THE USE OF GESTURE AS A swusnc DEVICE IN THE ‘
moss AND nammc WORKS or? 0110 moms °

' Thesis for the Degree of mu. 7 ‘
MICHIGAN STATE umveasmr. A
BARBARA BUSKER WEBER

19:11

 

 

 

.5“?3‘3“?.§:-mzs:~'zsz ‘. .

 

(hav“

 

wt

Q

film-3;,“

.45.

 

 

ABSTRACT
THE USE OF GESTURE AS A STYLISTIC DEVICE IN THE
PROBE AND DRAMATIC WORKS OF OTTO LUDWIG
by

Barbara Busker Mieder

The works of Otto Ludwig contain numerous examples of
characters performing a great variety of gestures. The
purpose of this study is to analyze the stylistic function
of gesture in Ludwig's nine completed prose and eight
completed dramatic works. This is accomplished by a
division into five chapters, each treating a different
aSpect of the study.

The first chapter deals with the usage of gesture in
general. Here the terminology used is oriented toward both
English and German. Subclassified it is also viewed as
conscious and unconscious gesture as well as reflex action.
In addition, this chapter treats the general use of ges-
ture in the field of communication, and special attention
is paid to the discussion of the historical role which
it has played in literature.

The second chapter begins with a short chronology of
Ludwig's deve10pment as a literary artist including a
discussion of his concept of poetic realism. The remainder
of the chapter deals with the importance of gesture for the
writer. Here, both his hallucinations as a means of creation

as well as the incisive influence of such English writers

Barbara Busker Mieder

as Dickens and Shakespeare on his style and use of gesture
are discussed and substantiated by excerpts from his
theoretical writings.

An analysis of Ludwig's writing techniques in his
prose and dramatic works is the subject of chapter three.
It appears that Ludwig's prose works can be classified
into three distinct groups according to whether he employed
the traditional, the "scenic" method of narration, or a
combination of these two. These three narrative techniques
are discussed here in detail with numerous references to

his Romanstudien. His methods of integrating gesture into

 

these works through either auctorial intrusion or comments
in the dialogue are illuStrated by passages from the works.
Ludwig's concept of the staging of dramas is also treated
here along with a discussion of the conduciveness of his
dramatic style to the use of gesture. Again, Ludwig's
methods of integrating gesture in the drama either through
stage directions or through the remarks of other charac-
ters are shown in examples from his works.

In the fourth chapter four Specific functions of ges-
ture are discussed. The first of these consists of cases
in which Ludwig employs gestures instead of words to tell
the story or to convey certain messages otherwise left
unspoken. This function of gesture is treated in eight
specific subdivisions within the study. A second use of
gesture is its augmentation of the realistic aspects of

the author‘s works through his great love of detail. The

Barbara Busker Mieder

third function of gesture, humor, is divided into its

two primary aspects: humorous gesture and gesture per-

formed by humorous characters. The fourth function treats

its symbolic usage and shows how a gesture, in addition to

its overt meaning, can also intensify the meaning of the work.
The fifth and final chapter treats Ludwig's two pri-

mary uses of gesture, those of characterization and per-

sonification. The employment of gesture for characterization

occurs in basically three different ways in the author's

works: as introductory remarks, as comments within the

tekt, or as Leitmotifs. As in the previous chapter, each

of these methods is illustrated with passages from Ludwig's

works. Following a general discussion of the role of

Leitmotifs the use of personification in this way is

 

treated in addition to a discussion of the inclusion of
personification for other purposes such as are discussed
in the fourth chapter.

The study concludes with a summary of the results of
the investigation. in attempt is made to trace possible
develOpment in Ludwig's use of gesture as a stylistic de-
vice. However, a close analysis of statistical gesture
occurences reveals that he varied neither the frequency of
the occurence of gesture nor the type of gestures used in
the twelve years in which he completed the works discussed
here. Instead, one must conclude from the investigation that
development is primarily evident in his increasingly skillful

techniques of integrating the gesture into his works, especially

Barbara Busker Eieder

in the latter dramas and the longer prose works, to increase
the eloquence of the spoken word, to augment the realistic
aspects of the works, to supply humor, for purposes of
symbolism, as well as for characterization and personifi-
cation.

An appendix has also been attached including a dis-
cussion of the methodology used in the preparation of this
study as well as detailed lists of the number of occurences

of each specific gesture.

THE USE OF CESTURE AS A STYLISTIC DEVICE IN THE
PROSE AND DRAMATIC WORKS OF OTTO LUDWIG
by

Barbara Busker Mieder

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of German and Russian

1971

Dedicated to
my husband Wolfgang

and my parents

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Professor George T. Radimersky I wish to express
my deep appreciation for his continued interest and the
guidance he has given me throughout the preparation of
this study. I would also like to thank Professor William
N. Hughes, Professor Thomas w. Juntune, and Professor

Mark O. Kistler for their help and encouragement.

iii

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...................................
Gesture in General .............................
Otto Ludwig ....................................
Otto Ludwig's Style ............................
Four Functions of Gesture in Ludwig's Works ....
Characterization and Personification ...........
Conclusion .....................................

Appendix: Neth0d01ogy oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

iv

1

5
20
50
69
110
147
152

Actions speak louder
than words: proverb

INTRODUCTION

Although Otto Ludwig is prOperly regarded as one of
the more influential nineteenth century poets, research
pertinent to him both in his native Germany as well as
abroad has sharply declined within the past half century.
The critical edition of his works which was begun in 1912
has never been finished, and the Q§§g_Ludwig Jahrbficher
which appeared yearly from 1929 to 1941 have unfortunately
also been discontinued. The purpose of this dissertation
is aimed at remedying this neglect by exploring what until
now has been a rather superficially treated aspect of his
style, namely his use of gesture in his completed prose
and dramatic works.

As opposed to Otto Ludwig research in general, the
exploration of the stylistic usage of gesture by German
writers has been rather in vogue in recent years. Studies
have been made of many of the prominent authors of nine-
teenth century Germany from the classicist Goethe to
Heinrich von Kleist, the realist Theodor Storm and even

1 Considering this trend in

the more modern Thomas Mann.
gesture research the neglect of Otto Ludwig during the
last several decades seems even more noticeable; for

especially in this field he has demonstrated a talent

2

surpassing, or at least equal to, his fellow compatriots.
Ludwig has been called one of the "experimentier-
freudigsten deutschen Erzahler des 19. Jahrhunderts,"2
and nowhere is this clearer than in his extensive and
creative stylistic use of gesture. In J. Vlasimsky's
excellent article on "Mimische Studien zu Storm" he points
out several ways in which an author can make known the
feelings of his characters: either the author by auctorial
intrusion tells us of these feelings, or he lets the
characters themselves discuss their emotions, or,the most
subtle of all, he lets the characters express their inner-
most feelings through a skillful combination of speech
and gesture seemingly emanating from the character himself
with no indication of the omnipotent author in the back-

5 "Charakteristisch fur Ludwigs Begabung ist die

ground.
groBe Ausffihrlichkeit mit der er sich auf die Beschreibung
der auBeren Erscheinung seiner Figuren, ihres Mienen-
und Gebardenspieles einlafit. Auch beim Drama wollte er
nicht durch das Wort allein, sondern durch den harmonischen
Zusammenklang von Wort und auBerer Darstellung wirken."4
This skillful combination of word and gesture in the works
of Otto Ludwig is the subject of this investigation. To
accomplish this, the analysis has been broken down into
five main areas.

The first chapter deals with the usage of gesture in

general. Before such a study can be made, the question

of what exactly gesture is and what distinguishes it from

5

other categories such as mime and pantomime must be fully
explained. This 3% done in the first section of the

chapter which includes a discussion of different cate-»
gories of gesture, and also the manner in which conscious
and unconscious gesture differ from reflex action. This
chapter then deals with the role of gesture in communication,
both generally and in the field of literature.

Chapter two shifts the emphasis from gesture to the
author at hand, Otto Ludwig. Here Ludwig's develOpment
as a writer is discussed related to the ideas of poetic
realism which he proclaims in his writings. In addition,
this chapter contains a discussion of the importance of
gesture for Ludwig. This phenomenon is broken down into
two main categories: gesture and hallucinatibns as a means
of creation, and the influences of other European writers,
notably Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, upon
his usage of gesture.

The third chapter concerns itself with Ludwig's style
in general. This treatment of his approach to prose and
drama is necessary in order to show how his style is
conducive to the use of gesture. Consequently, the author's
different methods of integrating gesture in his works are
analyzed here. The discussion includes a section on Ludwig's
innovative ideas of scenic narration and erlebte §2g2_in
the field of prose along with an analysis of his concept'
of staging for his dramas.

The function of gesture is treated as the principal

4

topic in chapter four. Here, the discussion centers.
around the questions of how and to what ends gesture is
used. This is broken down into four main categories:
gesture used to tell the story or to convey a certain
message; gesture used for purposes-of realism (love of
detail); for humor; and lastly, its symbolic use.

The fifth and last chapter is closely related to
number four and is devoted to a discussion of Ludwig”s
primary use and function of gesture in his works, namely
in the area of characterization and personification.
Categorically, this tOpic belongs in the previous chapter;
however, the great wealthzof material available necessitates
a more exact division. within this field Ludwig reaches
the apex of his skill, and consequently, a separate chap-
ter and a more detailed discussion seem appropriate here-

The summary shall draw together the discussions and
analyses and also contain a consideration of possible
develOpment on Ludwig's part in his use of gesture. An
appendix has been attached to show the methodolOgy which

was used in the preparation of this study.

GESTURE IN GENERAL

In order to begin a study such as this we must start
with the definition and categorization of the pertinent
terminology. In this case this apparently simple task
becomes.somewhat involved. Firstly, we are dealing with
two languages, English and German, in which most of the
Otto Ludwig research is written, and secondly, the study
of gesture puts us in a field not solely connected with
the field of literature but also with those of psychology
as well as the dramatic art.. Thus, we are faced not only
with the problem of two separate vocabularies, but also-
with the difficulties of the several different nuances
of meaning which exist for each term in the sdveral fields
of study affected-

In the English language within the category of gesture
there occur also such closely related terms as "gesticulatiou,"
"mime," and "pantomime." The confusion inherent in the
meanings of these words is due in the main not to their
particular similarity in meaning but rather to their care-
less use by journalists and other writers. Macdonald
Critchley in his excellent book on Th2 Language 9;,Gesturg
suggests the following to alleviate this confusion:

It would be better to restrict the word
"pantomime" to that variety of dumb-show

5

6
which aims at expressing an idea, while
"gesture" of its diminutive "gesticulation"
should be made to connote those movements,
particularly of the hands and face, which
accompany Speech for the purpose of emphasis.
Pantomime is silent acting, while gesture is
merely a kind of italicized speech. 1
This study deals, thus, with the stylistic usage of gesture
in Otto Ludwig's works, and since his talent was definitely
not that of the dumb-show variety, we may somewhat safely
set the terms "mime" and "pantomime" aside as long as we
keep in mind "that no very sharp frontier separates ges-
ture from pantomime, and that at times eXpressive move-
ments cannot readily be assigned to one or the other
category. The same action can serve either capacity."2
A second field of study which is closely related to
that of gesture is that of physiognomy.. This area will
be ignored in this paper; yet, to avoid further con-
fusion, this term should also be clarified here. Phys-
iognomy refers primarily "to the art of divining character
by a study of the face."5 Although this is a popular and
interesting area of investigation, it becomes an almost
impossible task when one relies solely on an author's
descriptions in his works. In the present study of Ludwig,
we shall touch only upon a border-area of physiognomy,
namely such occurences as blushing and pallor which,
though indeed a part of the study of the face, are con-
sidered to be solely involuntary actions. V
Having thus shed light on the different meanings of
the word "gesture" and its related terminology in the field

,W

1' 3.

7

of English semantics, it becomes necessary to do the same
with the German vocabulary. Here the problem is somewhat
more involved because the two terms which need explanation,
"Geste" and "Gebarde," are more closely related than those
of the English language. Consequently, we are dealing here
mainly with nuances in meaning rather than different areas
of investigation. The problem is further confused by the
fact that, if there actually is a distinct difference in
meaning, it is more often than not completely ignored by
researchers in this field.

Hans-Ulrich Wespi begins his study on Der Geste als
Ausdrucksform with the following explanation:

Unter "Geste" verstehen wir in dieser Ab-
handlung den gesamtkarperlichen Ausdruck
eines Affektes, wobei eigentliche Handlungen
auszuschlieBen sind, eines Denkprozesses,
soweit sich dieser nicht in der Wortsprache
auBert, und eines Willenserlebnisses, inso-
weit es an die Stelle von Wortsprache oder
Willenshandlung tritt. #
This seemingly all-inclusive statement embraces all that
was contained in the definition of the English "gesture"
and even ventures somewhat into that hazy area of dif-
ferentiation between "gesture" and "mime."

The definition of "Gebarde" is similar to this broadest
epranation of "Geste." Whereas in the narrowest sense
"Gesten" can be limited to certain portions of the anatomy,
"Gabarde umfaBt das ganze Gehaben, die Gesten der Hande,

die Bewegungen der Beine, das Tragen des Kopfes ...."5,

or as J.J. Engel wrote, "Der Sitz des Gebehrdenspiels

8

ist nicht dieses und jenes Glied, dieser oder jener

"6 However, because of the

Theil des Kdrpers insonderheit.
great similarity in the meanings of the two terms, most
writers, especially within the field of literature, prefer
to use them interchangeably, as we shall also do here,

as outward expressions of inner emotions.

Moreover, because we are dealing with the field of
literature, it must be remembered that not every movement
of the character or actor can be treated with the same
importance. We are not dealing with actions in true life,
but rather with a second-hand account of the movements
of the characters imagined by their author. Therefore,
as Wiegand says:

Unter Gesten verstehe ich alle Angaben fiber-
Bewegungen der Hande, der FfiBe, des Karpers,
der Gesichtmuskeln, der Augen u. dg1., die
vom Dichter gegeben werden, meist um einen
inneren Zustand zu verdeutlichen. Gelegent-
lich werden auch Bewegungen der ganzen Person
hierherzuziehen sein, nicht aber beis iels-
weise die einfachen Bemerkungen fiber ommen
und Gehen. Ebensowenig die Bewegungen der
GliedmaBen, die der Ausffihrung einer bestimmten
Tatigkeit, etwa der Hervorbringung eines bestimmten
Gegenstandes dienen. 7
In other words, this analySis will deal solely with the
expressive movements of the characters, ignoring what
commonly is included in the term "Zweckhandlung."

"Expressive movement," however, is a broad term, which,
for our purposes, can be further broken down into the
three different categories of conscious gesture, uncon-
scious gesture, and reflex action. Our presentation of

the terminology involved in this study would not be complete

9

without a closer examination of these areas.
"Conscious gesture," just as the term suggests, is

a movement performed with the compDete realization of g
the person making the motion. This type of gesture is
of importance for a study such as this, because with
conscious or arbitrary gesture we are dealing with actions
which the character wants to make. It is a very demon-
strative manifestation of the inner emotions of the
character. Because it is something which he very conscious-
ly does, there is no question as to whether such a move-
ment is interpretable or not --the character himself
gives us the clue. For example, "Wo das Lachen vom Helden
im siegesbewuBten Hohn angestimmt wird, da ist es eben
nicht mehr ungezfigelter Affektausdruck, sondern hat etwas
BewuBtes, Theatralisches, es will auf andere wirken."8
Because the human being is a thinking animal, most of our
gestures are conscious. In fact, "jede unserer Handlungen
ist eine Willkfirbewegung --wenigstens solange sie nicht
durch Wiederholung zur unwillkfirlichen Bewegung geworden
ist."9

I Here lies the essence of "unconscious" or "unarbitrary
gesture." The little motions of expression which a charac-
ter has repeated so often that he is no longer award of
making them can tell the astute observer much about a
person's or character's personality. These are expressions

of an emotion which is so familiar to the character that

its outward manifestation has become second nature to him.

10

Obviously, this type of gesture is also important for
the investigation of literary works such as those of
Otto Ludwig.

A third category of gesture is "reflex action." Al-
though similar to that which we have called unconscious
or unarbitrary gesture, reflex action indicates a neuro-
logical phenomenon. A reflex action is an "auf einen
bestimmten Reiz mit Regelmafiigkeit und in typischem Ab-
lauf und unabhangig von unserem Willen sich einstellende

"10 These are mainly the unconscious gestures

Reaktion.
which are common to all human beings, such as blushing, '
pallor, or trembling. Their universality makes them
just as excellent indicators of inner emotion as conscious
and unconscious gesture.

The difficulty in deciphering the meanings of any
one of these categories of gestures is that the three
groups are not always mutually exclusive. Often in lit-
erature we are faced with what is called a "Gabarden-
komplex." "Mit dem Begriff 'Gebardenkomplex' bezeichnen
wir Ausdrucksformen, die ihren Inhalt nicht durch gig_
physisches Symptom, sondern durch mehrere offenbaren."11
Such a series of actions may include one or more different
gestures from any of these three categories.

In addition to the categories of gestures which have
just been discussed here, there is also a second means

of subdividing them. Certain studies of the same nature

as this one prefer the two areas of "gesture of characterization"

11

(Gewohnheitsmimik) and "gesture of situation" (Situations-
or Handlungsmimik). BaSically, these divisions are similar
to the above mentioned conscious and unconscious gesture,
except that here the deciding difference is not hp! the
gesture originates but rather ghgg, The Gewohnheitsmimik
includes all descriptions on the part of the author which
are a part of the permanent make-up of any individual
character. These are all the (mainly unconscious) gestures
which a person.performs so often that they are considered
almost a part of his basic personality and have little or
nothing to do with the action of the plot. Situationsmggig,
however, as the name suggests, are those (mainly conscious)
gestures which are dependent upon the situation facing
the character at a particular time. This area borders
very closely on Zweckhandlung, and, therefore, this division
is in the main being avoided in this study. This decision
is strongly supported by H.A. Peter's comment in his
gesture study on Thomas Mann:

Da die Gewohnheitsmimik den Wert einer Dauer-

aufnahme hat, so gibt die Gewohnheitsmimik

tiefere Einblicke in das Wesen einer Gestalt;

denn sie ermOglicht einen direkten SchluB

auf Temperament und Character, wahrend die

Situationsmimik in erster Linie die momentane

Gemfitsregung und den Affekt wiedergibt. 12

Obviously, as has been mentioned above, the decipher-

ing of gesture is not always a particularly easy matter.
The subdivision into conscious gesture, unconscious gesture ,

and reflex action is a helpful tool, yet even here the

divisions are not always absolute. In the field of

12

literature eSpecially, where one must deal not only with
the described actions of the characters but also with the
author who is making the descriptions, one must be par-
ticularly careful in the classification of each individual
motion, and in discernment of any particular motion which
may be a key to the character’s personality. For a
clarification in this matter, in this study general mean-
ingqu.gesture has been separated from pDot action and
the former alone is being treated.

Wir verstehen hier unter 'Gebarden’ alle

kOrperlichen Bewegungen und Haltungen, die

einen Gehalt ausdrficken, die aber nicht prak-

tische Zweckhandlung sind. Unter diesen

weitgehaltenen Begriff fallen nicht nur Glied-

bewegungen, sondern auch das Lachen und das

Weinen, Mienen und physiologische Symptome

wie das Zittern, das Erbleichen und Errdten. 13

With this definition then of gesture or Gebarde in
mind, the next topic in our discussion of gesture in generali
which needs to treated is that of the role of gesture in
communication. The definitions and categorizations
presented here are of little use to the literary scholar
unless their relevance to the field of literary interpre-
tation can be shown. And as literature consists primarily
in an author communicating,his ideas to his reading public
through his writings, the role of gesture in communication
is important.
No one would disagree that for human beings the most

common and mOst effective means of communication is the

spoken language in its simplest sense, i,g, in reference

to literature, the language of words. However, this is

13

by no means man's only method of communicating.

It would seem to be high time to take into

account that man has always communicated

with his whole body, and that consequently

there are several languages - -the olfactory,

the tactile, the visual -- and that among

these the language of gesture holds a front

seat. 14
This is true in literature as well as in life, and un-
fortunately literary interpretations often concentrate
only on the most obvious, the language of words, to the
neglect of the important role which gesture can play.

Often gesture is only noticed when it is the sole
means of communication, and although it is here the
most obvious and easiest to interpret, its usage in con-
junction with word language is no less important. Lang-
uage without gesture, in fact, loses all its life, for
gesture is intrinsic to language, "and if you cut it out,
you cut roots and get a sapless and gradually a rotting
if indeed not a petrifying language."15 Gesture plays
such a vital role in language that the analogy can be made
between it and the usage of punctuation, for gesture is
three-dimensional accentuation of all that words wish
or are able to say.16
In literature this is especially important, for

nit seems that the highest use of language 2;.2. literaturéj
cannot be made without incorporating some such quality
of gesture within it."17 Just as important as the usage

of gesture for the Spoken.word to prevent a "dead" lang-

uage, is its importance for the written word in literature.

14

"How without it could the novelist make his dialogue

18 Gesture, as we shall see in Otto Ludwig's

ring?"
works, is basic to the creativity of any excellent author,
for only it can accomplish the emphasis on certain shades
of meaning whichvords alone are often incapable of doing.
As R.P. Blackmur has said: "Gesture, in language, is the
outward and dramatic play of inward and imagined meaning.
It is that play of meaningfulness among words which can-
not be defined in the formulas in the dictionary."19
This intrinsic relationship between gestures and words
as well as the importance of gestures without words in the
task of interpreting an author's works has led to specu-
lation as to whether the meanings of different singular
gestures can be scientifically explained in such a manner
that each, comparable to a spoken word, could be read
individually and the whole put together as a sort of

0 Unfortunately,

language of gesture (GebardenSprache).2
attempts of this type have had for the most part negative
results. Charles Darwin categorized anthrOpologically

the meanings of many gestures which he considered common

to the whole human race,21

but this is not possible in
the field of literature. Here we are faced not with
certain gestures removed from a particular-context but
rather with the interrelationship of a number of gestures
and words within the context which the author has given.

"Die leiseste Veranderung einer Miene, die ungewollteste

Reflexbewegung wird in dieser Gebardentechnii unldsbar

15

hineingeknfipft in das Ganze des seelischen Gewebes und

"22 For

ist nur aus diesem Ganzen heraus verstandlich.
our purposes it is best to ignore this scientific approach
to a Gebardensprache and remain with the following def-
inition: "GebardenSprache ist der Ausdruck von Gedanken,
Geffihlen und Willensauflerungen durch Gebarde"23 both

with and without the accompaniment of word language.

A second topic of concern should also be briefly
mentioned here before going on to the role of gesture in
literature, and that is the question as to whether all
gesture is equally universal as Darwin would have us
believe and whether this is of importance for a literary
investigation. "Es ist nun eine bekannte Tatsache schon
der alltaglichen naiven Psychologie," says Georg Hartmann,
"daB alle menschlichen Geffihle sich in den Ausdrucks-
formen des Kerpers widerspiegeln."24 However, there are
definitely nuances in the extent of these Ausdrucksformen
which need to be kept in mind. Not all people express
their emotions through gesture to the same degree. If
one accepts Darwin's theory on the universality of certain
gestures, the belief cannot be carried so far as to exclude
the slight changes which occur because of different in-
tensities of emotion. This, we will see, becomes important
in the study of an author who has delved into a spectrum
of genres such as Otto Ludwig. Ludwig wrote primarily
about his native Thuringia, yet peOple of all classes

are the subjects of his works. Consequently, one must

16

be careful not to suggest that any particular gesture -—’
out of its context -- carries the same meaning in all of
his works no matter by whom such action is performed.
Although proponents of a universal Gebardensprache may
wish such a notion to be true, it can be a dangerous
pitfall in a study of this type.

