" (p. 65). It is difficult to say whether
he really thought that there was a future in this type of play. His own
"Mystery" plays in rhapsodic style, two of which ("Sanctus" and
"Orpheus") were published in the eighth Blitter volume, fit exactly his
definition of "lyrical poetry in dialogue form." The editor took pains to
distinguish these "Spiele" from drama proper. Having spoken the death
sentence on all contemporary dramatic art, he had to find kindlier words
for Wolfskehl's efforts; so he praised them "as the expression of a world
that was only just being formed," but he did not recommend these plays
as harbingers of a dramatic revival because after all they had nothing
to do "with the known requirements of the stage and [were]-as yet too
new to form a subject of discussion.""4
It is unlikely that Wolfskehl deceived himself about the possibilities
of his lyrical plays. In some further notes on the drama in the same
eighth volume, signed by him, Wolfskehl sums up the Georgian view
with sweeping finality: "The public stage is finished. One can tell the
40 Blitter
(1908-09), viII, 6-7, 5.
41
Page 6: Auslese aus den Jahren 1904-1909 (1909), p. 11.
Ulrich K. Goldsmith 95

impossibility of its rebirth by the very efforts of honest people to im-


prove it, rather than by the current loutish miscreations of bombast
and conventional sensationalism."42
The theatrical experiments of the George circle may strike us as
somewhat odd, especially since a solemn-serious treatment of great
figures from world literature is not usually associated with Munich
carnival revelries and with the festivities of the Schwabing bohgme
Moreover, in an age in which the length of the "run" of a show deter-
mines not only the magnitude of its box office success, but also in the
view of many critics the measure of its literary worth, the complete
disdain of popularity and the contempt for business considerations must
make the Georgian efforts appear impractical and futile. Yet when
George points out that the merit of a stage play depends on its poetic
qualities and on the greatness of its author, there is surely no room for
disagreement. Apart from occasional valiant attempts our civilization
lacks great drama today as much as it did forty years ago. Anyone aware
of the fundamental difficulty of reconciling the general need for mass
entertainment with the clamor for poetic excellence on the part of a
few will understand why George preferred eventually to devote himself
entirely to lyrical poetry in which he did not have to compromise his
high standards.
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
Winnipeg, Manitoba
42
Page 62. One more discussion of the contemporary theatre from the Georgian point
of view, Erich von Kahler's "Theater und Zeitgeist," appeared in Jalrbuch (1912), III,
92-115.

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