By bringing the author into this discussion of gesture
as a means of communication, we are led into the final
section of this chapter which is dedicated to the role of
gesture in literature, another means of communication.
Because this study of Otto Ludwig deals only with his
completed prose and dramatic works, this survey of the
role of gesture in literature is also restricted to these
areas.

Although the drama appears at first glance to be
the literary genre most suited to the expressive use of

25

gesture, a short historical survey reveals that this has
not always been the case. Classical Greek drama, for instance,
is characterized in part by its complete lack of gesture
and mimicry.

Der Kothurn und die lange Gewandung machten

alle kOrperliche Beredsamkeit, die Masks

alle Mimik uanglich; die PersOnlichkeit des

Schauspielers, deren Ausdruck das Gesicht

ist, muBte zurficktreten. Da so die himik in

der Darstellung nicht Platz finden konnte,

muBte sie auch im Dialoge selber fehlen. 26
Because gesture is so basic to the acting of roles,
however, this type of drama later develOped into a freer

form of art. The next step which drama made in its use

17

of gesture occurred when the masks were discarded, and
certain universal actions and facial expressions were
accorded specific emotions. This second stage of devel-
opment lasted, as surprising as it may seem, until the
eighteenth century when finally critics such as Lessing
undertook to bring about a drama reform,27 and today
the idea seems very remote,

daB es zu jener Zeit traditionelle Gesten gab,

die der SchauSpieler ausffihren durfte, weil

tie gewissen asthetischen Grundregeln entspredhen,

wahrend die Individualgeste nicht beliebig

gewahlt werden konnte, sondern der Forderung

nach Schdnheit entSprechen sollte. 28
Since Lessing's time drama itself has become a much looser
genre, and this is reflected in the author's as well as
the actor's use of gesture. "Das Theater unserer Zeit
scheint durchaus der Individualgeste verpflichtet, die
nach Wahrheit allein verlangt."29 Gesture has become an
intrinsic part of all drama since the age of the enlighten-
ment. This includes, of course, what the author has ‘
included in his stage directions, what he suggests in the
dialogue, as well as each actor's own individual inter--
pretations of the gestures required for the role he is
portraying. As we shall discover with a closer analysis
of his works, Otto Ludwig was a master at manipulating
this asPect of the drama. His reputation as an innovative
dramatist rests to no small degree upon this fact.

Unlike in the drama, gesture has always played a

large part in prose works. However, it is doubtful that

18

its use was always a conscious effort on the part of the
author. Most likely it was not. As a matter of fact,
H.A.Peter maintains, "im deutschen Roman wurde sietfdie
Mimik oder GebardenSprache":]erst um 1800 bewuBt in den
Dienst der Charakteristik gestellt."30 Again this came
about through the age of the enlightenment (especially
Lavater's Studien),31 "Wie alle anderen Charakterisierungs-
mittel fand dann die Mimik in den deutschen realistischen
Romanen und Novellen gleichmaBige und ausgedehnte Ver-
wendung, so schon bei Immermann, besonders aber bei
Keller, Storm, Raabe, Ludwig, Freytag, Router und Fon-
tane... ."32 Again in the field of prose we find Ludwig's
name mentioned as one of the innovators of a more artistic
use of gesture.

To be an innovator in both fields was not just a
matter of historical chance.a Although Ludwig also wrote
some lyrics during his lifetime, his great strength
lay in the two genres just mentioned. Considering that
we are discussing here his skill in the use of gesture
in his works, this double area of interest is quite
noteworthy, although it should be mentioned parentheti-
cally, too, that it is not a particularly uncommon phenomenon
among German writers. "Das Epos ist in jedem Pnhkt das
Gegenteil von Drama,"35 Ernst Hirtthas‘said. "Von der
Handlung aus bestimmt sind die ... Gattungen der auBeren
Form nach: ...Dramatik: Darstellung einer Handlung in

Monolog, Dialog, Gebarden. Epik: Mischung von Bericht und

19

5“ This difference in the

und Darstellung einer Handlung."
genres has been bridged in part by Otto Ludwig. Through
his use of gesture in his works he has brought prose

and drama closer together by making his prose more
dramatic and by his unique ideas on the staging of his
dramatic works.

The clue to this accomplishment lies in the following
fact: "Die Art, wie der Dichter seine Personen schildert,
hangt offenbar damit zusammen, wie er sie vor seinem
'inneren Auge' sieht."55 Hence, Otto Ludwig's use of
gesture is also dependent upon his 'inner eye” and the
manner in which his characters are conceived. Thus. it
seems that already in their conception, his prose and
dramatic works share a portion of common ground. This
discussion of Ludwig's methods of artistic creation and

the importance of gesture therein leads us into chapter

two.

OTTO LUDWIG

"Es gibt kaum einen Dichter, dessen Bedeutung so
wenig im Verbaltnis zu seinem Ruf steht, kaum ein Dichter-
leben, das wie dies so ganz ein Martyrium war."'4 This
statement by Heinrich Bulthaupt from his book Dramaturgie
ggg Schauspiels is an excellent one to introduce here a
brief chronology of Ludwig's life and the discussion of
his develOpment as a creative artist. Few writers posses-
sing a similarly great amount of talent as Otto Ludwig have
received such poor acclaim as he. And although the suffer-
ing of great artists is almost legendary, few have endured
hardship to the same extent as Ludwig while at the same
time continuing production of high quality literary works.

The story of Ludwig's life begins with his birth in
1815 in Eisfeld as the son of reputedly literarily gifted
parents. His youth was not a happy one. His father
died a physically and mentally broken man, suspected
(though falsely) of scandal in Eisfeld, when Ludwig
was twelve. He and his mother lived thereafter with his
uncle, her brother, who owned and managed a general store
(”Kramladen") in Eisfeld. In 1829 Ludwig became an
apprentice there after his studies were interrupted at the

request of his mother who feared the high cest of such a

20

21

venture. Unfortunately she, too, passed away at an early
age in 1831, and the young Otto was faced with an unhappy
life with his uncle whose home was now under the hands of
a new and unfriendly housekeeper. Consequently, he spent
another year away at school (1852-53) in Saalfeld but
returned the following summer to his garden in Eisfeld;
Ludwig, the Autodidakt, had been emotionally far above
his fellow students at the Lyceum. He lived that summer
with his friend Schaller and totally dedicated himself

to his main love at that time, music - composing as well
as writing and directing his own operas. (Already we

see here the seeds of his later dramatic works and the
beginning of his great respect for E.T.A. Hoffmann.)

He also spent some time with purely literary projects,
for example "Skizzen aus dem Kramladenleben,’ but” for
the most part, his interest at this time was purely
musical.

Thus was Ludwig's life Spent in Eisfeld until 1839,
when, after the death of his uncle, he received a stipend
from the Herzog von Meiningen enabling him to continue
his musicah education under the direction of Felix Mendels-
sohn in Leipzig. Unfortunately, these two were total
opposites, and the relationship between them was never
a very happy one. Ludwig's stay in Leipzig was also
complicated by the first of a long series of neurological
attacks in the summer of 1840 which confined him to his

bed for three months with cramps in all parts of his body.

22

These were so_severe that he was totally incapable of
practicing his music; not to Speak of attending any musical
functions.

However, as unsuccessful as this first visit to Leipzig
was musically, it was here that Ludwig made the first
steps in his literary career. In January or February of
1840 he completed his firSt Novelle, 23g Hausgesinde, and
later in that same year we find a diary notation showing
his choice of a new course in life,.that of literature
instead of music: "Mir genfigt das Vage der Musik nicht
mehr. Gestalten muB ich haben."2 He succeeded in
publishing this first Novelle in serial form in pg; m:
pg; Unterhaltungsblatt ffig.g;g_gebildete Lesewelt.

He finally left Leipzig in October to return for two
quiet years to Eisfeld. Here he Spent time studying the
dramas of Shakespeare and Goethe and Lessigg's Hamburgische
Dramaturgie while at the same time continuing work on
many drama fragments, such as his famous "Agnes Bernauerin."
On the basis of his literary achievements, his formerly
musical stipend was extended again until Easter of 1843.

Again Ludwig returned to Leipzig, "sich mitten hinein
in den wogenden Strom der damaligen Litteraturbewegung zu
stiirzen."3 Here he became friends with Heinrich Laube
who later published some of Ludwig's works in his Zeitggg
£Q3,gig elegante flglg. During this stay in Leipzig Ludwig
completed what commonly is considered the best of his

early shorter works, Maria, along with his first dramatic

23

attempt, the Lustspiel_§g§g§ Egg; and the Wahrhaftige
Geschichte zgg_ggp'gggi wunschen, which, based on E.T.A.
Hoffmann, reflects to a certain extent Ludwig's own ex-
periences as a budding author.

In the Spring of 1845 Ludwig moved from Leipzig to
Dresden, Garsebach and eventually MeiBen, where he spent
the years 1844 to 1850. In MeiBen he met his future
wife Emilie Winkler and also enjoyed one of the healthiest
periods of his life. At this time he was working on
both Novellen as well as dramas, of which 2ig_Emanzipation
ggg|Domestiken, Die Buschnovelle, and the highly acclaimed
VorSpiel 533.933 Torgauer Hg}dg_were all published in
Laube's Zeitung pg; gig elegante Eggg, Perhaps the most
important event, however, which occurred during these
years was his friendship with Eduard Devrient,who was
at the time the director of the Dresdener Hoftheater.

It was Devrient who gave Ludwig such encouragement in the
following years that it enabled him to finish many of the
fragments which he had long been contemplating or working
on. Among these were Dig_Rechte des Herzens and gig. ‘
Waldburg which he completed in 1845, 23g Fraulein Egg.
Scuderi in 1848, and Dig Pfarrrose and Egg’Erberster in
1849. The most important was, of course, 23—1: Erbfarm
which Ludwig had revised according to Devrient's advice
and which was performed in March of 1850 with huge success
in Dresden.

This was the beginning of the peak of Ludwig's literary

24

career. He had finally married Emilie in 1852 and the
early yearssof their marriage were quite happy ones during
which he was very productive. What are now considered to
be his great masterpieces all followed after 223 Erbferster
within the next six years. Unfortunately, however, already
in 1852, as he workedon his last completed drama Dig
Makkabaer, he was again plagued with a return of the
nervous disorder and its painful symptoms which accompanied
him his life long. He writes:
Ich schrieb immer acht oder zehn Zeilen, dann
fingen die Krampfe im Unterleibe an in solcher
Art, daB jeder Atemzug ein StChnen wurde, das
dauerte den Tag, die Nacht und wieder einen
halben Tag; nun muBte ich mich doch wieder von
der Tortur erholen, dann wieder mich sammeln,
was ich eigentlich hatte machen wollen. 4

Shortly after this attack and the completion of 212.
Makkabagg Eduard Devrient left Dresden, and without his
encouragement Ludwig never again succeeded in finishing
any of his dramatic fragments. .

Second only to the helpful influence of Devrient was
that of Berthold Auerbach. At a time when Ludwig seemed
able to make little prOgress with dramatic attempts,
Auerbach encouraged him in the field of prose. This
proved to be a most successful turn of events, for within
the next few years, 1854-1856, Ludwig gave the German
nation three literary masterpieces in prose: Dig Heiteretei,
£13 932 3253;; i3 gig Traufe, and Zwischen Himmel _u_n_c_1_ %.

Unfortunately, following this period of rapid creativity,

-Ludwig was once again beset with a series of attacks of

25

illness which never again enabled him to complete any of
his many fragments. However, what he did accomplish dur-
ing these years is just as important. During his long
bouts with illness he wrote in diary form his theories

of dramatic and prose writings. These were never intended
for publication, but rather for his own edification. They
were later organized and published, however, and these

Romanstudien and Shakespearestudien have since proved

 

invaluable to writers, critics, and literary scholars alike.

In February 1865 Otto Ludwig's death brought an end to
his long years of suffering. His final words were charac--
teristic of the life he had led: "Wenn's doch noch
mcglich ware --zu arbeitenl"5 -

As can be seen by this Short chronology, one can easily
divide Ludwig‘s life into three periods of creativity if we
refer primarily only to his completed works. During the
years 1840 to 1845 Ludwig completed six short Erzahlungen
in addition to many lyrics which have here been discounted.
From 1845 to 1852 he concentrated primarily on the eight
dramas which he brought to a finish. The last and shortest
peried of creativity were the years 1854 to 1856 during
which his three longer prose masterpieces were completed.6
Within each of these three periods it is possible to trace
the development of Otto Ludwig from a literary apprentice
to a mature writer and master story-teller.

His first story 2§§_Hausgesinde is a typical Erltlingsh
flank, weak in plot and strongly dependent on the influence

26

of other, i,g, here romantic, authors.
The framework of incidents is both conventional
and needlessly circumstantial. The plot centers
not around one, but around three boxes, and
Ludwig's main concern seems Do Be to manipulate
these three objects in such a way as to keep
both the characters and the reader in a state
of hopeless confusion until the very end, when
their contents are finally revealed. The characters
are as conventional as the plot. All are so much
like puppets that we have difficulty in feeling
them as real human beings and accordingly do not
care what happens to them. 7
This same basic criticism also applies to the conventional
and yet confused plot of Die Emanzipation der Domestiken,-
his second completed work.

His next story, Die wahrhaftige Geschichte von den
drei Wfinschen, though based on Ludwig's own experiences
during his second stay in Leipzig, is "eine konsequente
Studie im phantastischen Marchenstil E.T.A. Hoffmanns,
stark an dessen 'Goldenen TOpf' erinnernd, ohne ihn aber

entfernt zu erreichen."8

At the same time, however, "there
are several well-composed passages," and "they are evidence
of Ludwig's steady progress as a narrative writer."9 The
story is obviously based on E.T.A. Hoffmann "aber in Aus-
malen kleiner Gesten und Grimassen geht der Schflder fiber

den Meister noch weit hinaus."’10

Already here we can note
that Ludwig has begun, though barely, to develop his own
style.

It was in this same year (1845) that Ludwig moved to
Dresden, and here he came in contact with many young artists.

Gradually he became aware of how much an artist and an author

27

have in common. "So wfirde er zu starkerem Beobachten der
'Natur angehalten. Von jetzt ab bekommen die Naturschilder—
ungen bei Ludwig ein viel Sinnfalligeres Geprage; sie er-
innern oft an die Kunst des Landschaftsmalers."q1 Con-
scious of this close relationship between both the literary
and the creative artist, Ludwig wrote the Novella yggig,
commonly considered his highest achievement during this
earliest creative period and a demonstration of definite
progress since the completion of the earlier works. Here
we note, for example, a much more skillful use of gesture
for purposes of characterization as well as description.q2
Upon completion of flggig Ludwig began directing his
energies toward the area of drama, and consequently the

latter of the early prose works, Die Buschnovelle and Das

Merchen vom toten Kinde, revert to the mistakes which were

 

made in his first Novellen. Never again during this earliest
creative period did Ludwig reach the same heights which
he had achieved with Hggig.

The influence of painting, however, which can be so
strongly felt in Hggig is also present in the dramas
which Ludwig wrote in his second creative period (1845-1852).
"Uberhaupt ruckt Ludwig die Kunst des Malers und Dramatikers

13

auffallend nah zusammen." Such obvious steps of literary
development as we noted from 1840 to 1845 are not present
during these years, yet there can be no doubt that with each
successive drama from ngpg'gggi to D3; Erbfcrster and

Die Makkabaer Ludwig became increasingly aware of his

28

own style, a part of which being his unique use of gesture.
Although one is hesitant to attempt the painstaking task
of searching out every weakness in the earliest of these
dramas where Ludwig's style was not yet carefully moulded,
critics have not yet grown tired of extolling the latter
dramas, particularly Der Erbfdrster, for its unique style
and its great contribution to poetic realism.

The most creative years of Ludwig's life in reference
to his completed works were, as mentioned above, from
1840 to 1856. It is important to note that most of this
time (184541852) was spent in concentration on his eight
dramatic works. Ludwig regarded himself primarily as a
dramatist and was convinced that his greatest talents
lay with this genre. Most literary critics would not
agree. The earliest dramatic works, though by no means
poor, are definitely not outstanding, and only the latter
two, D§£,Erbf6rster and Die Makkabaer, are still performed
on the stage.

Although he continued to regard himself primarily
as a dramatist, Ludwig did concentrate from 1854 to 1856
on prose works, and in addition to his final two dramas,
it is the three longer prose works which he wrote in these
years upon which his reputation rests today. "Er halt sich
vorwiegend ffir einen Dramatiker..., ist aber --¥ihm das
vorwegzunehmen -- wahrscheinlich im Hauptbegabungsanteil
ein Epiker."14

Ludwig ist gegen seine epischen Werke von einem

29

tiefen MiBtrauen erffillt, weil sie ihm nicht

so viel Hfihe kosteten wie seine dramatischen,
vielmehr ihm leicht von der Hand gingen.‘ WHhrend
er sein ganzes Leben lang nach dem Drama, das
ShakeSpeare und Schiller vereinigen soDl, wie nach
dem Stein der Weisen sucht, findet er als Epiker
den ihm gemaBen Stil von selber. 15

In this statement one finds the clue to the great
success of Ludwig's later prose works. For nine years
he had struggled with the basic features of what was to
constitute the ideal drama without ever feeling as though
he had achieved the final goal.’16 Yet within three years
after his final completed drama he created three prose
masterpieces. Obviously he had benefited from his nine
years as-a dedicated dramatist. "Dort wo der Dramatiker
Otto Ludwig Unrecht hatte, hatte der Epiker Otto Ludwig
unbewuBt, aber unfiberhcrbar seine Rechte angemeldet."17
...das Héngen an den Details, das den Dramatiker
behindert, hatte auch in<diesem Fall den Epiker
befdrdet. Das sich nicht GenugtunkOnnen in den
Feinheiten der Motivierung schadet dem Dramatiker,
dem mit der dramatischen Konzentration zugleich
das Geaetz der Vereinfachung auferlegt ist.
Dagegen wirkt sich diese Subtilitét.und Fein-
stufigkeit etwa in den wertvollsten Erzahl en
("Heiteretei" und "Zwischen Himmel und Erde"
unleugbar zum Vorteil der Gesamtwirkung aus. 18
It is quite a paradox that Ludwig searched for years to
find fame as a dramatist only to achieve it through his
final prose works.19 Yet, it is obvious that in order to
reach the heights of accomplishment which he did during
his final creative period, it was necessary for him to
go through the first stages of development from 1840 to

1852.

30

Otto Ludwig kam vom Drama her, als er in den
ffinfziger Jahren das seit den Jugendarbeiten
zurfickgeschobene novellistische Schaffen wieder
aufnahm. Kein Wunder, daB sein Auge fur alle
Berfihrungspunkte zwischen dramatischer und
erzahlender Poesie besonders gescharft ist. 20
Throughout these three stages of Ludwig's develOpment
as a literary figure, we find certain areas of common ground.
The most important of which are Ludwig's ideas on poetic
realism. To be sure, Ludwig first expounded on these ideas
in his theoretical writings which he wrote after the
completion of the works we are discussing here. However,
no one can deny that these theories had already found their
practical application to a great degree in his previously
completed works.
Julian Schmidt in his five volume Geschichte der
<ieutschen Literatur von Leibnitz bis auf unsere Zeit
Inakes the following pertinent comment: "Der Zweck der
JDichtung ist, Ideale aufzustellen; das Mittel ist der
LERealismus, d.h. die der Natur abgelauschte Wahrheit, die

21

1Lnns zwingt, an die gegebenen Ideale zu glauben." When

‘1afle compare this statement of Schmidt's with Ludwig's
<<:>wn remarks on "Subjektiver Idealismus" (from ”Zur Ethik,
43$Lethetik und Literatur"), we receive a clear picture of
‘1:=11e true meaning behind the term poetic realism:

Der Idealist giebt die Geffihle und Reflexionen,
die er bei einer Anschauung gehabt und gemacht,
die Sache ist ihm nur der Vorwand, uns mit seinem
Ich zu regalieren; der naive Dichter dagegen giebt
die Sache selbst unvermischt mit seinem Ich. Er
sorgt nur, die betreffende Ansohauung zu einer
geschlanen zu machen, nur die Abstraktion vom

31

Unwesentlichen besorgt er, die Heraushebung des
Wichtigen; er giebt darum nicht die gemeine
Natur, sondern ein kUnstlerisches Spiegelbild
derselben. 22 .
Poetic realism is then, in simplest terms, the realization
of an ideal as wall as the idealization of the real. Not
only historically but also ideologically poetic realism is
the middle point between classicism and naturalism.
It is a common belief that Ludwig himself coined the

23

term ppetischer Realismus, and although this is not true,

 

there is certainly no denying his importance for the
movement.
Die Einleitung der sehr fruchtbaren Stilrichtmng
des "poetischen Realismus" ... bleibt sein unver-
lierbares Verdienst. Und es darf hervorgehoben
werden, daB die eigene dichterische Produktion
immerhin gewichtig genug war, um die wegweisenden
Gedanken anschaulich zu unterstutzen und den
Forderungen den gebotenen Nachdruck zu verleihen. 24
As this quotation suggests, Ludwig's completed works,
eSpecially those of the years 1850 to 1856, were weggeisend
for this whole movement of poetic realism even though his
theories pertaining to this and other aspects of literature
were first formulated during the last eight or nine years
of his life.
One of the clearest ways to trace his develOpment
from a struggling young artist to the forerunner of this
new literary epoch poetic realism (especially in light of
the nature of this study) is by closely regarding his

methods of characterization and usage of gesture.

As we mentioned above, during the first creative

32

period Ludwig drew heavily on the resources of the romantic
movement in his earliest works. The turning point, how-
ever, were the stories Maria and Die Emanzipation der
Domestiken, weak as the latter may be in comparison with
his later masterpieces. With Die Emanzipation der Domes-
tiken we finally begin to have the feeling that Ludwig
is dealing, at least to some degree, with real life, some-
thing with.which he is actually acquainted.

... through all the romantic trappings we feel

in the story an unmistakable focusing on the

everyday and the near-at-hand. For even those

of high birth are depicted as ordinary human

beings with ordinary human problems; and the

moral at the end, that married life is best

after all, is a moral for ordinary human beings.

We find, in other words, a concentration on the

"norm" of human experience in the tale, and this

quality marks it in at least one important as-

pect as a foreshadowing of Ludwig's later works. 25
Here we see the beginning of Ludwig's concentration on the
real, the typical. His concreteness and the avoidance
of anything too abstract, which shows its buds here,
blossoms in his later works into one of the most character-
istic aSpects of his style.26

In the dramas which Ludwig wrote from 1843 to 1852,

the development of the poetic realist is even more pro-
nounced. The earlier prose works and their conception of
reality were merely stepping stones to this next period.
Here Ludwig is more aware than ever of concentrating on
the close-at-hand, the typical. "Ludwig wollte den
typischen Weltlauf aufzeigen, wobei der Begriff des

Typischen einen DOppelsinn erhielt: als das, was immer

55
27

ist, und als das, was sein 3011."
During these years Ludwig believed that the drama wet!

the poetical form through which this could most easily be

accomplished, for here one can actually see the actions

and the organic interaction of replicas of real, typical

PBOPle; drama "ist auf das Sichtbar—Mimische angewiesen."28

Ludwig always placed great stress on the impor-
tance of form in art. The kind of form which he
strove to achieve was not the kind which Coleridge
refers to as "mechanic" but rather an inner, organic
type of form which he attempted to impart to his
works by fitting together their structural elements
and their meanings in such a way as to make them
seem independently existing microcosms containing
within themselves, just as the real world does”
all of their own conditions and consequences.
Poetic worlds so constructed are, he believed,

just as real as the real world, even though they
are products of an artist's imagination. 29

These ideas culminated in his masterpiece of this

period, Der Erbfbrster, which was to come to be regarded

50 Just as

31

as the epitomy of the poetic realistic drama.
he later called for in his theoretical writings, reality
isnhere his point of departure, and the characters are

not personifications of ideas, $.2, Ideentrager, but rather

 

down-to-earth typical people. It is one of the most-
objective dramas to be found in German literature; ”... im
”Erbforster" ... finden sich [keine] Stellen, wo wir den
Dichter selbst durch seine Gestalten reden horen. ... Der
Dichter versteht sie wohl, aber ob er einverstanden ist

52

oder nicht, h6ren wir nicht." Through his objectivity
here, rather than through any philos0phizing, Ludwig

achieved the highest goal of the poetic realists, to'

34

"universalize sense experience through ... imagination."55
This same objectivity is also to be found in his last
three prose works, and they too are on this same high
niveau of poetic realism. "Sie haben seit bald 90 (326]
Jahren nichts an Seelentiefe und Wirkmng eingebfiBt, weil
der Dichter seine Gestalten aus dem Boden der Heimat und
ihre Schicksale und Leidenschaften aus seinen eigenen
Erinnerungen, ja aus seinem Blute entwickelt."34 In
these latter works Ludwig has created some of the most
"plastic" characters to be found in all of literature.
They function not according to any visible idea, but
rather their actions and gestures as well as their speech

35

are those of typical (real) people. "Heine poetischen
Menschen macht ich, wie ich die Menschen kennen gelernt
hatte"36 he says at one point in his theoretical writings,
and this is why they are so appealing. The real, the typical,
the everyday-type reader can identify with them.

This is exactly what Ludwig strove to achieve. Through
his creation of the typical he has given us characters
with whom we feel (even 120 years later) that we have
something in common. Consequently, the morals of his stories
and dramas, which are of the same realistic nature, are
also those towards which we strive today. Through his
idealization of the real, therefore, Ludwig has realized
the ideals of the audience for whom he wrote. As we have

seen here, this is dependent to no small degree on his

methods of characterization. And as a closer examination

55

of these works reveals, Ludwig‘s use of gesture plays a
big role in this area.
For this reason, it is necessary in the second half
of this chapter on Otto Ludwig to discuss in general just
how important he considered gesture to be. As we shall
see, gesture plays not only a part in the characterization
in his works, but it is also to a large extent that upon
which all his skills of creation were based.
In the chapter entitled "Mein Verfahren beim poetischen
Schaffen" in Ludwig's theoretical writings, he himself
describes his process of creation thusly:
Mein Verfahren beim poetischen Schaffen ist
dies: Es geht eine Stimmung voraus, eine musi-
kalische, die wird mir zur Farbe, dann seh ich
Gestalten, eine oder mehrere in irgend einer
Stellung und Gebardung fur sich oder gegenein-
ander, und dies wie einen Kupferstich auf Papier
von jener Farbe, oder genauer ausgedrfickt, wie
eine Marmorstatue oder plastische Gruppe, auf
welche die Sonne durch einen Vorhang fallt,
der jene Farbe hat. 57

As Walter Silz has remarked, "it is very probable that

Ludwig was a true synaesthetic, with musical, chromatic,

"58

and sculptural perceptions. At any rate, it is obvious

from Ludwig's own remarks, that his "plastic” figures

and use of gesture in his works were not purely happenstance.

They were rather his points of departure in the process

of creativity. Ludwig continues his description as follows:
Wunderlicherweise ist jenes Bild oder jene Gruppe
gewbhnlich nicht das Bild der KatastrOphe, manch-
mal nur eine charakteristische Figur in irgend
einer pathetischen Stellung, an diese schlieBt

sich aber sogleich eine ganze Reihe, und vom
Stficke erfahr ich nicht die Fabel, den novellisti—

56

schen lnhalt zuerst, sondern bald nach vorwarts,
bald nach dem Ende zu von der erst gesehenen
Situation aus, schlieBen immer neue plastisch-
mimische Gestalten und Gruppen an, bis ich das
ganze Stfick in allen seinen Szenen habe; dies
alles in groBer Hast, wobei mein BewuBtsein
ganz leidend sich verhalt, und eine Art korperlicher
Beangstigung mich in Handen hat. 59
Obviously this is not the most common means of creat-
ing literary masterpieces of the calibre of Otto Ludwig's,
and from the great number of fragments which Ludwig began
though never concluded, it is probably safe to conclude
that it is also not the easiest method. From his comments
it seems as though Ludwig during this creative process
was the slave to his imagination rather than the other
way around. When these visions would come to him, he would
find himself surrounded by any number of gesticulating
figures.~ Gesture, he clearly states, came first and was
for him the easiest to capture on paper. Only later after
the entire enactment of the piece did he begin to find the
speech to fit the gestures. This was for him the most
difficult, as he later explains in this same section which
we have quoted, because: nMan muB an der Gebarde der Bede,
wenn ich so sagen darf, merken, was in der Person vorgeht,
aber sie muB es nicht mit dfirren Worten sagen...."40 This
is what took him so long each time he began a new drama,
for instance, and it is also the reason why, when he did ntt
seem to be able to find exactly the most fitting words for

each character, that so many fragments were never.completed.

As he says in a letter to Eduard Devrient:

57

Ich kann mich nicht fragen: was wfirde so einer

an so einer Stelle tun? und dergleichen, sondern

ich muB alles innerlich spielen, indem ich bald

in der, bald in der anderen Maske stecke und aus

dem Zwang der Gesichts- und Gliederstellung und

des zu der Masks gehorenden eigentfimlichen

Geberdenspiels herausschreibe, was freilich

entsetzlich abmattet. 41

From these comments the justification of such a study

as this on the usage of gesture in Ludwig’s works is clear.
Gesture was not an aSpect of Ludwig's style which he un-
knowingly included in his works. He was not only very
conscious of its presence but also fully aware of its~
implications. For example, in Der Erbfbrster its usage
became the crux of the whole drama. As he explains in
another section ("Episches, lyrisches und dramatisches.
Talent") of his theoretical writings:

So sah ich den Erbforster zuerst --—ehe ich

noch von der Fabel etwas wuBte --—in der'

Gebarde, in der der SchauSpieler sprechen

muB: "So sollte man doch gleich die Bastien

totschieBen" -—-"Recht muB doch Recht bleiben"

und "ich hab Unrecht." 42
In these gestures and sentences lay all at once for him
the core of what turned out to be his most successful.
drama. Obviously the role of gesture was a crucial one
for Otto Ludwig.

Considering that Ludwig's basis for the gesture in

his works was the visions and hallucinations which he had,“5
it seems superfluous perhaps to consider the possibility of
any outside influences on this usage. However, as strange
as it may seem, other EurOpean writers, most notably

Charles Dickens and William ShakeSpeare, with the usage

58

of gesture in their works, did have a great effect on
Ludwig. The extent and manner of this influence is the
basis of the discussion of the concluding portion of this
chapter on Otto Ludwig.

As we have already noted, Ludwig's theoretical writings,
where we find most of his comments on these outside influ-
ences, were written after the completion of all the works
being discussed here. This is not to suggest, however, that
Ludwig arbitrarily chose to discuss only certain authors
in these writings. The influence was there, but Ludwig
first needed to realize this influence in his own works
before he could discuss it theoretically. He himself ex-
plains this phenomenon thusly in a letter to Julian Schmidt:

Ich bin einer jener armen Teufel, die nicht

mit fremden Augen sehen k6nnen..., nicht aus
AnmaBung, wahrlich nicht! nur aus Beschrankt-
heit. Was mir einen Lichtschein zu geben und
so den richtigen Weg anzuzeigen schien, muBte
ich erst praktisch versuchen, und nur was ich .
gemacht hatte oder gemacht zu haben dachte -—
denn ohne mannigfaltigen Irrthum ging es na-
tfirlich nicht ab -- das wuBte ich, nur was ich
ergriffen hatte, sah ich. Darum kann ich nicht
fur Andere lernen, so wenig als von Andern,
sondern nur von mir und ffir mich; weil ich das
nicht weiB, was ich nicht erst kann, und meiner
Natur der Wag durch das Konnen zum Wissen ein
leichterer ist, als der den Meisten der leichtere,
der vom Wissen zum Konnen. #4

Although he denies here a direct learning process, we
do know from his letters that Ludwig spent considerable
time studying writings of other authors as well as seeing
their works performed on the stage. In the field of prose

he remains quite vague when it comes to mentioning his

59

favorite authors, but we might especially name such English
personalities as Scott, Thackary, and, most important,
Dickens.45 As for the drama, we know he studied Goethe,
Lessing, and Shakespeare conscientiously from 1840 to

#6 and even in 1847 he

1842 during his stay in Eisfeld;
mentions in a letter to his bride that he had been diligently
studying the Conversationslexikon in order to master some
Handwerkskniffe for the stage.47
However, by the time Ludwig came to writing his gggggr

and Shakespearestudien, he concerned himself almost solely

 

with Dickens and Shakh8peare reSpectively, whose examples
he felt would be most beneficial for him to follow. As
always when discussing his theoretical writings, we must
remember why Ludwig felt the need of such an endeavor.

For him it was "nicht aus rein wissenschaftlichem, sondern
aus personlich-praktischem Interesse. Er suchte einen
Fuhrer aus dem Labyrinth seiner eigenen Arbeitsweise."48
In the discussion of Ludwig's process of creation, we
mentioned how groups of gesticulating figures would come

to him in a vision and that it was all Ludwig could do to
write down the gestures and speech of the figures as fast

as they occurred to him. "Das Problem stand also ffir

Otto Ludwig so: wie regiere ich meine Figuren? wie nehme

ich ihnen die Willkfir der Erscheinung? wie bringe ich einen
'zierlich und fest gesponnenen Faden' in ihre charakteristi-_

schen Reden?"49 Although that was Ludwig's purpose when

'he began the theoretical writings, after 1856 he never

40

again completed either a drama or a prose work. Consequent-

ly, instead of looking to see how these writings affected

any later works, we must look to the Roman-and Shakespeare-

studien to see how he judged his previous works and what

he considered, on the basis of these later studies, to

be the strong and weak points of those works. Thereby,

the influence of Dickens and Shakespeare on him becomes

clearly visible.

Let us begin with a closer look at the Romanstudien.

We have already mentioned that Ludwig considered himself

his life long more of a dramatist than a narrative writer.

It is no wonder then when we discover that it is the

dramatic aspect of Dickens' novels which had such a great

attraction for him. He writes (in "Wesen und Technik des

Romans bei den Englandern"):
Der Bau seiner i.g. Dickensij Romane hat
Ahnlichkeit mit ramen. Seine Romane sind er-
zahlte Dramen mit Zwischenmusik, d.i. erzahlter.
...Seine meisten Figuren sind verkleidete Schau-
apieler, Alle haben eine treffende Maske und sind
Virtuosen im GebérdenSpiel. ... Die Bozischen
Romane sind wahrhafte SchauSpielschulen. Wahre
Magazine von charakteristisch-mimischen Momenten
jeden Genres. ... Das Drama selbst erlaubt dem
Dichter nicht so schauspielerischezu sein, als
der Bozische Roman. 50

It is obvious that, when Ludwig read the novels of
Dickens, he did not do so in the same manner as many of
his fellow-Germans, "die seine Schriften verschlang[§n] und

1 There were dif-

jedes neue Heft Spannend erwartetefifl."S
ferent aspects which appealed to the author and literary

critic:

41

Die Lebendigkeit und die unmittelbare Kraft
der Darstellung, die Fulle der Gestalten, die
Originalitat der Ausdrucksweise, der spannende,
kunstvolle Dialog, der dramatische, theatralische
Stil, die flotte Charakterisierungskuhst, die
Liebe zum Volke, der Realismus der Darstellung,
die gesunde lebenbejahende Lebensauffassung
zog ihn an. 52
It was these aSpects of Dickens' style which had attracted
Ludwig in the earlier years before he began his theoretical
writings, and consequently these were the aspects of
Dickens' style which he then praised so highly in those
writings.
What we are mainly concerned with here, however, is
how Ludwig had already realized and incorporated into his
own style these same aSpects which he considered Dickens'
strong points. Of all of Ludwig's prose works, Das Mégchen
vom toten Kinde, Die Heiteretei, Aus dem Regen i2 die

Traufe, and Zwischen Himmel und Erde show Dickens' influence

 

most clearly.
The most important influence which Dickens had on
Ludwig in reference to this study was his original use
of gesture. We already find traces of this in Egg Mérchen
zgg_tg£gn|§i§dgfi the earliest of the above mentioned
works. In this story one can most clearly detect Dickens
in the background in Ludwig's treatment of the very human
appearing and acting animals as well as the few real
pe0ple who take part.
Es ist doch klar, daB das bei Dickens zuerst
Auffallige, AuBerliche, also Mimisches und

Physiognomisches, das Interesse imbesonderen
HaBe erregt und’zur Nachahmung gereizt hat,

42

um so mehr, da es Ludwigs Wirklichkeitsdrange,

dem Streben nach Wiedergabe der Lebensffille,

der einfachsten Lebensregungen, entgegenkam. 55
As each animal in the story speaks, Ludwig does his best
to show what species it is through means of description
rather than by outright auctorial intrusion. Consequently,
we become aware of "die schnarrende, abrubte Rede des
Raben;.die heulende des Hundes [find] die belfernde des
Fuchses."5# This is further augmented by typical gestures
of all the animals referring to their ears, tails, paws,
and so forth.

In.2;§ Heiteretei, Ludwig's next completed prose work,
the influence of Dickens can be much more strongly detected.
More clearly evident here is his use of external aspects
for characterization, particularly the greater accent on
the use of gesture and mimicry. "Dickens Phantasie ist
unerschopflich, die Reden seiner Personen mit Gesten
zu begleiten. Wombglich hat jede Person ihre besondere
Gestikulations- oder Mimikseigentumlichkeit, die dann
immer wiederholt wird, bis man darfiber lacht, lachelt
und schlieBlich gelangweilt wird."55 Commonly called
Leitmotifs, this type of gesture is very prevalent in
‘222_Heiteretei. One need only to think of the cap of
‘the Valtinessin as the most obvious example. Another
evidence of Dickens' influence in this story is the large
:number of secondary characters, gag Heimchen gg’ggggg

‘for example, who are painstakingly characterized in great

45

detail regarding their gestures as well as their speech
patterns.

In the companion piece to Die Heiteretei, Ag§.g£g
ggggp_i§_die Traufe, we again find all the just mentioned
borrowed characteristics of Dickens, and indeed, Fritz
Lfider goes so far as to sayE "Die Abhangigkeit von Dickens
spiegelt am deutlichsten die derbhumoristische Erzahlung
'Aus dem Regen in die Traufe' wider."56 Here in addition
to the use of many detailed gestures and Leitmotifs for
characterization, we find them also used for purposes of
humor. More than in any other work of Ludwig's,§g§.ggg
'Egggg‘gn die Egaufe puts great emphasis on many minute
gestures and detailed descriptions of the Kleinstadtleben.

In the last prose work, Zwischen Himmel Egg Eggs,
there is again the same evidence of a strong attachment
to Dickens' style as we have already noted --detai1ed
gesture descriptions, Leitmotifs, and characteristic speech
patterns -- but here Ludwig's style has changed.. Less a
:novel of poetic realism than the other two, Zwischen
Ekimmel ugg_§ggg_is more prOperly called a "psychological
:novel." ”Motiv und Gestalten haben nichts mit Dickens
gemein. Und ein Humor a la Dickens ist nicht mehr von
IEinfluB auf seine Weltbetrachtung. Dickens EinfluB ist
jetzt sekundar."57

There is a definite influence of Dickens on Ludwig
as we have seen which culminates in Die Heiteretei and

.Aus dem Regen 13 die Traufe. Ludwig himself, especially

 

44

after the change of style we have just noted in Zwischen

Himmel und Erde, recognized this fact, and it is for this

 

reason that much of the Romanstudien concentrates solely
on Dickens' style. We know he was fascinated by the role
of gesture, such as Dickens as well as he himself used,
which he thought belonged more to dramatic works; and in
as much as he himself considered the drama his main genre,
it is no wonder that these studies concerned themselves
with the Dickens novels which he called Schauspielschulen.
The same concentration on gesture and its dramatic
usage led him to turn to ShakeSpeare in his theoretical
writings about the drama just as he had turned to Dickens
in the Romanstudien. Aetually it was his love and respect
for Shakespeare which had stimulated his attachment to
Dickens. For him the two men had incorporated the same
ideas, each within a different genre. This we learn from
the following statement in the Romanstudien ("GroBe
Erwartungen' von Dickens"): "Boz (Dickens) ist ShakeSpeare
in den Roman fibersetzt."58 Just as he had been drawn to
the dramatic aSpects of Dickens‘ style, so was he drawn
to the epical nature of ShakeSpeare's.59
The Shakespearestudien even more than the Romanstudien
concentrate on the correct as well as the incorrect use
of gesture. Here we do not find as many references to
Ludwig's own works; instead, he concentrated more heavily
on ShakeSpeare's. And when he does suggest the correct

(it incorrect application of Shakespeare's style in his

45

own works, the references are almost entirely to its
Erbforster and his later dramas, suggesting perhaps how

well aware Ludwig was of the weaknesses of his earlier

dramatic attempts.
Ludwig states his purpose very clearly in the intro-
duction to the Shakespearestudien:

Meine Beschaftigung mit Shakespeare ging ledig-
lich aus dem Triebe hervor, als ausfibender
Kfinstler von ihm zu lernen. ... Ich betrachte
seine Werke nach der technischen Seite. Jede
Kunst schlieBt ein Handwerk in sich ein; das
Handwerk der Kunst nenne ich den Teil derselben,
der gelehrt und gelernt werden kann; wo das
Handwerk aufhort, da beginnt erst die eigent-
liche Kunst. ... Unter allen Kfinstlern, die

ich kenne, ist am schwersten bei Shakespeare

das Handwerk von der Kunst zu trennen, weil

sein Schaffen ein vollkommen organisches ist. 60

One of the ways in which Ludwig attempted to get at
"das Handwerk der Kunst" is through comparison. For instance,
in the section entitled "Dramatische Diktion" he compares
the fluidity of Shakespeare with the lack of gesture in
antique Greek drama:

Shakespeare schrieb nicht fur Masken, nicht fur

die kolossalen antiken Theater. Seine Sprache

ist daher durchgehend mimisch, nie erstarrt sie

zur Haske, aber ein jedes Stuck hat seinen b

besonderen MaBstab fur die GrBBe und Stfirke

oder die Feinheit seiner einzelnen Zfige, fur

die Jaheit und Allmahlichkeit der Bewegungen. 61
[Shakespeare's finesse with the individualized use of
gesture likewise led him elsewhere in the Studien to
«compare ShakeSpeare (as well as himself) with a more recent
author, Schiller. Ludwig did not hold Schiller's dramas

jam particularly high esteem. For him there was too much

46

emphasis on ideas, and, as we have already mentioned,
Ludwig strove to create characters who were not Igeentrager
but rather who were more like everyday pe0ple with whom his
audiences could identify. It was this aspect which he
admired in Shakespeare and missed in Schiller. He says:

Der Dramatiker hat zweierlei darzustellen,

Existenz und Bewegung. Shakespeare weiB beides

notwendig zu verknfipfen, sodaB das eine zum andern

wird, und steht auch dadurch fiber denen, bei

welchen die Existenz eben auf Kosten der Be-

wegung (Goethe), und denen bei welchen die

Bewegung auf Kosten der Existenz (Schiller)

gewonnen wird. (from "Existenz und Bewegung") 62
For Ludwig, Schiller was simply too rhetorical -- his
characters reflect on the action of the drama but without
the necessary amount of movement and gesture in their actions
as well as their speech to put them on a level of identi-
fication. On the other hand, Shakespeare's "Personen
machen die Reflexionen, die jeder andre an ihrer Stelle
machen kannte, aber ihr Charakter und der Zustand in dem
sie diese allgemeinsten Reflexionen machen, giebt ihnen
einen durchaus individuallen Kbrper."65

As in the two comparisons mentioned here, Ludwig spends

a great number of pages throughout the Shakespearestudien
discussing other aspects of gesture -- for instance, when
it should occur in the drama and to what extent or its
«correct usage for characterization —- which shows how
:important this area was for him.

In the selection of dramatic material, many writers,

smlch as Ludwig in his earlier works, tend to choose that

47

which is packed with "stark vorwarts treibenden Leidenschaften

64 In Ludwig's later works and

und viel auBerer Bewegunge"
especially as he wrote the ShakeSpearestudien he came to
realize how wrong this assumption is. "Der Stoff ist
unter den andern der glficklichste fhr die Bearbeitung, der
am meisten Stetigkeit hat, der immer dieselbe kleine
Anzahl von Personen im engsten Raume zusammenhalt und
mit ruhiger Bewegung seinem Abschlusse entgegengeht."
("Dramatische Stoffe")65 Instead of a lot of superficial
action involving the plot Shakespeare rather concentrated
the actions and gestures on interpersonal relationships.
This Ludwig regarded as perhaps the most dramatic aspect
of all of Shakespeare's works.

Consequently, Ludwig Spends much time in the Studien
examining in detail just how ShakeSpeare so skillfully
made use of gesture in characterization, and then he

compares these techniques with his most successful drama,

Der Erbforster. Most important, he decides, is the pre-

 

sentation of a rounded character. The author should not
put a "completed" character on the stage but rather let
the character "deve10p” before the audience, unfolding all
the characteristics which are called for by the dramatic

66 Through this unfolding process not just a

action.
single aspect of a character ("ein Gesicht") is presented
‘but rather many variations ("viele Gesichter") creating

:individualization among the characters. However, we have

already'said that the aSpect which attracted Ludwig most

48

was not that use of gesture which individualizes a character,
but rather that which makes him typical. This is in turn
accomplished by the use of Gesprachsmimen which are ”Szenen,
wo Charakterzfige allgemeine Naturzfige darstellen, die

jeder Figur ohne Unterschied zugeteilt werden kiinnten..."67
An example, as Ludwig points out, is easily found in 22;
Erbforster: "Der Erbfcrster [haEl mehrere dergleichen
Jagermimen..., d.h. Zfige, die jedem Jager beigelegt werden
konnen, sein eigentlicher dramatischer und menschlicher

68 The ideal then accordp-

Charakter sei, welcher er wolle."
ing to Ludwig is the use of gestures which can at once
individualize as well as generalize the characters.
Through these and similar observations, Ludwig had
hOped to learn "das Handwerk" of the theater. Instead,
he almost unwittingly laid his hands on the actual "Kunst"
of poetic realism, for in the section on "ShakeSpeares
Phantasie" Ludwig sums up the main precepts of this
movement when he says: ”Dadurch hauptsachlich entsteht
Poesie, daB im Typus stets der einzelne Fall, und im

einzelnen Falle der Typus zugleich erscheint zu dem er

gehESrt."69
As we have seen in this chapter the use of gesture

for Otto Ludwig was very important. Not only was the
gesture appearing in his visions the point of departure
for his literary creations, but the use of gesture was
also an important means whereby he accomplished the com-

;pletion of works which now epitomize poetic realism.

49

Ludwig was a talented man, and what he captured as an
artist in his works, he also had the ability to describe
in his theoretical writings. And because his extensive
use of gesture in his prose and dramatic works has been
analyzed and examined in the Egggge-and ShakeSpearestudien,
we can be certain that its usage was a conscious one on
the part of the author and thus find justification for'
this study. Its importance for him can be summed up
in the following quotation taken from the Shakespeare-
studien: "Rede und Gabarde mfissen sich ... so durch-
dringen, daB der Gedanke sich gebardet und die Gebarde
redet."7Q

How Ludwig's style in his prose and dramatic works
is conducive to the accomplishment of this task is the

subject of the next chapter.

OTTO LUDWIG'S STYLE

In the Shakegpearestudien we find the following re-

mark by Otto Ludwig:
... die Poesie [komm£} vom innern Sinne [find
geht auf den innern Sinn. ... Der poetische
hat estalt, Gebarde, Physiognomie, Rhythmus
Ton und Melodie; er ist halb Anschauung, halb
Geffihl und halb Gedanke; er ist ein angeschauter*
Gedanke oder eine gedankenhafte Anschauung. Er
ist ein Abbild des Menschen, ein Kbrper, der
mit einer Seele eins ist, sodaB die Trennung
ihn totet. 1
We know from chapter two that gesture was basic to Lud-
wig's process of creation. From the passage just quoted
we are reminded once again that he also considered the
usage of gesture to be basic to the poetical work. In
both, Ludwig's completed prose as well as his dramatic
works, we are constantly confronted with new and various
uses of gesture, for he develOped in bothegenres a style
which was adaptable to his ideas on this subject. Hence,
the purpose of this chapter is to explore in turn the
style of his prose and his dramatic works ih tar-stempt
to discover just what makes them so conducive to the use
of gesture.
As far as his prose is concerned three different
methods of narration are outlined very clearly by Ludwig

in the section of the Romanstudien entitled "Formen der

 

SO

51

Erzahlung." The first of these he has called "a) die
eigentliche Erzahlung; wie man im gewohnlichen Leben zu
erzahlen pflegt."2 The general premise for this type of
narrative technique is that the story—teller, usually

the author, has completely or at least to some degree
experienced that about which he tells, or else he has
learned certain details from another character. Conversely,
throughout the story then he must be carefub not to tell
in detail that which he himself has not experienced or
does not know from another character. This type narrative
usually begins lg medias res. However, when necessary,
the author can tell of happenings which occurred before
the beginning of the story or bring in other details,

as they seem fit, to clarify different points of the

story as long as this is done in such a matter as to
appear natural and not at all forced.

It is this first type of narrative method to which
Ludwig clung in his earliest, least mature works. For-
tunately he was quick to learn its shortcomings:

In der Darstellung innrer Entwicklungen,
allmahlichen Werdens, in alledem, worin der
Verstand besonders mitthatig ist, hat diese
Art zu erzahlen den Vorteil; aber eben wegen
der ihr moglichen Stetigkeit lauft die Gefahr
den Leser durch Spannung oder Einformigkeit
zu ermfiden. 5
One need only to think of Das Hausgesinde with its over-
tirawn suspense and resulting confusion to concede to

:Ludwig the weaknesses of this first type of narrative

'technique.

52

The second type of narration, which Ludwig calls:

"b) die szenische Erzahlung,“+ is the method which he
used in all of his most mature prosexworks with the ex-
ception of Zwischen Himmel und Erde, the primary works
with which we are concerned in this study.

With this type of technique the narrator actually
experiences that which happens in the story and lets the
reader experience it with him without feeling the need of
explaining how he has come to know all that he tells.
This type of narrative procedure was clearly Ludwig's
favorite. We have already briefly pointed out the close
connection in Ludwig's works and theories between drama
and prose, and this interrelationship is evident once
again in the following description of scenic narration.

Er {her Erzéhlendé] hat viele Prozeduren mit
dem Dramatiker gemein, er muB seinen Vorgang
in Ort und Zeit sammeln, ja er arbeitet auf
eigentliche theatralische Effekte hin. Bei
dem Erzahlen ad‘g ist das Medium der Mitteilung
lediglich das—Ohr, hier aber wird gewisser-
maBen durch das Ohr dem Auge mitgeteilt; der
Leser erfahrt nicht abstrakt die Sache, sondern
sie wird ihm vor das innre Auge gestellt. 5
This type of narration was Ludwig's favorite because of
its dramatic aSpects. It had certain advantages for him;
In the main, he was able to use the same types of expressive
methods as he had from 1840 to 1852 in the drama, and yet
he was not burdened in a prose work of this sort with
the cumbersome machinery of stage settings.6 In addition,

it enabled him to make ample use of the gestures which were

such an integral of his works. As he says, scenic

55

narration is based more on the "inner eye,” a favorite
expression of his, than solely on the ear as in the first
type of narration (3).
Der Erzahler bedient sich aller der mimischen
Mittel, durch welche der Dramatiker seinen
Vorgang vor das auBre Auge und Ohr des Zuschauers
stellt, um den Leser zu einer Art Zuschauer
und Zuhorer zu machen, der seine Gestalten
sieht und ihre Reden hort --—aber mittblst
des innern Sinnes. 7
This method of narration enabled Ludwig to use long
conversations without the necessity of introducing the
Speakers. The story Die Heiteretei actually begins in
the middle of such a conversation.8 The reader is forced
to deduce who the speaker is, and this in turn allows
Ludwig to make full use of "mimische Mittel." The majority
of characters in any of the novels where he uses scenic

narration have characteristic gestures or speech patterns,

Leitmotifs, which function as calling cards to introduce

 

them each time they appear.

Once again the importance of Dickens as an influence
on Ludwig's style and use of gesture must be mentioned.
Ludwig refers elsewhere in the Romanstudien to Dickens'
novels as Schauspielschulen, as we mentioned above. We
can assume that it was first through his acquaintance
with Dickens that Ludwig became aware of the close con-
:nection between drama and prose which could be realized by
scenic narration.

Through his introduction and embellishment of Dickens'

inethods in German literature Ludwig thus became the

54

forerunner of naturalists like Arno Holz and Johannes
Schlaf in Papa Hamlet, who tried to write in a prose
style even more divorced from any auctorial intrusion
than Ludwig's and totally based on a dramatic type of
eXposition.9
The third method of prose narration, (g), which Ludwig
discusses in this chapter of the Romanstudien is a com-
bination of (g) and (b), the two forms we have just
discussed. This method unites:
die psychologische Entwicklung, fiberhaupt die
stete Darstellung innrer und auBrer Vorgange,
die Kausalitat des Verstandes, die lyrische
Innigkeit des Gemuts, auch die Gedrangtheit
von a mit der detaillierten Mimik, charak-
teristischen Ausmalung der auBern Erscheinung
und dem erfrischenden Sprengen der freien
Phantasie von 2, 10
In chapter two we traced Ludwig's literary develOp-
ment through three different creative periods. Evidence
of this same development can be found in his employment
of these three methods of narration. He used the simplest
and most primitive form (g) in his earliest prose works of
the first creative period. To some extent in Maria, the
most technically advanced of the early works, as well as

in the two masterpieces Die Heiteretei and Aus dem Regen

in die Traufe he employs the innovative scenic narration,

 

‘which he calls (9). Only in his last work, Zwischen
.Himmel und Erie, does he attempt the synthesis (g_+ b)
of’these two methods.

Whereas scenic narration is very conducive to the

objectivity of poetic realism which is characteristic

55

of both Die Heiteretei and Aus dem Regen ig_gig Traufe,
this is not necessarily true of the synthesis of the first
two methods of narration. And thus it only follows that,
as we mentioned in the last chapter, Zwischen Himmel Egg
Egg; is more prOperly considered a psychological rather
than a poetic realistic novel.

A peculiar characteristic of this synthesis form of
narration is what is commonly called erlebte ggdg. This
is a stylistic device which enables an author to main-
tain his objectivity while at the same time informing
the reader of the innermost thoughts and feelings of his
characters. Although we know there is an omniscient
author behind the whole story, these ideas and feelings
are conveyed to the reader not in the voice of the author
but rather in that of his characters who experience, g,g,
erleben, them. However, this is not done in the first
person singular such as the monologues of a classical
play nor as indirect speech, 2,3, subjunctive mood, where
one is more likely to become aware of the author, but

11 Thereby somewhat

rather in the third person singular.
of a synthesis is obtained. The objectivity of the story
is maintained through the use of the third instead of the
first person, and yet a greater flexibility is achieved
by'the ability to convey more than just overt actions.
Only Ludwig's last completed prose work makes use of

the synthesis of regular and scenic narration as well as

erlebte Rede. In it Ludwig goes one step beyond the pure

56

objectivity of poetic realism and endows his work with

deep psychological insight into the characters. Zwischen

 

Himmel und Erde thereby justifies its position at the apex
of Ludwig's literary career.

One couDd say that each of these techniques of prose
narration (regular (a), scenic (b), and the synthesis form
(2)) is a particular individual stage in the develOpment of
Otto Ludwig, and yet there is one area in which all three
techniques are on common ground, namely in the use of
gesture and other peculiarly dramatic techniques. We
know that Ludwig's process of creation began with his
conception of the gesture which was to occur in aiwork,
and consequently, the fact that he promoted narrative
techniques conducive to its usage is not surprising. Ludwig

’

was convinced that a re listic illusion.k§uch

as he strove to achiev depends primari

on the reader's sense of the immediacy of

what is happening, and ... in his view the

best means of imparting this sense was to

cause the reader to feel the characters as

real people whom he can see and hear... . 12
This is true of all his prose works, independent of which
of the narrative techniques he used. Ludwig's "plan for
realizing this aim [;.g. the sense of immediaci]was to
allow the characters to revegl themselves through their
Speeches, gestures and actions as peOple in the real
world do."’15

There are two primary ways in which Ludwig incor-

‘porates gesture into his prose works. He either incor-

porates the gesture so that it simply gives the effect

57

of action and consequently realism without referring

to any Specific characters, or else he introduces gestures
which are solely connected with individual characters.

The general descriptions involving gesture without refer-
ring to specific characters occur most often at the be-
ginnings of his narrative works and set the scene of the
story or convey the mood which will pervade it. Such

a scene occurs in the opening pages of Das Hausgesmmde.

Immer lebendiger ward's. Da kamen die Alten

in Brautkleide, das sich langer erhaiten als

die Brautigamswonne, den Kamm quer im gescheitelten
Haar; die freundlichen Mfitterchen mit den wunder-
bar geschweiften Rockchen, die, im Gehen hin und
her wacklend, ihnen das Ansehen wandelnder Glocken
gaben, zu denen die trippelnden Beine den Kloppel
vorstellten. Da kam das muntere gebraunte Volk
der Bauernbursche, die reichern mit einem Mfinz-
kabinett von angebhrten Silberstficken an Wams und
Brustlatz, die mastigen Beine in gelben Lederhosen,
in den graziosen Bewegungen der Arme der Schwung
des Peitschenstieles nicht zu verkennen, mit mehr
Laune und AnmaBung, als Anstand daher. Da wehten
die kurzen Rockchen und die gedrangte Form der
kecken Dirnen, die bunten Bender um die braunlicher
Heckenrosen der vollen Gesichter. Da ward gezupft
und geneckt, die Augen verdeckt, der Verdecker
erraten. Da flogen Winke und Blicke, da klang
Gesang und Gelachter. Um die Witzbolde des D6rf-
chens sammelten sich die Gruppen. Nit mehr Derb-
heit als Witz ergoB sich die Laune des festlichen
Tages. 14

The liveliness of the scene and the variety of activity

set the mood for the whole story. The reader has the "sense
of immediacy" which we have mentioned, and can easily feel
‘the crowd as consisting of real peOple. Similar action
scenes are also found in many of his other prose works

.including Maria, Die Buschnovelle, Das Mérchen vom toten

 

LKinde, and Die Heiteretei, works which utilize asPects

58

of all three-narrative techniques.

The gestures which relate to Specific characters are
included in two ways, either in connection with dialogue
so as to augment and accentuate it, or else without
dialogue in the epical flow (auctorial intrusion). The
first of these needs little eXplanation. As a short
example, we have a scene from £2313 where Gretchen, the
milkmaid, is explaining the phenomenon of the apparition
to Eisener: "Ja, sehn Sie," sagte Gretchen wichtig, indem
sie die linke Hand unterstemmte und den Zeigefinger der
rechten feierlich erhob; "viele Henschen haben sie schon
gesehen... ." (I, 194). Examples of this type are easily
found in all of Ludwig's works. By coupling the simplest
of gestures with Spoken words, Ludwig again creates a
sense of immediacy of the action. The characters thereby
do not appear to be reciting monologues but rather come
across to the reader much as real peOple do who persist
in talking as much with their hands and facial expressions
as with words. This is also true of the cases where Lud—
1wig inserts gesture in the middle of a dialogue to convey
'that which.words at the moment seem unable to express
.for the characters. To turn again to flggig, we find an
example of this type gesture when Eisener meets Marie's
;father at his daughter's casket believing her to be dead:

Jetzt erhob sich der Pastor und zeigte Eisener
ein Gesicht vor welchem dieser erschrak. Er
wandt' es in die the, streckte die kramphaft

geballten Hande nach oben; seine Stimme und
Sprache, leise und akzentlos, fast gleichgfiltig

59

klingend, kontrastierte seltsam mit der Leiden-
schaftlichkeit seiner Gebhrden und dem Inhalt
seiner Worte. (I, 218)
Again, this is a very realistic usage of gesture in con-
nection with dialogue, and examples of this type are found
in works using any one of Ludwig's three narrative
techniques.

The final method whereby Ludwig incorporates gesture
in his prose works is its usage without the accompaniment
of dialogue yet pertaining to Specific characters. An
example is found in the scene from Die Heiteretei where
we find the Holders—Fritz sitting in the village pub
after his meeting with Heiteretei.

Er erreichte seine Absicht. Denn die Ein-
gedrungenen kamen auf den Holders-Fritz los
der noch immer an sich Spornte. Die Kameraden
lieBen den Sitzenden und hielten sich die Tfire
frei. Der zuerst Hereingeschossene machte mit
der rechten Faust eine keineswegs zweideutige
Bewegung nach dem KOpfe des Holders-Fritz. Da
fuhr dieser impor. Eine kleine Weile schien
die Wirtsstube in eine Walkmuhle verwandelt.
Das ging klipp, klappl Bald verengte, bald
erweiterte sich der Knauel, bis er auseinander-
flog und stuckweise durch die Tfir verschwand.
Der Holders-Fritz war alles, was davon fibrig
blieb. (II, 90-91)
Here Ludwig preserves his realism as well as his objec-
tivity. Without the use of any dialogue he has definitely
created a scene which the reader "can see and hear."
'The characters reveal themselves in scenes like these
using only gestures as much as in any of the long dialogues
found in Ludwig's works.
The three different techniques of narration do show

evidence of a certain maturing on the part of Ludwig, yet

60

he never lost sight of his original aim, that of allowing
the characters to act out their own fates without inter-
ference of the omniscient author- This freedom of action
on the part of the_characters in the prose works is
exactly what makes them so conducive to the usage of
gesture.

Ludwig’s dramatic style is likewise very conducive
to the use of gesture, and in this genre he has given
the characters even more "freedom of action" than in the
prose works. For him a good drama consists of two main
parts: the skill of the author who writes it and the
skill of the actors who perform it, or as he said in a
conversation with Josef Lewinsky (July 25, 1862), "die=
moderne dramatische Kunst besteht in der volligen

Durchdringung von Dichtkunst und Schauspielkunst und

 

zwar zu gleichen Teilen."15 Ludwig was very much opposed
to one of the fads of his day,_namely that of writing dramaS“

which were merely to be read, Lesedramen, instead of being

 

acted. He considered the art of acting too intrinsic to
the whole genre than that the two could be separated,
for it is the acting of a drama which takes it from the
realm of the abstract and gives it concreteness.

Das abstrakte Handlungsschema muB ganz von der
Korrektheit handelnder, typischer Menschen
verschlungen werden, wie das Holz durch die
Flamme. Diese Flamme ist eben die Erscheinung
der dramatischen Kunst, wie die gemalten

Figuren in einem Bilde aus der Flache der.
Leinwand rund und energisch hervortreten

mfissen. (“Dichter und Schauspieler. Shakespeares
Kunst") 17

61

Friedrich Bruns repeats this thought when he say;
"Bfihne und Schauspieler sind him [Ludwig das. £129 935
pgg_des Dramas."18

we mentioned already in the last chapter how Ludwig
considered that many dramatists choose their dramatic
material by the wrong method, namely by selecting that in
which the plot itself calls for much action on the stage.
Because he was a proponent of a somewhat simpler plot
for drama, and because at the same time he realized the
importance of actions for the drama, it is obvious that
in his style he would be compelled to find the necessary
action and gesture elsewhere. ”Diese Bewegung sucht er,
da die eigentliche Handlung in diesem Punkte versagt,
dem Drama durhh reichen Szenenwechsel zu geben, durch
Verwandlung, Auf- und Abtreten der Personen und mimische
Belebung."fl9 Thus the success of his dramas was dependent
to no small degree on the skill of the performers. To
be sure he packed his works with Specific gestures and many
other Opportunities to use fitting gestures, but he him-
self could not do the acting. Consequently it causes
little amazement when we read the following passage from
another of his recorded conversations with Josef Lewinsky:

Das moderne Drama jedoch basiert ja nur auf
der SchauSpielkunst, es ist an den lebendigen
Ausdruck der ganzen Personlichkeit des Schau-
spielers gewiesen, an dessen feinste Zfige, an
die Ausdrucksfahigkeit des K6rpers und die
leisesten Andeutungen der Hand, ja der Finger;
die Art des Sprechens soll eine so leichte

und einfache sein, wie die des gewbhnlichen
Lebens. (July 25, 1862) 20

62

Because Ludwig placed such great importance on the
actor and his use of gesture in performing his dramas,
it is obvious that the style of his dramatice works must
be such as to be conducive to this. This is most clearly
demonstrated in his concept of the dramatic character.

In another conversation with Lewinsky (July 24, 1865)
Ludwig stated: "Was geschieht [Em Drama] , ist um des
Helden willen da: nicht die Situation, nicht der Vorgang
darf uns im Drama interessieren, sondern nur der volle

21

Mensch." And, indeed, we find that Ludwig's dramas are

clearly character-oriented, and because they are intended
to be performed and not merely read, we must consider
Ludwig's style in light of their being acted.

We discussed in chapter two Ludwig's close connection
between painting and the dramatic art, and this aspect
is very important in our discussion of his style. In
the section of his theoretical writings entitled "Technik
des Malers, Musikers und Dramatikers” Ludwig states:

Fast die ganze malerische hdhere Technik kann

in die dramatische Poesie herfibergenommen wer-
den. Die Gru e mit ihrer Totalwirkung, Mittel-
perSpektive (EinienperSpektive), die Haltung.
Der Held vorn mit weichen Konturen und reichen
Detail, die fibrigen Figuren, je weiter zurfick-
tretend, desto scharfer umrissen und weniger
detailliert (LuftperSpektive). Die Zeichnun

der Charaktere. Hier auBer der KorreEtEeit,

der Stil, der Ausdruck, Klarheit der Anordnung
der Gruppe. DaB die Gestalten sich mdglichst
wenig decken, und man nicht die Gestalt in ihren
Gliedern zusammensuchen muB. Modellieren

die Rundung und das Heraustreten Her Gestalten
und Glieder. 22

63

Yet this comparison does not seem quite fitting, for
although a painting is concerned with the correct posi-
tioning of peOple using different gestures, there is actually
no motion involved. And it is the actual moving and ges-
ticulating figures which are of interest to Ludwig.
Consequently, later in this same section of his theoretical
writings we find the key sentence to his whole comparison
of drama and painting. "Nun kommt zur Dramatik noch ein
Element hinzu. Sie verlangt den Schauspieler."23 Drama
is more than just a "painting," the placement of real
figures upon the frame of a stage. The dramatic art "ist
vielmehr eine bildende Kunst. Nur was uns sichtbar,
horbar und greifbar ist, hat Geltung, sonst nichts.n24
Thus the drama, in order to conform to Ludwig's
precepts of a poetic realistic form of art, needs the
human element, the actor who not only reads the words
but also gives the audience something with which it can
identify through the gestures which the words imply.
It is in part for this reason that Ludwig criticized so
severely Goethe and Schiller and the influence which they
had on the actual acting techniques, 1,3. employment of
gesture, which he found so important. In Speaking of
this fact and dramas of Goethe and Schiller, he says:
da die Menschen fast immer pomphafte Reden
aneinander halten, so muBte notwendig eine
Verirrung in diesem Teile der SchauSpielkunst
hervorgerufen, die Gebarde muBte Opernhaft
werden, wie die rhetorischen Glanzstellen
selbst der Oper weit mehr angehoren als dem

Drama. Beide bilden sich ein, das ware das
Rechte. 25

64

Ludwig through his peculiar dramatic style tried to correct

this state of affairs which Goethe and Schiller had brought

ab out 9
Von hier aus gewinnt eS in der Betrachtung
von Ludwigs Werken eine innere Berechtigung,
die Darstellung der Menschen als Ausgangs-
punkt zu wahlen, denn dieser Weg fuhrt uns
zum Kern seineS dichterischen Schaffens. Das
allgemeinste und fruhste Lob, das diesem
Dichter geSpendet wurde, ist die Bewunderung
seiner Kunst, inneres Leben im Ausdruck gegen-
wartig zu machen, als Wort und Gebarde. 26
As we have said before, in his dramatic works Ludwig
was mainly concerned with putting real pe0ple on a
stage to let them act out in the microcosm of the stage
the same conflicts and tragedies which also exist in the
real world. Consequently, the illusion of the theater
is an important aspect of his style. "Das Drama hat zum
Medium die dargestellten Personen der Handlung, hinter
welchen der Dichter verschwindet"27 he says. Thus the
characters must appear to the audience as real peeple,
speaking and gesticulating just as real peOple 6.0.28
This is clearly the case in Ludwig's dramatic works.
His style is such that it lends itself easily to the usage
of two types of gesture: first, those gestures thich are
clearly connected with the plot and the individuality,
"die tragische Anlage," of the character, and secondly,
those gestures which occur during the breaks id the
dramatic action in which the generality of the character
is stressed.50

These gestures are included in the script bf the

65

play in two ways. The first of these is by direct stage
directions on the part of the author where instructions
are given to the performer as to how to act. This is
most often done very directly and matter-of-factly.

He introduces the Opening scene of Die Pfarrrose for
example with the following instruction: "Die Pastorin
allein, vor der Kommode knieend und in einem halbaus-
gezogenen Fach kramend." (V, 277). The gesture which is
to be used here is thus very clearly stated. Stage
directions of this type occur with great frequency in
all of Ludwig's dramas. This direct type of stage direc-
tion is more a technical than a stylistic device and
gives the actor little leeway in the manner in which a
scene is to be performed.

The other type of stage direction is more indirect.
Here the instructions are not specific as to what action
should be performed, but rather Ludwig only includes in
the stage direction the effect which should be achieved.
An example is found in act II, scene 2 of ngp§_§ggi:
"Hanns Frei (Albrecht, der mit ihm kommt, auf Pirkheimer
zeigend, der sich mfiht, einen Zornigen vorzustellen)."
Here Ludwig only mentions that the character should
appear angry thereby leaving the particular actions up
to the individual playing the role at the time. Stage
directions both of a direct as well as an indirect
nature occur with great frequency in Ludwig’s works.

His second method of including gesture is by comments

66

in the dialogue. This is a somewhat more subtle method.
In Das Fraulein vgp Scuderi, for example, when Miossens
comes for his jewelry in act III, scene 2, Ludwig does
not say, "Cardillac gibt ihm seinen Schmuck." Rather
he includes the following in a Speech of Cardillacs:
"Ha, ha! Hier. Nehmt ihn und —- geht!" (V, 184). This
technique, which Ludwig is also very fond of using,
preserves the same flexibility as the indirect type of
stage direction, for it again allows more personal
initiative on the part of the actor as to just how the
movement should be performed.

It should also be mentioned here that this indirect
instruction of gesture through dialogue can also be used
in an entirely different SCOpe. Ludwig was against the
selection of dramatic material which in itself involves
much external action, and yet his last drama Dig Makkabaeg
is just Such a piece. Included are several battle and
fighting scenes which Ludwig certainly realized would
come across very weakly on the stage. Consequently,
this action which supposedly takes place off the stage
has been ineluded through "second-hand" description in
the dialogue of the observers of such action. An excellent
example is found in act III of 2;§_Makkabaer where An-
tiochus, the king, watches Juda fight from afar and ad-
mires him:

... Er sieht sich kampfend um

Ob sie ihm folgen, eilt zurfick und trifft sie
Mit Reden, scharfer denn ein syrisch Schwert;

67

Nun mit geschwungnem Speer stfirzt er von neuem

Ins blut'ge Bad -- vergebens -- wendet nun

Den Speer -- so wie der Treiber auf das Vieh,

LaBt er die Schlage auf die Tragen regnen. ... 51
Although this type of action description is not overly
common in Ludwig's dramatic works, it is fitting in
this play, and its usage, rather than being the exception
to his rules on the use of natural gesture, is more
prOperly considered an adaption of the same staging
techniques which are found in his other dramas.

As we have attempted to demonstrate in this chapter,
Ludwig, in accordance with the importance which he placed
on the usage of gesture, develOped his own particular
styles in both his narrative as well as his dramatic
works which involves an abundance of gesture. He accom-
plished this in such a skillful manner, however, that one
does not become overtly aware of an artificial "stuffing"
of the works with unusual gesticulations. Instead, Lud-v
wig carefully integrated gesture into the narratife or
dramatic action in order to make it appear perfectly
natural and fitting. For this reason the gestures of
the characters are not always introduced in the samexlay,
'but rather Ludwig varies their occurrence. In prose they
are either given directly in the epical flow, gig, auc-
‘torial intrusion, or in connection with dialogue. In
<irama the gestures are merely hinted at through the
icomments of other characters or else they are given
‘by explicit stage directions. By any of these methods

:Dudwig achieves one of his primary goals, that of creating

68

realistic, credible characters.

The abundance of gesture which occurs in Ludwig's
works, however, also fulfills several other functions
in addition to establishing the credibility of the
characters. A closer look at Ludwig's Skills in se-
lecting the gesture in his works as well as a detailed
discussion of the many different functions which it

performs is the subject of chapter four.

FOUR FUNCTIONS OF GESTURE IN LUDWIG'S WORKS

The previous chapters of this study have mainly been
concerned with the more general aspects of gesture in
Otto Ludwig's works, namely a definition of terms, a dis-
cussion of the importance of gesture for Ludwig, and a
general description of Ludwig's style to Show both its
conduciveness to the usage of gesture as well as his
techniques of integrating gesture into his works. In
this chapter we shall approach the more specific parts of
the study by analyzing Ludwig's individual works to attempt
to show how the author makes use of gesture.

Gesture has a great number of functions in Ludwig's
works, and for purposes of Simplification those discussed
in this chapter have been divided into four principal
categories: 1) gesture which is used to tell the story
or>to convey a certain message of the author or of the
characters, 2) gesture which is used to augment the realis—
‘tic aspects of the works as well as to fulfill the author's
Zlove of detail, 5) gesture which is used for humorous pur-
pxases, and 4) gesture which is of a symbolic nature. These
exre somewhat arbitrary classifications, and it Should be
Inentioned at the outset that often the dividing line between

tflne groups is not exactly clear. Many of the examples which

69

70

will be discussed here fit with ease into several of these
categories at the same time. However, in order to refer
to as many different examples as possible in the limited
space available, each example will, for the most part, be
discussed only in the light of the most obvious function
of gesture which it represents.

The first of the four main functions which were listed
above is the case where gesture, more than dialogue, is
used to tell the story or to convey a certain message.

This group of gestures can be further subdivided into

the following eight different subcategories: 1) cases where
words say one thing and gestures another; 2) actions which
express that which words are incapable of or where gestures
are more eloquent than words; 3) actions which are used
without speech to build up to a certain climax; 4) cases
where a simple detailed description of gestures tells the
story in the place of dialogue or monologue; 5) actions
whose purpose is to convey a certain mood which pervades
'the story; 6) actions which outline certain personality
'traits or ideas of a character which the author otherwise
leaves unnoticed; 7) actions which hint at an inner change
.in.an individual; and lastly 8) actions which show a change
:in.the emotional climatesof a character which be, through
'the use of different gestures, tries to hide. Each of
iflaese will be individually discussed here.

The first of these is the case where dialogue and

gesture are found coupled, and yet the two do not augment

71

each other. These are the passages where the motto "actions
Speak louder than words“ earns its justification, for al-
though the gestures are used in connection with dialogue,
they contradict that which thevords attempt to express.
In the Opening scene of Das Hausgesinde, for instance,
Andres sees his girlfriend Rdschen dancing with his foe
the Kammerdiener at the birthday party at the castle,
and he asserts, "Du sollst mich gewiB heute nicht freund—-
lich sehen, und wenn du tausendmal streichelst und schmei-
chelst. ... Ich will gar nicht mehr hinsehen, daB sie sich
nicht etwa einbildet, ich kOnnte gar nicht sein ohne das...."1
And yet in the very next paragraph when Rdschen disappears
from sight, we get the following description: "Aber er
sah in dem Augenblicke wieder hin, wo sie -- gestanden
hatte. Denn Sie war fort. Unter den Tanzern war sie
nicht, unter den Zuschauern auch nicht mehr zu sehen.
Andres vergaB alle seine Vorsatze und machte sich auf die
Beine... ." (I. 7). After such an overt demonstration Of
Andres“ jealousy, the reader no longer believes that which
Andres first asserted about never wanting to see Raschen
again. His actiohs clearly tell more than the speech which
he delivers at the height Of his anger.

A slightly different gesture of this type is found
in flggig. When the servant Just brings Marie the message
that her father never wants to see her again, Marie's
words eXpress the same typical calmness which she has dem-

onstrated throughout the story, and yet at the same time

72

her actions reveal all the more clearly how innerly upset
she is with the news:

"Ich will ja," sagte Marie schnell und tonlos,
indem sie mit einer Hast aufSprang, vor der der
alte Knecht erschrak, "ich gehe gleich -- gleich --
wenn nur die Kniee hielten -- ich gehe schon."

Wie der alte Knecht sie sich so unheimlich ge—
barden sah und das totenbleiche Angesicht und

das Zucken, das den ganzen zarten KOrper von
Augenblick zu Augenblick erschfitterte, brach

ihm das Herz, und er weinte laut, weil er glaubte,
sie sei irr. (I, 227)

In this passage Ludwig himself emphasizes the contradiction
between words and gestures by the remark that the servant
is of the opinion Marie has become mad. In the passage

from Das Hausgesinde such a judgement of the contradiction

 

which is expressed rests solely with the reader.

A third example of the case where words say one thing
and actions another differs once again from the previous
passages we have pointed out. In the play Dig Waldburg
we find the word-gesture contradiction drawn out in such
a manner that it has become the theme of the whole work.
Ludwig fills the speech of the Kastellan with Biblical
sayings such as "Wir sind allzumal Sunder," which are used
to Show the Kastellan's apparent forgiveness for the wrongs
which the Duke has previously committed. And yet in truth,
as his action or setting the castle on fire at the end of
the play indicates, he has not forgiven the Duke at all,
and his position as Kastellan is merely a ruse. This is
the most extreme example in all of Ludwig's works Of this

type of word-gesture contradiction.

73

The second subdivision of gesture being used to tell
the story is very closely related to the first. Whereas
in the above examples gesture contradicts what the words
express, in this subdivision several passages are included
where actions alone express what the author wants.to say,
either because words are incapable of the task or because
the gesture is so eloquent that no words are needed.

The most obvious example of this sort occurs in Die
Heiteretei. Here Ludwig, as author, describes in detail
a certain gesture:

Die Valtinessin erhob sich und schleuderte ihre
Haube, die bis jetzt auf dem linken Ohr in der
Schwebe geruht, mit einer eigentfimlichen Bewegung
des Hauptes auf das rechte. Diese Bewegung, die
man Ofter an ihr wahrnehmen konnte, war aber
keineswegs die Folge einer Angewdhnung. Wer
sie genauer beobachtete, fand bald, daB sie
dieselbe nie zwecklos veranstaltete, sondern
stets nur da, wo sie etwas damit sagen wollte.
Und sie wuBte unendlich viel damit zu as
was mit der Zunge unaussprechlich war. (II; 53)
The Valtinessin has made such an art of swinging her cap
on her head that, although she herself is a very quuacious
character, she can eXpress herself through this swinging
movement more eloquently than with words.

A similar example can be found in Zwischen Himmel
‘und Erde. The following passage describing Apollonius
is at the very beginning of the story.

Wenn die alteren Einwohner der Stadt, begegnet
ihnen der Herr Nettenmair, eine Pause in ihrem
GeSprache machen, um ihn respektvoll zu gruBen,
so ist es jenes magische Etwas nicht allein,

was diese ”wirkuhg tut. Sie wissen, was sis in

dem alten Herrn achten; ist er voruber, fobgen
ihm die Augen der noch immer Schweigenden bis

74

er um eine StraBenecke verschwindet; dann hebt
sich wohl eine Hand, und ein aufgereckter
Zeigefinger erzahlt beredter, als es der Mund
vermOchte, von einem langen Leben, mit allen
Bfirgertugenden geschmuckt und nicht durch einen
einzigen Fehl geschandet. (III, 5-6)
Once again, Ludwig, well aware of the importance of gesture,
inserts here the comment mentioning how much more eloquent
this single raiSed finger is than any long, drawn out, de-
tailed descriptions of the same aspect of Appllonius'
character which this gesture represents.
TO choose yet another of the many examples of this
type, let us turn to the drama Der Erberster. In act I,
scene 1, one of the stage directions for Weiler as he takes

leave of the FOrsterin is the following: “(Gebarden, Ulrichs

 

Strenge andeutend)." (VI, 8). Here the actor playing this
role must convey solely through the use of his gestures
the strictness of the Brberster, something which he has
not yet been able to express in words. Again, this is an
example Of actions speaking not only louder than words
but also with greater eloquence.

The third subcategory to be discussed here fits in
very closely with the two we have just exemplified, and in
many ways it can be considered a synthesis of both. The
single somewhat longer example which has been chosen to
demonstrate this use of gesture is from 2;£_Heiterete;
‘when the Valtinessin comes to Heiteretei's house to report

‘that she knows it was Heiteretei who pushed the Holders-

Fi'itz into the water.

75

Dazu tat sich jetzt die Tur auf. Herein trat

die Gringelwirts-Valtinessin im Sturmschritt.
Hinter ihr her die Schlosserin drfiben von den
Weiden und die Russen-Sattlerin. Das geschah

mit so eigenen Gebarden und mit so beredtem
Schweigen, daB die bereits Anwesenden vor

Neugier und Verwunderung verstummten.

Da lieB von all den Vorwanden und Versicherungen,
die sonst zum Zeremoniell der "Wachtstube"
gehOrten, sich nichts vernehmen. Keine Bede
davon, wieviel die Valtinessin daheim zu tun
hatte, daB sie eigentlich kaum aus dem Hause
gucken sollte und doch kame, weil sie einmal

"so'l sei. Es hatte etwas Beangstigendes, wie

die drei guten Frauen nur gekommen zu sein schienen,
um hier Kaffee zu trinken. Aber auch das muBte
ein eigenes Verhangnis nicht geschehen lassen
wollen. Sie ffihrten die angebotenen Tassen

mit zitternder Hand zum Munde und stellten sie
doch ohne getrunken zu haben, wieder auf den
Tisch. Und mit Gesichternl mit Gesichternl
Wunderbar war es anzusehen, wie in der Spannung von
Angst und Neugier die ubrigen Frauen unwill-
kfirlich die Mienen und Gabarden der eben An-
gekommenen nachahmten. (II, 157-58)

Here we witness a series of actions without speech, not
yet certain of their meanings. The gesture is used here
to build up to a climax. The use of gesture without speech
leads up to the climax, and most surely gesture in combi-
nation with speech will follow. Up to this point speech
is not really necessary, for the actions of the Valtinessin,
as the passage indicates, clearly convey: the importance
Of what she has to say. ’

The fourth subdivision of the function of gesture
'used to tell the story is similar to this last one. In-
cluded here are those passages where the detailed descriptions
of’the actions and gestures of the characters (without the
118e of many words) tell a certain story within the larger

:framework of the complete work. In the following example

76

from Zwischen Himmel und Erde the actions which the

 

three characters, Apollonius, his father and the servant
Valentin, perform and the poses which they assume tell the
stnry of the traditional standoffishness and personal
restraint which has always prevailed in the Nettenmair
household. The scene is Apollonius' first meeting with
his father after his return.

Valentin setzte die Schere ab und lachte Oder
weinte auf den Knieen; man konnte nicht sagen,

was er tat. Der alte Herr neigte erst wie horchend
den KOpf auf die Seite, dann nahm er sich zusammen.
Apollonius sah, der Vater smpfand.seine Blindheit
als etwas des er sich schamen mfisse. Er sah, wie
der alte Herr sich anstrengte, jede Bewegung zu
vermeiden, die daran erinnern kOnnte, er sei

blind. Er wuBte nun erst, was bei dem alten

Mann, den er so liebte, blind sein hieBL Der

alte Herr ahnte, daB der AnkOmmling in seiner

Nahe war. Aber wo? auf welcher Seite? Apollonius.
ffihlte, der Vater empfand diese UngewiBheit mit
Beschamung, und zwang die versagende Brust zu

dem Rufe: "Vater! lieber Vaterl" Er stfirzte

neben dem alten Herrn in die Kniee und wollte

beide Arme um ihn schlagen, Der alte Herr machte
eine Bewegung, die um Schonung zu bitten schien,
Obgleich sie nur den Jfingling von ihm abhalten
sollte. Der schlug die zurfickgewiesenen Arne

um die eigene Brust, den Schmerz da festzuhalten,
der, fiber die Lippen gestiegen, dem Vater ver-
raten hatte, wie tief er dessen Elend empfand.

Die gleiche Schonung lieB den alten Valentin die
unwillkurliche Bewegung, dem alten Herrn sich
aufrichten zu helfen, zu einem Griff nach der
Schere machen, die zwischen ihm und diesem lag..

(III, 35)
The only words which are Spoken are Apollonius‘ ‘Vaterl
lieber Vater!" which are most non-committal, and yet
the meaning of that which is left unspoken is perfectly
clear to the reader. The whole message of the passage is

conveyed merely by the detailed descriptions of the actions

77

and reactions of each individual character.

Similar to this usage of gesture are those passages
of the fifth subdivision where specific actions Of the
characters are used to convey a certain mood which then

pervades the story. In the story Das.HausgeSinde, for

 

example, the suspense which surrounds Andres' Opening of

one of the three boxes around which the story centers is

beautifully conveyed by the mere descriptions Of the

onlookers' gestures:
Andres nahm daS Papier, das den Inhalt der _
Schachtel verbarg, hinweg, faBte kraftig hinein --
der Kammerdiener verdrehte die Augen, der Haus-
meister brash in die Kniee, die Haushalterin
stieB einen Schrei aus, der Graf wankte vor
verbissener Wut -- Andres aber schwang fiber
seinem Haupte —- eine schneeweiBgepuderte
Perucke, ein Prachtexemplar. (I, 27)

Ludwig does not need to mention that each of the above

characters fears what Andres will reveal when the box

is Opened, their gestures convey that message to the

reader much more distinctly and picturesquely.

In Die wahrhaftige Geschichte von den drei Wfinschen,
to choose another example of this sort, we again find
gesture used to portray a mood, but this time of a totally
different type. Here "der dritte Literat" speaks of his

entrance into the magic castle.

Ich stand und wagte kaum zu atmen. Nun nahte

von auBen Musik, eine andere Tur sprang auf,

und herein traten in schOner Ordnung zwanzig
echwarze Verschnittene mit gezfickten sabeln,
prachtig in goldbrokatene Gewander gekleidet.
~Darauf folgten ebensoviel der schdnsten Sklavinnen
mit Saitenspielen, die Sie auf die lieblichste
Weise rfihrten. Und nun kam Sonne des Lebens.

78

selbst in ihrer Wunderschbnheit. Noch einmal
zwanzig Frauen, auf Hoboen blasend und sanften
FlOten, beschlossen den Zug. Die schwarze
Dienerschaft reihte sich hinter dem Tisch, an
den Sonne des Lebens sich setzte, nachdem sie
mich auf das anmutigste willkommeh geheiBen
und eingeladen hatte, mich zu ihr zu setzen.
Die Sklavinnen umgaben uns, bald in den lieblich-
sten Tanzen ihre Reihen verschlingend, bald in
den ergOtzendsten Gruppen geordnet. Sonne des
Lebens schnitt derweile den saftigsten Apfel
in der Mitte durch und gab die eine Halfte mir,
dann schenkte sie selbst den kuhlen Wein in
eine Schale, neigte sich vor mir und trank.

Nun reichte sie die Schale mir, indem sie mit
der SuBesten Stimme sang, wobei die Sklaven,
die mich hierher gefuhrt, sie auf der Laute
begleitete. (I, 164-65)

Again there are few spokeniords involved, just those of
the song, and yet the description immediately conveys to
the reader the air of the unreal and the fantastic which
are so closely connected with the visit here. Merely by
sketchily outlining the gestures and actions of the peOple
present Ludwig creates for the reader the magical mood
which pervades this whole story.

The sixth subdivision of the case where Ludwig expresses
more through gestures than words is when actions of certain
individuals express characteristics or ideas which the author,
other than by the use of gesture, leaves for the most part
unnoticed. In the Opening pages of Die Heiteretei, for
example, we find this description of Holders-Fritz and his
cronies:

Es war etwa zehn Bursohe zwischen siebenzehn

und zwanzig Jahren, die solchergestalt das LOb
des Holders-Fritz preisend daherkamen, der in
ihrer Mitte einherschritt, schweigend, wie ein
machtiger Fleischerhund umhfipft von klaffenden
MOpsen- Sie gestikulierten mit Pfeifen, Stdcken

und Handen, sichtlich bemfiht, durch Wichtigkeit
und Gewaltsamkeit des Gebarens zu ersetzen, was

79

ihnen an Mannlichkeit noch abging. Man sah, das
wilde Wesen des Holders-Fritz war ihr Muster.
(II, 22)
NO more than this description of the Holders-Fritz is
needed to introduce him to the reader. By his and his
companions' swaggering walk through the streets of Luckenbach,
Ludwig tells all we need to know of the wild ways Of the
Holders-Fritz and the unfaltering adulation of his cronies.
The introduction to Sannel in Aus dem Regen i3 die
Traufe is of this same type. We find her sitting in the
living room with the angry Frau Bfigel waiting for Hannesle
to return.
Es waren ein Paar Socken, die sie ausbesserte;
sie hielt sie mit einer Art andachtigen Schonung
in ihren kleinen Handen. Die Socken waren klein
wie die Hande. Sie muBte den Knaben sehr lieb-
haben, dem sie gehOrten, man sah es in ihrem
Blicke, an jeder Bewegung. (II, 257)
Although Ludwig refers already earlier in this paragraph
to Sannel's "Diensteifer," it is only thbugh the picture
of her lovingly mending Hannesle's socks that we come to
know of the protective, mother-like role she plays in his

life.. As in our reference to the Holders-Fritz from Die

Heiteretei Sannel is also later in the story, both through

 

words and gestures, more thoroughly characterized, but in
her first appearance Ludwig carefully avoids disclosing
too much 0f the plot by merely outlining her actions in-
stead of explaining in detail her role in Hannesle's life.
A.seventh way in which Ludwig varies the theme

"gestures Speak louder than words" is when a character's

80

actions give the reader the only clue as to an "inner"
change which he is undergoing. For instance in Zwischen
Himmel und Erde Ludwig describes a series of Fritz
Nettenmair's actions thusly:
Nun zog er zfirnend die Wolke des blauen Rockes
wieder um sich zusammen, pfiff schrillender als
je, so daB es drfiben in der groBen Glocke wider-
tOnte, ging auf doppelten Stelzen, zog die Schultern
noch einmal so hoch am schwarzhaarigen KOpf herauf;
der Grimm und die Entschiedenheit seines frfiheren
Hustens und Auspuckens war ein Kinderspiel gegen
sein jetziges. (III, 54)
As the last sentence suggests, Fritz's imitationsof some
Of his father's habits since the arrival of Apollonius.
have become exaggerated almost to the point Of caricature.
This reflects the steady decline of his attitudes and his
whole moral system. Without saying anything more than
this concise description, Ludwig thus paints a definitive
picture of the gloom of a family feud which has begun to
settle over the Nettenmair household.
In a somewhat lighter vein is another example of
this type from Das Marchen vom toten Kinds.
Hans und Else waren noch nicht so weit entfernt
von Birkenwalde, daB sie den Giebel der statt-
lichen Pastorwohnung nicht mehr hatten sehen
kOnnen, als Hans plOtzlich stillstand und zwar
mit der Gebarde eines Menschen dem ein wichtiger
Gedanke gekommen ist. (I, 525)
Through this Single gesture on the part of Hans, Ludwig
lets the reader know that suddenly Hans has "come to his
senses." He is not yet convinced of the wrohgness of his
and his wife's actions in reference to the dead child, but

he suddenly has insight into how much power his wife has

81

been able to exercise over him in the making of their de-
cision. The story is not long enough to find out whether
Hans ever makes further use of this newly gained insight,
yet we know by the gesture portrayed here that some sort
of an inner change has taken place.

Similar to these examples is the Single passage from
Das Fraulein von Scuderi which is used here to demonstrate
the eighth and last subdivision. Here is a case where an
inner change in the emotional climate has already taken
place, and yet the character himself, in this case Cardillac,
persists in trying to hide this fact. In Cardillac‘s mon-
ologue in act III, scene 5 we find the following lines:

... Ein Anderer bin ich bei Nacht.
(Schritte; Gebarden, zuweilen ein Gelachter; sein
Selbstgesprach wird mahlich wieder lauter)
Ha ha -- ja doch -- hm ja, Was ist's? Was ist's?
... (V, 186)
Cardillac realizes his own madness, and, although he admits
to himself "Bin Anderer bin ich bei Nacht" through words
and gestures, his actions when he is among the other
characters suggest not even to the most astute observer
the inner change which he is trying to conceal.

The preceding passages clearly demonstrate the’
important role which gesture plays in Ludwig‘s works in
telling the story and conveying certain messages other-
wise left unspoken. Ludwig found this technique tO be
much more powerful and subtler than pure dialogue or

auctorial intrusion, and consequently, numerous exampbes

of this type are found in all of his completed prose and

 

WTFTF. 7'

 

82

dramatic works. --

A second main function of gesture in Ludwig's works

is its usage for purposes of realism.
Ludwig has been described as the first modern
realist in Germany: he might, however, be more
aptly compared with a genre painter. His strength
lay in the careful observation of detail; he
loved to dwell on the infinitely little.. 2
Much of the minute detail in his works is composed Of
descriptions of the gestures of the characters;.and, as we
mentioned in chapter one and again accentuate here, these
gestures which we refer to here are not those which are
intrinsically connected with the plot. We are not referring
to Zweckhandlung as such but rather to the usage of a great
many small details which merely embellish the action of
the plot and addtcolor and interest to the story.

Included within this realistic function of gesture in
Ludwig's works are those small gestures and motions which
illustrate different aspects of the characters other than
the single basic aSpect which is so important to the plot.

An example is found, for instance, in the behavior Of Hans

in Das Marchen vom toten Kinde as he prepares to enter the

 

house of the pastor to ask him to preach a free funeral
sermon:

Sie hatten nicht weit zu gehen bis zum Pfarrhaus
von Birkenwalde. Schon sah es mit seinem steiner-
nen Giebel fiber den blfihenden Holunder herab. Hans
zog seinen Kamm durch die Haare, rausperte sich,
ruckte sich in seiner Jacks zurecht und nahm

schon im Hausflur seine ratselfarbige Mfitze ab.

(I. 520)

.All.these actions referring to Hans's toilet are of little

85

importance to his main role in the story, that of opportunist,
and yet their usage gives the reader a sense of reality
of Hans's existence- He appears as normal as any average
person expecting an interview with someone before whom he
has, or Should have, esteem and respect.

In Der Erberster we also find many examples of this
type. Throughout the play there are scenes in which the
characters play cards, eat, smoke, and dance (act I, scene
6 for example). Again, these gestures have little relevance
to the tragioal plot of the play, but they do serve to
emphasize that the people are not merely made of cardboard
acting out something equally artificial on the stage.
These actions serve to make the characters appear true to
life. As in the passage from Das Marchen 12g_§g§gp,§igg§
these small gestures which Ludwig details throughout his
works help to create rounded characters, just as he recom-
mends and praises in his theoretical writings.

Similar to this usage of detail are the cases where
Ludwig employs small detailed gestures to convey what
William H. McClain has called a "sense of immediacy“;
of the characters. In the scene from Dig Heiteretei
where the Dotin, the innkeeper, comes to visit Heiteretei
as an old friend to find out why she chased the "great
ladies" of Luckenbach out of her house after pushing
the Holders-Fritz into the water, we have an example of
this type .

Die Dotin setzte sich auf die Ofenbank und legte
ein Bundel, das sie mitgebracht, vor sich auf den

 

 

84

Tisch. Die Heiteretei holte ihren StuhI.vom Fen-

ster und nahm der Dotin gegenfiber Platz.

Die Dotin zog ihre Brille aus dem Busentuch;

das gehOrte zu den nOtigen Vorbereitungen, wenn

sie jemandem eine Predigt halten wollte. Dann

strich sie die Schurze glatt, lehnte sich hinten-
fiber, setzte die Brille auf und begann: "Aber,

Madlel Médlel was machst du mir da fur Ding!

Bennst den Holders-Fritz vom Steg, weil er dich

nicht will frein, und wie dir die groBen Weiber

deine Unart verweisen, bist du so unsinnig und
jagst sie aus dem Hausle?"

'Weil er mich nicht will frein?" unterbrach sie

die Heiteretei zornig. Die Wirtin nahm die

Brille ab, wie jederzeit, solang Sie nicht

selber Sprach. ... (II, 176)

The smoothing of the apron and the taking Off and putting

on of the glasses really add nothing to the content of the
Dotin's speech, but these details do make the whole conver-
sation more realistic. Not only do we hear the conversation,
but we also see the two ladies sitting together. The usage
of such small, detailed gestures makes the whole scene

come alive-

Another way in which small details and gestures add
to the realism of Ludwig's works are the cases where these
details later reinforce the actions of the characters as
pertaining to the plot. The most Obvious example is from
the story Die Emanzipation der Domestiken. In the Opening
pages the Baron is introduced as a hyper-romantic in have
with adventure as he sets off alone on a walk through
the forest. Florentine is likewise characterized by
jher mother and the village priest in their Opening con-
versation as "ein anmutig-wildes Ratsel" (I, 56), and

although her mother is worrying in this scene about

 

85

Florentine‘s well-being Since she is long overdue home from
a visit to her friend, She admits: "Es ist vielleicht Tor—
heit, daB ich mich angstige. Nicht das erste Mal ist's,
daB Florentine langer bei ihrer Freundin weilt als sie

sich vorgenommen." (I, 56). The Baron's and Florentine's
gestures which we learn of at the beginning of the story
help to rationalize and motivate their actionSlater on.

It is "the heroine's love of romantic adventure and her
restless Spirit which motivate her lonely night ride in

the forest in the course of which she falls into the hands
of the robbers; and it is likewise the hero's reckless
daring which prompts him to rescue her single-handed."4
Thus, the mention of such small details as we noted at
the beginning of the story add to its realism by helping
to Show the motivation of the main action of the plot.

By far the most vital function of gesture in Ludwig's
works for purposes of realism is its usage in milieu
descriptions. Through an exact description of the detail
of many small gestures Ludwig sketches before the "inner
eye," as he would say, the exact setting in which the
story takes place. The Opening pages of Die Heiteretei,
for example, contain such a detailed description of the
actions of the peOple caught in the rainstorm after the
Grfinder,fl§pk§ that we have no trouble viewing the whole
scene in our minds as a motion picture:

Wehe dem, der da noch unter diesen letzteren ist,

in dem wilden Durcheinander von StOcken, KOpfen,
Hfiten, Mutzen, das der gleichzeitige Druck nach

 

86

allen Rightungen, nach deren Enden rettende Tfiren
sich Offnsn, in eine kreisende Bewegung dringt.
Zugleich mit der ganzen Masse um ihre uhd noch
einmal besonders um seine eigene Asche gewirbelt,
weiB er bald nicht mehr, was sich dreht, er Oder
die Hauser und Buden um ihn herum. Bald erscheint
die rettende Tfir, bald verschwindet sie, ohne daB
sie ihm naher gekommen ist. Die Hutkrempe, von
Regen und Mitleid erweicht, senkt sich allmahlich
und verhfillt dem Auge des Dulders liebevoll
wenigstens den Anblick seines Schicksals, bis

eine Flut ihn plOtzlich davonffihrt, er wuiB nicht,
wohin, und eine Tfir ihn einschlingt, die er nie

zu passieren gemeint hat. SO ist' s in Marktflecken
selbst; die StraBe nach dem Stadtchen bietet bei
allem Ahnlichen doch ein ganz verschiedenes Bild-
Wer bereits auf dem Heimwege ist, hat die Schritte
schon eine gute Weile her langer und schneller
gemacht; nun wird ein Rennen aus dem Eilen. Wer

so vorsichtig war, einen Regenschirm mitzutragen,
dem lohnt sich die Mfihe der Arme nun an den FfiBen.
Wie ein Beet voll lebendiger Pilze, roter, blauer,
grauer, schwarzer, kommt die StraBe den verwunderten
Raben von Oben auf den Pappeln fiber dem Graben.

Der Regenschirm ist der Mann des Tages. Was keiner
ist, mfiht sich einer zu werden. Unterrock, Bfindel,
eben gekaufte Wasserkannen, TOpfe, Tiegel, alles
vergiBt im Drang der Not seine eigentliche Bestimmung.
Da.huschen Weiber und Madchen, mit der Schfirze
bedeckt, die ausgezogenen Strfimpfe und Schuhe

in den Handen, die StraBe hin, und neben jeder
huscht ein Mittelding von Schatten und Spiegelbild
fiber die Pffitzen und den nassen Glanz der StraBe
mit. Hier kommt einer zu Pferde und schnaubt und
stampft und spritzt vorbei, daB die Weiber aufschreien
und die manner fluchen. ... (II, 7-8)

The realistic description of the scurrying of the peOple

across the wet countryside makes the scene come alive.

Lud-

wig gives the scene such a sense of immediacy for the reader

that we have actually no trouble empathizing with the

characters involved.

Another example where Ludwig describes many different

gestures of several characters to make a scene realistic is

at the beginning of Zwischen Himmel und Erde. Ludwig

87

describes the residents of the Nettenmair household thusly
as they sit awaiting the arrival of Aphhhonius after his
long period of absence:

Wer heute in das Haus hineinsehen konnte mit

den grfinen Fensterladen, etwa eine Studde vor
Mittag, der merkte wohl, daB die Gedanken seiner
Bewohner nicht im gethnlichen alltaglichen
Geleise gingen. Han konnte es sehen an der

Art, wie die Leute aufstanden und wie sie sich
sétzten, wie sie Tfiren Offneten und schlossen,
wie Sie Dinge anfaBten und wieder wegstellten,
mit denen sie weiter nichts taten als sie nehmen
und wieder hinstellen und offenbar auch weiter
nichts tun wollten. Wer sich besinnt, in welcher
Gemfitslage er am Oftesten die Uhr aus der Tasche
zog, und noch ehe er sie wieder in die Tasche
versenkt, schon vergessen hatte, welche Zeit es
sei, und sie wieder hervorholte, und da er nicht
wuBte warum er das getan, sie an das Ohr hielt,
und ohne gehOrt zu haben, ob sie noch ging oder
nicht, den Uhrschlfissel suchte und sie aufzog,
vielleicht zum dritten Mal in Zeit von einer
Stunde; der wird, falls er sich noch besinnen
kann auf das, was or schon damals nicht wuBte,
als er es tat, erraten kOnnen, was die Leute

zu aller der zwecklosen Tatigkeit verleitet.
(III, 24-25)

Here, instead of a milieu description we have one of mood.
Ludwig shows a great gift of being able to capture the
typical behavior of human beings in times of anticipation.
Once again we actually can see the characters with our
inner eye and sense their nervousness as they await
Apollonius. The "zwecklose Tatigkeit" of the men playing
with their watches is, in many respects, merely a super-
fluous detail in comparison with the main action Of

the plot, but it is this type of action in Ludwig's works
which endows them with their appeal to the reading public

who can thereby identify with the characters.

88

This second function of gesture, the dwelling on
small details for the sake of realism, occurs with great
frequency in all of Ludwig's works. He wished to give his
writings a sense of realism and immediacy, and it is pri-
marily throughithe use of gesture to create rounded char-
acters, to help motivate thezrtion of the plot, and to
give milieu descriptions, such as we have just discussed,
that he accomplishes this goal. --
The third main function of gesture in Ludwig's works
is for purposes of humor. We have already mentioned the
comparison between Ludwig and a genre painter; and,'just,
as a realistic genre painting almost always contains at
least one character performing some sort of humorous gesture,
so do the stories and plays of Ludwig. Often the qualities
which make such a character or scene humouous are difficult
to pinpoint, but in the case of Ludwig the humor is based
much of the time to a great extent on his Skills in describ-
ing details, often using unusual or atypical vocabulary
and comparisons.
The humor is often contained in the unusual actions
of a particular character within a larger group scene as
is the case in the following example from Die wahrhaftigg
Geschichte von den drei Wfinschen which describes the store
where young Theodor becomes an apprentice.
Als ich mein ffinfzehntes Jahr zurfickgelegt hatte,
gab mich Madame FlOtenspiel bei Herrn EntenfraB,
einem Kaufherren in der PetersstraBe, in die Lehre.

Ich kann den wundersamen Eindruck, den mein Herr
Prinzipal, als ich ihn zum erstenmal sah, auf

 

89

mich machte, nicht vergessen. Acht Kommis
besorgten den Verkauf. Herr BntenfraB, ein
ziemlich untersetzter, jedoch ungemein beweglicher
Mann, schien zwecklos dazwischen in dem GewOlbe
umherzusteigen. flit einer gewissen, fast angst-
lichen Unruhe, welche sich in bestandigen AchseI—
zucken auSSprach, schob er den grfinen Augenschirm,
den er immer trug, bald auf diese, bald auf jene
Seite. Dabei rief er von Zeit zu Zeit mit
gesunder Stimme: 'Nummer eins, De-El-Em! Nummer
zwei, De-El—EmlP und gestikulierte auf das selt-
Samste mit dem rechten Arm, dessen Hand mit einer
Elle bewaffnet war. Die Bedeutung dieses Treibens
blieb mir, solang ich Lehrling war, ein Ratsel.

(I. 158-59)
Just as this scene has a "wundersamen Eindruck" on young
Theodor, it also has the same effect on the reader. Until
Ludwig explains the meanings of these strange actions of
Herrn EntenfraB, we can only laugh at the humor of their
appearance. As this scene Opens we eXpect to find the
description of a normal store. The fact that our expec--
tations are entirely reversed creates the humor contained
in the scene.

The other possibility of creating humor in a group
scene is that of endowing most of the members of the group
with humouous gestures instead of bestowing them on only
one particular person. In the following passage from
Die Heiteretei where the great ladies of Luckenbach exchange
what they believe to be their final farewells with Hei-—
teretei on the evening before She sets out for the ggigg
hammer we find an example of this type of humor.

Es gehfirte ein Wesen dazu, wie es die arme
Heiteretei vielleicht morgen nicht mehr besaB,
die unzahligen Umarmungen zu fiberstehen. Wen:

der Heiteretei nicht mehr habhaft werden konnte,
der ergriff die nachste andere. Wer keine ein-

 

9O

zelne mehr fand, umschlang eine ganze umschlungene
Gruppe. Es war ein wahrer Scheideknfiuel, eine
durcheinander gewirrte Strahne Abschiedsgarn

von Armen, Haubenschleifen, blauen Mfinteln und

auf fremde Schultern gelehnten Haubenfleckchen,
die der Engel des Jammers, der bleich fiber dem
Ganzen schwebte, mit Trfinenstrdmen fibergOB.

(II. 75)
Here it is in the Silly gestures Of the women hugging
everyone within reach that we find the humor. Ludwig in
speaking of "gewirrte Strdhne Abschiedsgarn" seems to be
writing tongue-in-cheek, and the effect of the whole scene
is to create humor out of the over-exaggerated gestures Of
a group of busy-body women rather than to convey the danger
of Heiteretei's mission.

However, humor through gesture is not always created
by Ludwig only in group scenes. The description of an
unusual character can also have the same effect as is
the case in his description of the Zaubermfinnlein in
Des Hausgesinde:

Darauf erhob sich das Mannleinanf den Schuh-—
spitzen, streckte die Arne auseinander, als ging'
es mit dem bei seiner Kleinheit ffirwahr fiber-
kfihnen Gedanken um, den Andres zu umarmen,
bog das KOpflein auf die rechte Seite, drfickte
die Augen zu wie ein Kfickelhahn der krfihen
will, und rief mit heller durchdringender
Stimme: "Teuerster durchlauchtigster Prinz
Andrei ..." (I, 13)
The apparition of this unusual little man confronting the
main character in an otherwise realistic story in an
otherwise very realistic garden can not help but have
humorous overtones, if only due to the shock effect of

his appearance.

 

91

The way Ludwig describes an unusual.gesture of a
character can also have a humorous effect. The fact that
Frau Bfigel in Aus dem Regen i3 die Traufe has a habit Of
sliding her Spectacles up and down on her nose is not
in itself particularly comical, yet the description of the
gesture as She waits for Hannesle to return from the Grfinder
Markt causes just as big a smile as the unusual description
Of the Zaubermannlein in Des Hausgesinde.

Der Nasenrficken war vom vielen Hin-und Herschieben
des Nasenklemmers wie poliert. Man Spricht von
glanzendem Elend, wenn man ein sorgenvolles
Dasein bezeichnen will, das nach auBen ein glfick-
liches erscheint; war das, was so blau um der
Frau Bfigel Nase sich lagerte, Herzeleid, so
war es nicht bloB bildlich ein glanzendes Herze-
leid. (II, 258)
Here the'hnmor is caused by the picture of the shiny nose
coupled with his witty comparison as to its meaning.

Similar humorous word choices and comparisons occur
with especially great frequency in Die Heiteretei, usually
relating to one of the most comical of all of Ludwig's
characters, the Valtinessin. Often these comparisons and
word choices function to describe a certain gesture or
characteristic, and only in Ludwig's word choice in ac-
complishing this tahk does he also supply the humor. A
good example is found in the contrast of the heavy Val-
tinessin and the extremely thin Morzenschmiedin in the
Opening scene which takes place at the Gringel:

Der Zufall, der die Valtinessin eben der Morzen-
schmiedin gegenfibersitzen heiBt, scheint dies in

seiner lustigsten Laune zu tun; denn beide Genannten
stellen die Pole weiblicher Beleibtheit vor. Die

92

Valtinessin macht den Eindruck eines fiber seine
Ufer getretenen Stromes. Es ist ein BIfick ffir

die Morzenschmiedin, daB jene nicht auf dem Leder-
sofa neben ihr Platz genommen, sie ware rettungs-
los unter Fleisch gesetzt worden. Die Valtinessin
ist eine Gestalt von solcher Unbescheidenheit der
Ausdehnung, daB der Gast, welcher hereintretend
seine Sehkraft nach ihrem MaBe ausgedehnt hat,
Gefahr lauft, die Schmiedin ihr egenfiber gar
nicht gewahr zu werden. (II, 29%

Here, Ludwig gives the clue to the humor of this descrip- ‘
tion when he Speaks of the "lustige Laune" of chance which ,9
made these two women the shape they are. Every comparison g

from that of the overflowing stream to that of the exag-

 

gerated danger of not being aware of the small, thin
Morzenschmiedin heightens the effect of the humor.

This is likewise the case when Ludwig describes the
scene where the Valtinessin leaves Heiteretei's house after
her visit:

Damit stand sie schon quer in der Tfir des
Hauschens. Diese, sah man, war nicht ffir sie
berechnst. Es kostete ihrer massiven Grazie
einige kfinstliche Wendungen, bis sie sich
hinausgeschraubt hatte. (II, 50)
By referring to the giant woman as "massive Grazie" and
then by coupling this with the description of her having
to "screw" herself out the door, Ludwig can not help but
add humor to the situation. This description is thereby
much more picturesque than if he had merely said that the
fat woman had trouble squeezing through the door.
To choose one last example of Ludwig's making fun of

the size of the Valtinessin and to show how this theme

runs throughout the story, here is the passage where the

93

Bader comes to tell her about the intentions of the Hohders-

Fritz to marry her daughter:
Der Schmied und die fibrigen gingen. Der Meister
Schnfidler rannte die Valtinessin an. In seinem
weiBlichen Rocke schien er mit ihr Nachtfalter
und Pfingstrose Spielen zu wollen. Es ergab sich
aber, er hatte beabsichtigt, der Valtinessin
etwas ins Ohr zu flfistern. (II, 167)

Once again it is not only the size of the woman which

makes the scene humorous, but also Ludwig's skillful use

of the comparison to a children's game to describe the

gesture which takes place.

Ludwig is fond of humorous action such as the scenes
with the Valtinessin which run as an undercurrent through-
out the story. Similar examples can be found in Aus dem
Regen ig,die Traufe. Here, however, instead of referring
to the size of just one character he creates humor by
contrasting the difference in size between Hannesle and the
woman he has chosen to be his bride, called only "die
Schwarze," as in this first scene where we see the two
together:

Wie er so neben ihr saB, lehnte sein Gesicht
an ihrer Schulter, und Sie ragte mit dem ganzen
Kopfe fiber ihn weg. Aber er wuBte sich dennoch
was Rechts.. Sie hielt ihn wie ein Kind in ihrem
Arm und muBte ihn manchmal an sich drficken,
weil er sonst vom Steine gerutscht ware, wie
sie sagte. (II, 280)
This series Of scenes where "die Schwarze" and Hannesle
come together heightens the humor which is created by
their difference in size just as the scenes with the

Valtinessin in Die Heiteretei form a humorous thread of

_"| _ ;

94

action in that story.

The last way to be discussed here in which gesture
performs a humorous function in Ludwig‘s works is when it
serves as comic relief. This usage does not occur as
often as some of the others which have been discussed here,
but it does play an important role especially in the author‘s
later works. A good example of this type is found in the
scene of Die Heiteretei where the Frale (grandmother) of
the Holders-Fritz has brought the Bader to look at his
wound after his fall into the brook-

Dabei griff er nach dem Arm des Holders-Fritz
und fuhlte diesem den Puls, was mit einigen
Schwierigkeiten verknfipft war, weil er ihn in
der Gegend des Ellenbogens suchte. ... Der
Meister wurde seinem Irrtum gewahr, er rutschte
suchend vom Ellenbogen zum Handgelenke des
HoDders-Fritz. Um seinen Zustand nicht einge-
stehen zu mfissen, erklarte er der Alten, so ein
Kerl wie der Fritz sei nicht wie jeder. Am Hand-
gelenke einen Puls haben, das sei keihs Kunst,
das konne jeder Schneider. Aber von einem Kerl,
wie der Fritz einer sei, verlange man mehr. (II, 152)
Ludwig is a great master at creating suspense in his works,
and the situation when the Holders-Fritz falls into the
brook and we are not sure whether he will live or die is
a good example. Ludwig realizes, however, that it is im-
possible to keep continually building up the suspense of
a story unless there is at some point some aberration to
keep the reader's attention, and that is exactly the
function of this scene: to provide comic relief. By
being able to laugh at the antics of the Bader as he
attempts to locate the pulse, the tension is for the moment

relieved and when the serious strain of the story is again

 

95

resumed a few paragraphs later, Ludwig is able once again
to continue building up the suspense.

As we have discussed in this section of the chapter,
gesture is used to produce humorous effects in Ludwig‘s
works in roughly four different ways. One possibility
is simply the description of an unusual and therefore
humorous gesture or character. Secondly, humor is created
by a description of a character performing a relatively
typical gesture in a humorous manner. Closely related
to this is Ludwig's third method of introducing humor
by the use of unusual or atypical vocabulary or com-
parisons to describe certain actions, and lastly, gesture
creates humor in Ludwig‘s works when it functions as comic
relief to the increase of tension in the plot. -- I

The fourth principal function which gesture performs
in Ludwig's works is its symbolic use. Ludwig's works
as representatives of poetic realism understandably do
not contain an abundance of symbolism, and many facets
of his works which could be considered to have symbolical
significance have little or nothing to do with gesture.
Consequently, our series of examples used to demon-
strate how gesture functions in a symbolic manner is
limited. In many cases even the classification as "sym-
bolic" can be questioned, and as we mentioned above, some
of these exampres could just as easily have been considered
in the preceding discussions in this chapter. For the

purposes of this study gestures have been classified as

 

96

symbolic when, in addition to their overt meaning in the
story or play, they also serve to emphasize a particular
aspect of the character himself or the plot of the work
in general which the author otherwise leaves unnoticed.
One of the clearest examples of this function occurs
in Ludwig's early work M2222 when Eisener, troubled
by and absorbed in his own thoughts, observes the action
of the peOple on the street below his window in the midst

of a rainstorm: *

 

Auf der StraBe unmittelbar unter seinen Fenstern
eilten Obdachsuchende in groteskem Aufzug,

Tucher oder Teile der untern Kleiduhg fiber den
KOpf gezogen, aufgeschfirzt, so hoch man es mit

der Notwendigkeit entschuldigen zu kannen sich
getraute, mit sich allein hinreichend beschfiftigt
oder einen Teil seiner Sorge Kindern, Alten oder
dem Vieh zugewandt, das man eilig einem Torwege
oder, konnte man diesen nicht schnell genug er-
reichen, dem ausgebreiteten dichten Laubdach einer
Buche zutrieb oder —zog, im Vorbeieilen nach
Temperament oder augenblicklicher Stimmung Tracht
und Bile an sich oder den andern belachend,
klagend oder fluchend. Eisener hatte die Strnn

an das Fenster gedrfickt und sah mit dem einen

Auge in sich hinein, mit dem andern auf die StraBe:
dort Flucht und Verwirrung wie hier. Aus der
Gedankenlosigkeit, in die er verfallen war, riB

er sich mit Anstrengun auf, um von neuem in sie
zu verfallen. (I, 211%

This is a perfect example of how Ludwig has used the actions
of others, the people on the street, in a symbolic manner.
Their confusion symbolizes exactly the confusion of Eisener's
own emotional climate. This is represented by Ludwig in

the description of the two eyes -- one looking inward on
Eisener's own thoughts, the other observing the peOple on

the street -- both seeing in principle the exact same "Flucht

97

und Verwirrung." And when in the following paragraphs the
rain storm passes by and the sun returns to clear the air,
Eisener's thoughts also clear and he makes the decision to
return to Marklinde.

Another manner in which Ludwig symbobizes the emo-
tional climate of the characters is through the use of
nature descriptions. In act IV of Die Makkabaer we find
Lee who throughout the play has spurned Naemi, the wife of
Judas, being freed by her in the darkness of night. The
symbolism of this gesture of Naemi untying the binding
rcpes of Lea is reflected in the manner in which each of
them describes the nature around them. Lea in speaking
of God refers thusly to the darkness:

Er zieht den Vorhang seiner Wolken zu,

So wie die Machtigen der Welt es thun;

Stfirm' deine Klage hin, du Leidender;

Schrei' auf um Unrecht, das dir gethan;

Sie lécheln ihrer Macht und horen's nicht! 5
She sees in her discouragement at the loss of her children
only the dark and cruel side of the night. Naemi, however,
filled with hope for the rescue of her husband says the
following:

Ein Bqusalm -- dorther kommt er, wo das Licht

Der Nacht den milden Silberduft sich selbst

Voranschickt und den breiten dunkeln Hfigel

Abzeichnet, hinter dem's heraufkommt. Dort

Der Hfigel muB der Olberg sein, dort liegt

Jerusalem -- 6
In the gesture of Naemi freeing Lea and reinforced by their
descriptions of the night surrounding them, Ludwig again
symbolizes the emotional climate of the characters.

A.third example to show how Ludwig symbolizes the

98

innermost thoughts of a character is somewhat of a synthesis
of the two just discussed. In Zwischen Himmel und Erde
the movement and gestures of the personified fog surround-
ing Fritz Nettenmair after he has bid farewell to the
apprentice is symbolic of his inner emotions.
Der Geselle war von ihm geschieden; seine Schritte‘
verklangen schon in der Ferns. Fritz Nettenmair
stand noch und sah in die weiBgrauen Nebel hinein,
in denen der Geselle verschwunden war. Sie hingen
wagrecht uber den Wiesen an der StraBe wie ein
ausgebreitet Tuch. Sis stiegen empor und ver-
dichteten sich zu seltsamen Gestalten, sie
krauselten sich, flossen auseinander und sanken
wieder nieder, sie baumten wieder auf. Sie hingen
sich in das Gezweig der Weiden am Weg, und wie
sie diese bald verhfillten, bald frei lieBen,
schien es ungewiB, gerann der Nebel zu Baumen
oder zerflossen die Baume zu Nebel. Es war
ein traumhaftes Treiben, ein unermfidliches Weben
ohne Ziel und Zweck. Es war ein Bild dessen,
was in Fritz Nettenmairs Seele vorging, ein so
fihnlich Bild, daB er nicht wuBte, sah er aus
sich heraus oder in sich hinein. (III, 101)
As in the cited passages from Die Makkabaer it is again
the concept of nature which has the symbolic function.
The similarity with the quotation from Maria lies in the
fact that here again Ludwig states specifically his
purpose in including this passage. The seemingly pur-
poseless motion of the fog among the trees mirrors ("war
ein Bild dessen") that of the motion of Fritz’s thoughts
around the idea of his disPosing of his brother.

There are several other examples of this type where
Ludwig uses gestures of other peOple or other personified
objects to mirror or symbolize the inner emotional climate
of a character in his works. The most notable is perhaps

the personification of the Holunderbusch in Die Heiteretei

99

which will be discussed in detail in the text chapter.
Ludwig, however, also uses gesture in a symbolical func-
tion in other ways in his works. There are, for instance,
many cases where certain gestures of a character symbolize
the role which he plays in the story or play.

Aus dem Regen in_die Traufe begins with a demonstra-

 

 

tion of the little tailor's self-confidence despite his
size while talking in bragging terms to his two cronies
as they return from the fair. However, his real roDs

in the story is symbolized by his entrance into the house
when he returns.

Der Schmied und der Weber bogen in eine andere

Gasse ein.. Der Schneider blieb aufgerichtet

stehen, bis er sie nicht mehr sah. Er horchte,

bis der Klang ihrer Tritte zu winzig wurde fur

sein scharfes Ohr. Er stand so, daB man ihn vor
dem Vorbau des Nachbarhauses von dem seinen aus
nicht sehen konnte. Dann wischte er eilig und
leise wie ein Schatten um die Ecke und durch den
Winkel, der das Nachbarhaus von dem seiner Mutter
schied. .-. Daran schloB sich eine Art von Bretter-
zaun, der den Hof umgab. ... wo ein Brett des Zauns,
vom Nagel ledig, eine Art von heimlicher Tfir bildete.
... Eine Hand von innen bog an der untern losge-
gangenen Seite das bewegliche Brett nach auBen.

Die Offnung, die dadurch entstand, wire ffir jeden
anderen Mann zu klein gewesen; fur unsern Schneider
war sie weit genug. Er legte sich platt auf die
Erde und kroch so unter dem Brette weg in den

Hof hinein. (II, 262-65)

His having to crawl through a hole in the fence assisted by
his friend Sannel is symbolic of his role in the household
itself where he is dominated by his mother, leading a
miserable life again only brightened by the comfort and
moral support of Sannel.

In Zwischen Himmel und Erde the role which Fritz

100

Nettenmair plays is symbolized, on the other hand, not by
one singular gesture but rather by a recurrent one, his
laughter. Throughout the story mention is made of this
characteristic trait, and the symbolism which is involved
is caused by the adjectives which Ludwig uses to describe
it. "In the earlier sequences it is 'jovial,’ and as his
inner tension increases it becomes in turn 'herablassend,’
'verachtend' and 'wild.‘ It is next charaCterized as
'kramphaft,’ then as 'entsetzlédh,‘ and still later it
acquires a quality akin to 'heulen.'"7 Through the usage
of such descriptive adjectives regarding the laughter
Ludwig carefully and subtly traces the moral demise of
this main character.

Another gesture which symbolizes the role a particular
character plays in the story is the Leitmotif of Heiteretei
pushing her cart across the countryside around Luckenbach
in Dig Heiteretei. Although the face which Annedorle
shows the world is always gay and full of laughter, $.2.
the name Heiteretei, the heavy cart which she pushes to
earn a living, and which is too heavy for many of the
strongest men of the village to lift at all, symbolizes
the hard life which she is forced to live.

The last case to be mentioned here in which certain
gestures symbolically explain the roDe of a particular
character is a rather unusual one and singular in Ludwig's.
works. We mentioned in the second chapter that several

studies have been made on the many possible models for

 

101

Ludwig's characters. In Das Fraulein von Scuderi, however,

8 the model for Cardillac might

as Rosa Shapire points out,
well have been Ludwig himself. In the following comment
of Cardillacs in act II, scene 6, in a conversation with
the painter Martin regarding the whole idea of the cre-
ativity of the artist, there is a dirent, and one could
easily say symbolical, relationship to Ludwig. Cardillac
says:
Was? Ein Stuhl, ein Tisch, ein Sattel

Eine Pflugschar, die wird fertig. Denn das Handwerk

Ist endlich.w Ist es brauchbar, istfs geraten.

Das Schdne wird nie fertig; immer kbnnt' es

Noch schdner sein.. Und Ihr, ein Kunstler sprecht

Von Fertigsein? (V, 155)
Cardillac's inability to finish his jewelry, to say finally
that it is as beautiful as possible seems to parallel
Ludwig's inability to finish his many prose and dramatic
fragments. He, too, believed they could always be rewritten
and improved upon. In the figure of Cardillac in this play
one could say that Ludwig presents a "Selbstbeichte."9

The Last method by which Ludwig utilizes gesture
for symbolical purposes in his works are the cases where
certain actions symbolize an already existing turn of
events or one forthcoming. Actions and gestures of this
type take several forms in Ludwig's works.
In Dig,Makkabéer we have an example of how a single

action, in this case the destruction of the statue of
Athena, forms the basic action around which the play is

centered. The first act of the play is based on Eleazer‘s

conversation with his mother Lea during which she informs

102

him in the midst of his jealous comments about his brother
Juda that he was already chosen in his youth to become king.
We learn later, however, that this is not true, for it is
Juda who in Lea's Opinion should actually become king. In
act I Lea encourages Eleazer in his hybristic ideas because
Juda has incurred her wrath through his marriage to Naemi,
whom Lea considers unworthy of him, and because Juda seems
solely interested in living a quiet life in peace with
both his wife and his family, quite divorced from his
mother's ambitious plans. The change comes in act II
after the Syrian soldiers erect a temple to Athena amidst
the Jews- At first the Jews, and Jude among them, are too
timid to object, but then we find this symbolical gesture
and speech of Juda:

Juda (hat die Statue heruntergeworfen, daB sie

zerbrach; mit einem FuB auf der Statue stehend,

das Schwert in der Rechten fiber seinem Haupte

schwingend. Posaunen in der Szene immer nfiher,

in die folgenden Reden).-

Der Herr ist Gott allein,

Der Herr, der war, der ist, der ewig sein wird,

Israels Gott, Er, der lebend'ge Gott,

Der Gott, der nicht von Menschenhand gemacht,

Der Macht'ge, der auf Feuersaulsn wandelt,

Und alle Himmel beben, wenn er schilt,

Er spricht: "Ich bin dein Gott, und sonst ist's keiner!

Anbeten sollst du keinen Gott als mich" --

Was ich mich unterfange,.fragst du,VHeide?

Ich setze meinen FuB auf deinen Gott.

Er liegt zertrfimmert. W0 ist seine Macht?

Kann er sich selbst nicht helfen und soll's euch?

0 arms Beter! firmrer Gottt 10
This gesture of Juda tearing down the statue symbolizes
his coming to awareness of the role he must play for his

people. Just as he has torn down the statue so has he torn

103

down his old apathetic life and has committed himself with
renewed vigor to the defense of his religion and the Jewish
people. This then becomes the main thread of action through-
out the rest of the play.

Symbolical action Of a different nature signifying
a particular turn of events is found in Hgg§§_§§gi.
In the example from Die Makkabaer it was just one Spe-
cific gesture which had symbolical significance. Here
we find a certain gesture, the Opening and closing of the
gate between Pirkheimer's and Moskirch's gardens, repeated
again and again, each time symbolizing the emotional cli-
mate Of the hero and heroine of the play,Albrecht and
Engletraut. In actiI, Scene 5, the gate is opened or
shut no less than twelve times. Albrecht and Engeltraut
continually slam it shut just as they continually slam
their hearts shut so that their love for each other which
is hidden therein cannot escape. Hanna Frei and Felicitas,
on the other hand, keep Opening the gate in the garden in
the hope that love, at some point or another, will eventually
creep through to join the two houses which the gate sep-A
arates. In act III the gate remains closed the entire time,
and it is here that the play reaches its climax. By peer-
ing over, around, and through the gate Albrecht and Engel-
traut demonstrate that there is love between them although
they refuse to admit it. In act IV the wall.between the
gardens is taken away. Once again this is symbolical, for

it is in this act that Albrecht and Engeltraut finally

104

succeed in breaking down the wall of apparent hate between
them and agree to their fathers' plans of marriage to unite
the two houses forever. The recurrent gesture of Opening
and closing the gate then is a type of symbolical action
which occurs throughout the work paralleling and portending
each change in the action of the plot.
Another usage Ludwig makes of symbolic.gesture is that
of a single gesture which appears in many of his.works,
the lighting of a lamp by a particular character. This
gesture, because it appears several times in his works,
conveys to the reader a warning signal that something
important is about to happen or that this particular
character knows.somethihg of importance to the plot.
In act III, scene 9 of Das Fraulefin‘xgg Scuderi,

for instance, Caton, the housekeeper of the upstairs
tenant in Cardillac's house, enters Cardillac's workshOp
with the following words and gesture as Degrais, the poDice
lieutenant, is there investigating Cardillac's death:

Ich habe nicht umsonst gewacht. Ich wuBte:

(Sie tritt ein mit ihrer Lamps.)

Der Herrgott hatte GroBes mit mir vor. (V, 207)
Caton comes into this scene symbolically "to shed some
light" on the murder mystery by proclaiming that she had
watched the door to the building all night long and that
therefore, sinceshe had seen no one enter or leave, Olivier
Brusson must be the murderer. This simple action of bring-
ing a lamp functions enough as a clue that the audience

knows she is in possession of important news.

105

In Dg£_Erberster there is a similar example. When
Wilhelm comes from the village in act IV, scene 4, Marie
performs the following gesture before he begins talking
to his father: "Marie (zfindet die Lamps an und setzt sic
auf den Tisch zum F6rster.)" (VI, 86). Wilhelm has just
Spoken with the lawyer, and in this scene he, like Caton,
is prepared "to shed light" on his father's rights as the
Erbffirster. Once again the lighting of a lamp warns the
audience that the following information is important for
the action<Of the whole drama.

The last type of gesture to be discussed in this chapter

is a singular one from Die Heiteretei. In the several

 

variations of the theme of getting a heavily laden cart
out of the mud Ludwig unites aSpects of all the examples of
gesture symbolically signifying an important change of
events in the story. As in the passage from 2i§_Makkabfier
its singular occurrence, capecially the last time the ges-
ture is performed, portsnds a dramatic change of character.
Its similarity with the example from Hgggg Fag; is that it,
too, forms a running and underlying theme to the story mir-
roring the different effects of the action on the characters.
And as in the third example above, thallighting of a lamp,
the variations on the cart theme also occur often enough,
even if only within one work, to function as clues each
time it appears to an important and immanent change of events.
The two most important variations of this theme occur

at the very beginning and the very end of the story. The

106

former follows directly the Grfinder Markt when Heiteretei

plays a practical joke on three of the male townspeOple by

requesting their help in dislodging her cart which she

maintains is immovably stuck in the mud. The tailor, the

little hero Of Aus dem Regen in die Traufe, is the first

 

 

to give it a try:

Aber so verachtlich blickend er nun zwischen

die Handhaben trat, geschah's doch mit dem
EntschluB, seine ganze Kraft aufzubieten.

Denn herausfliegen sollte der Karren so leicht
wie ein Vogel aus dem Schmutz. Und gewiB!

ware der Schneider so energisch wieder aufge-
standen, als er sich bfickte, es ware so geschehen.
Aber er stand gar nicht wieder auf, wenigstens
mit dem Karren nicht. ... "Vexation!" schrie er.
"Vexationl Ich weiB, was einer ermacher kann.
Aber die Wirtin hat nicht vergeblich gered't.

Da ist was Extras aufgepackt!‘ (II, 15-16)

When he is unsuccessful, the weaver attempts to move it:

Finally,

friends,

Der Weber aber schamte sich in der Seele seines
ganzen Geschlechtes, daB er den Schneider voran-
gelassen. Zornig schob er ihn aus dem Karren
und sich selbst hinein. Nun spuckt' er in die
Hands, aber nicht wie der Schneider, sondern

wie ein Mann. Nun faBt' er die Handhaben, daB

die langen Finger erblichen; nun taucht' er
nieder, als galt's, den Kern der Erde zu stfirmen;
nun rannt' er gegen den Karren wie ein wfitender
Elefant; nun -- ja, nun lag er mit der Nase auf
der Last und mit den Knieen in der Pffitze. Der
Karren stak so fest als zuvor. ... "Der Schneider
hat recht. Lug und Trug! Teufelsmadle, du hast
noch was Apartes aufgepackt. Vexation ist's,
VexationL" (II, 16) '

the smith, in order to redeem the failures of his
takes over:

Damit,ging der Schmied nach dem Karren, dem er
als Reprasentant seines ganzen Geschlechtes, die
Ehre nicht antat, die Pfeife vor ihm aus dem
Munde zu nehmen. In die Hands apuckt' er so
beilaufig, als warts nur, um den Gebrauch zu
umgaben. Aber bald ward er hfiflicher. Nach

dem ersten vergeblichen Ansatz spuckt’ er in

107

vollem Ernst. Bei dem zweiten fiel ihm die

Pfeife von selbst aus dem Munde. Nach dem

dritten war er zorniger als Schneider und

Weber. (II, 16-17)
He, too, is unsuccessful, and it remains up to Heiteretei:
"Dann hangte sie ruhig ihr Tragband um, lieB die Handhaben
in die Schleifen und hob, wenn auch mit Anstrengung,<§en
Karren aus dem Schmutz." (II, 17). This episode demonstrates
Heiteretei‘s superiority over the entire Opposite sex at the
beginning of the story when she is the only one strong
enough to extricate the cart and therefore both figuratively
and actually, as her name implies, has the last laugh.
This scene symbolizes her independence and outwardly care-
free life at the beginning of the story.

Subsequently, each time Heiteretei and her cart are
mentioned in the story, a doubDe image is called to mind:
the heavy cart reminding us of her difficult day-to-day
existence while at the same time recalling her self-
imposed cheerfulness and apparent superiority over and
independence of the Opposite sex.

The later variation is also significant. At the end Of
the story on the night before the wedding of the Holders-Fritz
and Heiteretei there is a repeat performance of this scene
with a heavy cart stuck in the mud.

Und nun begann ein ahnliches Schauspiel, als
am Abende des Grfinder Marktes das Reicker
Wirtshaus gesehen. Fine wahre Musterkartc
aller beim Aufheben eines Schiebkarrens~
mfiglichen Stellungen entfaltete sich. Da
sah man die SiegesgewiBheit lachend zu dem
Karren eilen und den Arger der getauschten

Hoffnung, fluchend und die Gelenke zurecht
rfickend, wieder davonhinken und endlich mit

108

lautem Gelachter fiber das gleiche Schicksal
andrer sich trOsten. (II, 256)

However, this time not even Heiteretei succeeds in freeing
the cart -- only the Holders—Fritz is strong enough. This-
is symbolical of the changed role of Heiteretei in life.
No longer is she independent and able to forego any
assistance from her friends. As she steps into the role
of a married woman, she also must step down from the
haughty pedestal upon which she formerly placed herself.
She now leaves her difficult and troubled old life behind,
just as she is leaving the heavy cart stuck in the mud.
Now it is Fritz who will take over the job of winning the
bread for the family, and she will become one Of the

great ladies of Luckenbach.

This set of examples from Die Heiteretei is sufficient
to bring this chapter on the functions of gesture in Lud-
wig'svorks to a close. At its beginning we mentioned that
it is often difficult to draw a dividing line between
the different functions which a particular gesture per-

forms.. The passages from Die Heiteretei demonstrate this

 

clearly, for, within limits, the gestures described here

could fit within any one Of the categories which we have

just discussed: The fact that the tailor, the weaver, and

the smith at the beginning of the story talk out of pro-
portion to the skill and strength they actually possess to
extricate the cart is once again an example that Often "actions

speak louder than words.“ Here Ludwig does not solely rely

109

on their bragging to describe the three. Their gestures
convey much more eloquently the message of their own weak-
ness and inferiority. Ludwig‘s love of detail and acute
sense of realism also come across to the reader in these
passages, for he does not miss a single detail in describing
how each Of the three men attack the problem of the cart.

At the same time, these descriptions also illustrate how

the author uses gesture for humorous purposes. The exag-i
gerated ease with which they begin their attempts contrasted
with their final positions lying in the deep mud of the
street when they are unsuccessful cannot help but cause a
humorous reaction. --

This chapter has considered in turn four Specific
functions Of gesture in Ludwig's works illustrated by
numerous examples: 1) its use to tell the story or convey
a certain message; 2) for purposes of realism; 5) to
supply humor; and 4) its symbolic usage. However, in
addition to these functions there is still another main
function which gesture performs, namely for purposes Of
characterization, perhaps its most significant usage in
the author's works. This aSpect along with a discussion
of gesture used for the purpose Of personification shall

be the subject of the next chapter.

CHARACTERIZATION AND PERSONIFICATION

In addition to the four functions of gesture discussed
in the previous chapter there still remains the analysis of
its use for purposes of characterization and personification.
These two areas have been left until the end, for they are
perhaps Ludwig'smost important as well as most evident
use of gesture. Aspects of each Of the previously dis-
cussed four areas can be found here, and in many ways the
functions of gesture already discussed can be considered
subclassifications Of its usage for characterization and
personification.

The content of this chapter has been broken down into
three separate, yet overlapping tOpics. The first of these
is the role gesture plays in Ludwig's technique of charac-
terization. This leads into the second tOpic which is a
treatment of the importance of gesture as a Leitmotif in
Ludwig's works. The last section of the chapter is in-
tegrally connected with the use of the Leitmotif. Here
the use of gesture in personification as well as the role
of personification in the works at hand are discussed.,

The first tOpic, namely the treatment of Ludwig's use
of gesture for characterization can again be broken down

into three different divisions, the first of these being

110

111‘

a discussion of the gestures which introduce any particular
character. Ludwig was well aware, as we pointed Out in
chapter two, that the actions of characters are a far more
powerful barometer of their personalities than any superficial
description on the part of the author- Consequently, when
he introduces a specific character to the reader in his
stories, he does so with a minimum of auctorial descrip-
tion. Instead, he prefers to show the charactenrperform-
ing some typical action which indicates to the reader much
more subtly, yet also more clearly, the true personality
of that character.
A good example occurs in the early worktflggig in which
Eisener and his friend Hitter catch their first glimpse.
Of the heroine of the story as they enter the pastor's
house in Marklinde.
Sie traten hinein. Durch die offene Tfir sahen
sie ein schOnes schlankes Madchen in der Wohn-
stube mit zwei Kindern beschaftigt. Dem Knaben
legte sie statt des beschmutzten einen neugewaschenen
Kragen um; dabei trieb der Kleine solch ausgelassene
Streiche, daB sie in der Mitte ihrer Strafpredigt
vom Lachen unterbrochen wurde. 1
Ludwig as author goes only so far as to refer to Marie's
outward appearance as "sin schfines schlankes Madchen."
The main aspects of her personality are conveyed through
the description of her actions in this scene. "She is taking
care of a group of children (like Charlotte when Werther
first sees her), and her manner of relating to them at
once suggests her gentleness and tenderness and her great

capacity for loving."2

 

112

Another example from Das.Marchen vom toten Kinde

 

 

shows a different means in which Ludwig uses introductory
gesture. The following is the description of the first
appearance Of the two lawyers in the story:

Es waren diese beiden Herren weitberfihmte Ad-
vokaten aus der Stadt. Der eine, Herr Doktor
Fuselius, war entsetzlich lang und hager, lang

wie die Prozesse, die er ffihrte, dfinn wie die
Geldbeutel, die er schnfirte, blaB und zusammen-
gefallen wie seine Klienten nach endlich geendigtem
ProzeB. Der andere dagegen,<br Justizrat Her-
damit, war ein kleiner, wohlbeleibter, ungemein
lebendiger Mann mit einer weinupfernen Brille, die
er unaufhbrlich rfickte, so daB sie ihm bald an

der Stirne, bald auf der Nasenspitze saB. Die
rechte Hand pflegte er von Zeit zu Zeit wie ab-
wehrend vor sich hinzustrecken, als war' er eine
lebendige rechtliche Verwahrung. Was er Oft
uneigentlich mit seinen Klienten vornahm, das
hatte im eigentlichsten Sinne die Natur mit ihm
vorgenommen: er hatte Haare lassen mfissen, und

da er zu Sparsam war, sich eine Perficke anzu-
schaffen, wie sein Herr Kollege langst getan,

so Zeigte er, sooft er den Hut abnahm, eine
Glorie, auf die er eben nicht stolz war. (I, 513)

Here Ludwig combines the use of picturesque language and
gesture. The first lawyer, Herr Doktor Fuselius, is de-
scribed mainly in terms of a simile, "lang wie die Prozesse,
die er ffihrte, dfinn wie die Geldbeutel, die er schnfirte... ."
The second lawyer, Herdamit, is described aside from his
picturesque name mainly by his gestures, the sliding Of

his glasses on his nose, the movement of his right hand,

and the embarrassment caused by his bald head. Although
Ludwig most Often shuns any direct auctorial description,

in this case he uses it and with a maximum of skill.

Through the combination with gesture the lively similes

help create a situation very much alive. The reader can

11;

picture the two lawyers before him, and at the same time
immediately sense their underlying greed and callousness.

A third, again slightly different example of this type
is found in the Opening pages of Zwischen Himmel uhd Erde.
As Apollonius returns from Cologne and first sees his
hometown, he is pictured performing this gesture:

Es kfinnte auffallen, wie er bei alledem in diesem
Augenblicke der Aufregung seines ganzen Innern
den Spinnenfaden nicht fibersah, den die grfiBende
Luft von der Heimat her gegen seinen Rockkragen
wehte, und daB er die Tranen vorsichtig abtrocknete,
damit sie nicht auf das Halstuch fallen mOchten,
und mit der eigensinnigsten Ausdauer erst die
letzten, kleinsten Reste des Silberfadens ent-
fernte, ehe er sich mit ganzer Seele seinem
Heimatsgeffihle fiberlieB. (III, 9)
Here Ludwig describes a gesture which seemingly contrasts
with the present state of mind of the character. In the
middle of Apollonius' great onrush of chauvinistic feelings,
his display of fastidiousness appears quite out of place.
However, in reality, these apparent contradictions are
representative of his personality. Apollonius, we discover,
as the story progresses, is not only filled with deep love
for his family and his hometown, but this love, or one
might better say respect, is almost an Obsession with him.
He fears deeply any radical change or defamation of charac-
ter which he could cause it. This in turn is the reason for
his extreme fastidiousness. By imitating certain character-
istics of his father almost to the point of caricature,

Apollonius h0pes to avoid his feared defamationrof the

Nettenmair family. At this point in the story Ludwig does

114

not feel the need to go into great detail regarding this
important aspect of Apollonius‘ character. Instead, he
suggests it very subtly in the description of Apollonius
when he so very carefully removes the cobweb from his
jacket.

Since gesture is Ludwig's primary means of characteri-e

zation, examples of this introductory type are plentiful in

.7

all Of his works. Often, in addition to introducing the

character and hinting at his personality it fulfills other

_—T.F"- 'lh L

functions, such as were discussed in the previous chapter,
as well. This is eSpecially true of the Opening scenes

of Die Heiteretei.and Aus dem Regen lg die Traufe which were

 

 

previously treated in some detail in connection with their
symbolism and humor.

In addition to the use of gesture at the beginning of
a work to introduce a character, Ludwig also imploys it
Often elsewhere in his works when the character reappears-
In such cases it serves to accentuate some aspect of the
character's personality which is eSpecially important at
that particular point in the story or which has, until.
that point, been unnoticed or at least unemphasized.

To turn again to Das marchen vom toten Kinde, we find

 

 

another description of the tall, thin Herr Doktor Fuselius
within the story. Whereas in the introductory passage he
is mainly described through the use Of picturesque similes,
here he is literally shown in action. In the first passage

his greed is only suggested by the phrase "dfinn wie die

115

Geldbeutel, die er schnfirte," and his underhanded profes-
sional techniques are only hinted at. In the following
description of him we can actually observe him deceiving
the ignorant farmers;

Herr Doktor Fuselius lachelte mitleidig, drauf
nahm er seinen Spazierstock wie ein musikalisches
Instrument an den Mund und fingerte mit beiden
Handen daran herum, indem er die Augen schloB,
etwa wie es ein Klarinettenvirtuose tut,D wenn er
auf seinem Instrumente phantasiert. Darin unter-
brach er sich plOtzlich, indem er mit kréhender
Stimme die Worte herausstieB: "Die mfissen's, die
Birkentaler mein‘ ich, wenn ihr Grfitze habt, ich
mains in eurem KOpfe.. Liegt ganz auf der Hand,
laBt sich greifen, ich meine, wenn ihr nicht
vernagelt seid.“ Nachdem er dies alles schnell
nacheinander herausgestoBen, schloB er wiederum die
Augen und fingerte an seinem Stocke herum, bis

er sich von neuem in diesem geistreichen fipiel
unterbrach. ... Herr Doktor Fuselius phantasierte
Sturm und Sieg auf seinem Spanischen Rohr; die
langen magern Finger trommelten hOrbar daran
herum. Dann brach er plfitzlich-los: “Eben daruml
Sollen's auchl Ich meine —-" er machte die Panto-~
mime des GeldzahDens. ... Auf solche Weise lieB
Herr Doktor Fuselius seiner Beredsamkeit noch
eine gute Weile den Zfigel, bis er die Kommune
nicht sowohl durch seine Worte als durch den Ton
innerlicher eigener Uberzeugung und entsprechende
energiSche Gebfirden dahin gebracht hatte, wo er
sie haben wollte. Es ist unglaublich, was solcher
Ton und solche Gesten fiber Bauergemfiter vermOgen,
besonders wenn ein alter Groll ihnen zu Hfilfe
kommt. Bei den Birkentalern aber war es dem
Herrn Justizrat so gut elungen als dem Doktor
bei den Birkenhainer. I, 514-15)

Aside from the obVious humorous overtones of the lawyer
fingering his walking stick like a clarinet virtuoso, this
passage is important to the general descriptiOn of Fuselius.
His actions here mirror thevvorkings Of his mind. Just as
he plays with the walking stick and phantasies "Sturm und

Sieg" on it, he also is playing in his mind with the thought

116

of convincing the farmers of the correctness Of their ac-
tion in retaining him as a lawyer in order to earn for
himself a considerable sum of money. The actions which

are portrayed here are accompanied by a steady stream of
Latin legal terminology which is aimed at confusing the
farmers. Obviously, as the end of the passage conveys,

the goals of the lawyer are achieved. These gestures serve
a distinct purpose in the characterization of this figure
in the story. Fuselius' craftiness, which was only subtly !
suggested in the introductory passage, is here emphasized
as an important aSpect of his personality.

In Zwischen Himmel und Erde there is a different,

 

and singular, example of how descriptive gesture in the
middle of a story serves to accentuate a particular asPect
of a character's personality which becomes especially
important at certain points in the story. Apollonius'
fastidiousness and conscientiousness were clearly evident
in the passage quoted above. Likewise, the introductory
description of Fritz as he awaits the arrival of his
brother clearly characterizes him.

Es war die Wendung, mit der er sich sonst von

dem Gegenwartigen abwandte und dabei aussah, als
sagte er zu sich: "Der Tréumer!" und cine rasche
Bewegung machte, wie um recht zu ffihlen, welch
ein anderer er sei, wie besser er sich auf das
Leben verstehe and auf die Art "die lange Haare
hat und Schfirzen tragt." Er musterte mit einem
Gestalt, sein volles rotes Gesicht, das tiefer

in den Schultern stak, als er meinte, wenigstens
nicht tiefer, als er ffir schOn hielt; er streckte
die Hands in die Beinkleidertaschen und klapperte
mit dem Gelde darin. Er besann sich, schon dem
Gesellen am Schuppen gesagt zu haben: I'Es bleibt

117

beim alten in der Arbeit. Du nimmst von niemand
Befehle als von mir. Ich bin Herr hier." und
der hatte so eigen-zweideutig gelacht, als sagte
er ein lautes Ja zu dem Redenden und zu sich:
"Ich laB‘ dich so reden, weil ich es bin.” Fritz
Nettenmair dachte: "Lange wird er nicht bleiben;
daffir will ich schon tun." (III, 28-29)

Ludwig characterizes Fritz here quite differently from his
brother. Instead of the heightened conscientiousness of
Apollonius, Fritz possesses personality traits of the
compulsive braggart.
What holds our interest as we read the story...
is the account of the tragic struggle between the
two brothers and Ludwig's penetrating analysis
of their characters. In the portraits which he
draws we note first how he makes each resemble the
father in certain ways. Apollonius has inherited
all his father‘s positive qualities -- industry,
conscientiousness, a refined sense of craftsmanship,
orderliness, and a highly developed feeling of
family honor --, but in him these qualities become
almost compulsive. ... Fritz, on the other hand, has
inherited chiefly his father's negative qualities.
Or perhaps one might better say that his father's
weaknesses reappear in him as patholbgical
symptoms. 3
This great difference in their personalities is suggested
in Ludwig‘s introductory descriptions of the two, but it is
mainly in specific references to other gestures occuring
throughout the story whereby he emphasizes the contrast.
Apollonius, as the story progresses, is pictured as becoming
increasingly more conscientious and fastidious whereas
Fritz continues to imitate the negative aspects of his
father but in an increasingly pronounced manner, by whistling
and coughing even more shrilly and importantly, for example}IL
Ludwig emphasizes this change in the two brothers

which is demonstrated through their gestures in a unique

118

manner: he shows it reflected in the facial characteristicu
of Christiane, the wife of Fritz and the (former) sweet-
heart Of Apollonius. At the beginning of the story he says:

Die Ehe soll die Gatten sich fihnlich machen.

Hier traf die Bemerkung.. Das Zusammenleben hatte
hier zwei Gesichter ahnlich gamacht, die unter
andern Umstanden sich vielleicht ebenso unahnlich
sehen wfirden. Und es hatte eigentlich nicht beide
einander ahnlich gemacht, sondern nur eins davon
dem andern. Die fibereinstimmenden Zfige -— das
konnte ein scharfes Auge sehen -—-waren nur ihm
eigen; er hatte nur gegeben, aber nicht empfangen.
(III, 28)

However, as the conflict between the two brothers grows, they
move, as their gestures suggest, in their personality traits
further and further apart. This too is reflected in Christ-
iane. Later we see her not as an image of Fritz but rather
reflecting the positive qualities of Apollonius.
Ihr Gatte sah es, sooft er in die Stubs trat.
Ihm entging nichts, was seinem Zorne und seinem
Hasse einen Vorwand entgegenbringen konnte. Er
sah die Haare seiner Knaben in Schrauben gedreht,
wie sie Apollonius trug; er sah die Ahnlichkeit
mit Apollonius in den Zfigen der Frau und der
Kinder entstehen und wachsen; er hatte ein Auge
ffir alles, was seines Weibes Verehrung ffir den
Bruder, was ihr bewuBtes, seLbst was ihr unbewuBtes
Sich—hineinbilden in des VerhaBten eigenste
Eigenheit auSplauderte; er verfolgte dessen Ein-
fluB bis zu dem rechtwinkligen Stande der Wirbel
an der Fenstersaule. (III, 93)
In this case, involving the three different characters
Fritz, Apollonius, and Christians we have an especially
clear example of Ludwig's use of gesture in the middle of
a story for characterization. Here, the gestures of the
two brothers which portray the growing conflict between

them are reflected in the facial characteristics and actions

119

of Christiane. Thereby Ludwig aptly, yet subtly, accen-
tuates certain aspects of each of the brothers' personal-
ities which are important to the understanding of the
growing family crisis.

There is yet a third way in which Ludwig uses gesture
for characterization in addition to introductory descriptions
and singular passages in the text. Often he endows certain
characters, most Often secondary ones, with one or more
specific gestures which are repeated again and again each
time the character appears in the story. As a result, the
particular gesture Of the character becomes both the means
of identifying as well as of describing him. However,
whereas Ludwig uses the other two types of gesture for
characterization in all of his prose works, the use of

this repetitive gesture, or Leitmotifs, is restricted

 

mainly to his latter works, eSpecially to those which
he wrote under the influence Of Charles Dickens.

‘Before demonstrating by the quotatibn of passages from
the text just how Ludwig makes use of this type of gesture
for characterization, it is first necessary to examine in

detail exactly what a Leitmotif is and what its literary

 

possibilities are.

A Leitmotif, for our purposes, cante considered to

 

be any element of a literary work which recurs throughout
the work in the same or slightly varied form connecting
the different parts of the same each time it appears.5

Oskar Walzel in his books Gehalt und Gestalt i2_Kunstwerk

 

 

120

des Dichters and Das Wort-Kunstwerk has given us perhaps

 

the best analysis of the use of the Leitmotif in literature.
He distinguishes among three distinct types of Leitmotifs,

all of which we shall find in Ludwig's works. Walzel says:

I’

Erstens erscheint es kdas Leitmotiv] bloB wie

ein Schmuck, der den estalten angeheftet wird.
Einzelne Personen geben, wenn sie wiederauftreten,
die Visitenkarte abermals ab, mit der sie einge-
ffihrt worden waren. Ihr Leitmotiv erklingt, sooft
sie erscheinen.

Zweitens dient die Wiederholung des Leitmotivs

dem Bericht ein Mehr, eine Steigerung zu leihen,
sei's inhaltlicher, sei's formaler Art.

Drittens bezeichnet das Leitmotiv wichtige Stellen
des Aufbaus und bringt eine Verknfipfung dieser
Stellen, bindet sie also. 6

The first type of Leitmotif Walzel refers to as a

 

"calling card." The first time a character appears he is
described in a certain manner, and in each successive ap-
pearance this same description of some certain element Of
his personality, be that a certain expression which he
uses or a gesture which he performs, is repeated in con-
nection with him. "It must also be observed that most

of the Leitmotivs that belong to this class are more or
less humorous, that they oftenvork like a caricature, but
this is not essential."7 This first type of Leitmotif is
essentially a system of tagging the specific characters
so that they are readily recognized by the reader whenever
they appear.

Obviously, this first type of ”calling card" Leitmotif

 

is useful in characterizing literary figures. Ludwig

basically includes two types of such calling cards in

121

his works. The first of these are certain spoken phrases

or expressions which occur with great frequency esPecially
in his dramatic works. The second type are specific gestures
which the character repeats, and these are found mainly

in his prose works. As we are concerned in this study

solely with Ludwig's use of gesture in his works, we shall
concentrate our attention on the latter of these two types.

In Die Heiteretei and Aus dem Regen lg die Traufe we

 

 

 

find the most picturesque Leitmotifs of this sort. Sev--

 

 

eral, such as the Valtinessin swinging her cap in Die
Heiteretei and Frau Bfigel sliding her spectacles up and

down her nose in Aus dem Regen lg die Traufe, have pre-

 

 

viously been mentioned.‘ However, there are a great many
additional examples.
In Die Heiteretei the appearance of the weaver‘s

wife is always accompanied by a specific Leitmotif. She

 

never merely Speaks, but rather she quite fittingly "spinnt"
her conversations. This gesture is attached to her the
first time she appears in the story in the company of the
'Other great ladies of Luckenbach at Heiteretei's house:
"'Und da ist sie noch so lustig dabei,‘ sagte die Weberin.
ES sah aus und klang, als Spann‘ Sie an einem unsichtbaren
Spinnrade und Sange dazu." (II, 44). From this point on,
she never again is referred to as Speaking her Opinions;

She continues to Spin and sing at her invisible spinning
wheel. This action occurs at least eighteen times in the

story, and it can be considered the Weberin's calling card.

122

However, although it occurs with such great frequency,

it does not become boring for the reader because of Ludwig's

skill in including slight variations. For instance, when

she completes a sentence of the Valtinessin, Ludwig says,

"die Weberin Cspand) den Faden der Valtinessin fertig"

(II, 46) or when she interrupts the wife of the smith

"der ‘weberin [zerriig der Faden" (II, 46). The effect of I
this repetitive gesture is to reduce the wife of the weaver
merely to an embodiment of this spinning action. This is
the only aSpect of her personality which he emphasizes. [

Another Leitmotif is connected with her husband. He

 

also does little direct speaking. Instead he "coughs" out
what he has to say. Ludwig describes this action thus:
"Denn obschon der mann immer noch hustete, so kam doch
Verstand hinein, und es hatte Ahnlichkeit mit der mensch-
lichen Rede als er weiter hustete..." (II, 55). Again,
just as his wife is reduced to terms of constant action

at an invisible spinning wheel, he is alsbreduced to the
sound of his cough which overshadows all he has to say in
the story.

Obviously, because of the effect of such picturesque
Leitmotifs in producing caricatures of the characters to
whom they are applied, they are much more often connected
with the appearance of a secondary rather than a primary
character. They are not, however, restricted to the sec-
ondary characters. When, however, they are attached to a

primary figure, their effect is lessened to a great degree

125

by the inclusion of extensive description Of other aSpects
of the personality. We have already mentioned the Leitmotif
of the swinging cap of the Valtinessin. In addition to
this gesture and the several pat phrases which accompany
it, She Often repeats another gesture, that of Slapping
her hands on her knees. Like the gesture of the Spinning
of the Weberin this too occurs in several variations. The
first time Ludwig describes it in its simplest form: "Die
Valtinessin aber setzte sich ihm gegenfiber. Denn schlug
sie mit beiden Handen zugleich auf ihre Kniee und sagte..."
(II, 52). Later, however, it is varied into such expressions
as these: "Die Valtinessin war eben im Begriff, das ganze
Zeugnis des Saalfelders auf ihren Knieen heimzuschlagen..."
(II, 57) or after the weaver's wife has spun out the final
thread of the Valtinessin's speech, "die Valtinessin schlug
ihn auf ihren Knieen platt..." (II, 467. However, in this
case, the role of the Valtinessin is so vital to the story
that She is not reduced to a caricature through this re-
peated gesture as the Weberin is. Instead, her repetition
of such stock phrases as "war am Grfinddonnerstag sechzig
ist gewest" or "obschon mein Vater ein Weber ist gewest'
accompanied at least seventeen times by her slapping her
hands on her knees only serves to emphasize the idiosyncratic
traits of her personality.

The second type of Leitmotif which Walzel mentions in
his work are those which are used in such a manner as to

create "an addition to the story, an enhancement of the

 

124

form or content."8 These are gestures which accompany
certain characters throughout the story which, by minute ‘
changes in their appearance or Specific emphasis on the
part of Dudwig, are able to endow the story when they
appear with deeper, often symbolic meaning. One example
of this type has been previously discussed, that of the
Valtinessin's swinging her cap from the left to the right
or the right to the left in order to give her words at
any particular moment in the story Special emphasis. This
gesture is more than just a mere calling card of the Val-
tinessin. It has considerable symbolic meaning for the
story as well.

In Zwischen Himmel Egg gage we have an example of

another Leitmotif of this sort in the gesture which Apollonius

 

often performs of carefully brushing his coat. "This seems
so eXpreSSive of the disposition of Apollonius, that Fritz,
eSpecially when he wants to indicate his disapproval Of his
brother's attitude, calls him 'Federchensucher' and 'Staub-
wischer‘."9 Again, this is not merely a calling card, for
whenever the gesture occurs in the story it takes on
symboDic meaning, as for example at the beginning of the
story when Fritz speaks derogatorily about their father:
Unser Held war des Bruders Art gewohnt; er wuBte,
daB seine Reden nicht so wild gemeint waren, als
sie klangen, und der Bruder bewies ja seine Liebe
und Achtung vor dem Vater durch die Tat seines
Gehorsams; dennoch ware es unserm Held lieb
gewesen, der Bruder hatte sie such in Reden
gezeigt wie im Tun. Der Bruder hatte mit seiner

Neckerei nicht ganz unrecht gehabt. Apollonius.
war es, als lage etwas Unsauberes auf der Seele

12S

des Bruders, und er strich unwillkfirlich mehr-
mal mit der Hand fiber den Rockkragen desselben
hin, als ware es fiuBerlich von ihm abzuwischen.
(III, 12)
This brushing motion on the part of Apollonius through its
repetition becomes symbolical not just of Apollonius‘
conscientiousness but also of his desire to "brush away"
any conflict between the two brothers. It is repeated in
the following passage:
Apollonius sah dem Bruder mit unverhehltem Schmerz
in das Auge. Er fuhr mit der Hand fiber des Bruders
Rockklappe, als wollte er wegwischen, was sein
Verhaltnis zu dem Bruder trfibte, und sagte: "Hab'
ich dir was zuleid getan?" (III, 61)
This gesture differs from the first of Walzel's three types
of Leitmotifs in that it has a second function in addition
to merely characterizing Apollonius. It also accentuates
the different milestones in the gradual decay of familial
relationships in the Nettenmair household.

A similar gesture of this second type is found in Die

Heiteretei. After the Holders—Fritz reforms his wild

 

ways and is on the way to becoming a solid citizen of Luck--
enbach, he picks up the gesture of grabbing his coat lapels
whenever he feels there is a danger of his reverting to

his previous living habits. Each time this gesture is
performed, as in the case of Apollonius' brushing off

his coat, it has symbolic significance in addition to merely
characterizing Fritz. Thereby it heightens the deeper
meaning of the story at that point. After he succeeds in
wooing Heiteretei, he performs this gesture whenever the

danger arises of his becoming angry or losing control of

 

126

himself due to her stubborn ways. For instance, after the
incident in the inn Shortly before the wedding when Bei-r
teretei, angered by Fritz's apparent weakness, insists
upon returning to her Old house, Ludwig describes Fritz
in this manner:
Der Holders-Fritz hielt sich wirklich mit beiden
Handen an den Rockklappen vor seiner Brust
fest. "Das ist die Prob'," redete er in Gedanken
auf sich ein, "ob du ein anderer Kerl bist wie
vordem. Und wenn du die nicht halst, hernachen
ist deine ganze Anderung nix als ein dummer
Jugendstreich gewest wie die vorher, nur wieder
ein anderer. ..." (II, 254)
Thus this gesture reminds the reader at each appearance Of
the change which Fritz has undergone, and the change which
will have to take place in Heiteretei if She is actually
to become his wife. The difficulties Of her adjustment
are expressed in the frequency with which this gesture is
performed. At another point in the story, shortly before
the wedding, Ludwig says in reference to Fritz: "...da
faBte der Fritz noch mehr als einmal nach seinen Rock-
aufschldgen." (II, 255). This is clearly a Leitmotif of
Walzel's second type. It is by no means as superficial
as the "calling card" variety, for it enhances the meaning
Of the story at each occurence.

The third type of Leitmotif which Walzel outlines

functions in a somewhat technical way by joining different

structural parts of the story in order to create a harmon—a

ious whole. The two most important gesture Leitmotifs of
this type both occur in Die Heitereteio- One of these,

the gestures of the Weberin Spinning, has already been

 

127

discussed in a narrower sense earlier in this chapter when
we referred to it as a type of "calling card," practically
turning our impression of this woman into a caricature.

In a broader sense, however, it can also be considered here

as a Leitmotif which functions structurally in the story.

 

The idea of Spinning or weaving is indeed introduced with
the Weberin and remains her own Leitmotif throughout the I
story. However, the more frequently the great ladies Of

Luckenbach get together at Heiteretei's house to "protect"

 

her, the more this idea of spinning out tales becomes
connected with the group as a whole. DeSpite the direction
which the conversation takes, we hear again and again how
it is beingxuoven into a whole through such remarks as:
"Spann die Weberin" (II, 49); "riB der Weberin mitten in
der schrecklichsten Geschichte der Faden" (II, 66); "drehte
die Weberin mit Schmerzlicher Wollust den Faden" (II, 693;
"nahm die Weberin ihren Faden wieder auf" (II, 151) and so
forth. Its occurence unites different parts of the story,
for it is intrinsically connected with the conversations
Of these women, and it is these conversations, especially
in the first half of the story, to which Ludwig returns
repeatedly as a point of orientation for the plot.

For here before our very eyes, the ladies weave

a veritable fabric of intrigue out of the threads

Spun out by the Weberin. One could scarcely find

a better example of Ludwig's ability to use the

Leitmotif for a variety Of different effects,

for the "fabric" of intrigue woven by the assembled

women not only characterizes them as vicious

gossips, but also builds great suspense in the

reader, who waits tensely to see what will come
of these "Spinningsfi 1O

128

Even a more prominent use of this third type Of

Leitmotif leads us into the last section of this chapter,

 

namely, Ludwig's use Of gesture in personification. In the
case of the personified Holunderbusch in Die Heiteretei
Ludwig Combines both of the latter two of Walzel's three

types of Leitmotifs. There are Sixteen references to this

 

elder bush which stands protectively next to the door of
Heiteretei's house, and their frequency throughout the

story unites it structurally even more closely than the

 

example of the Weberin's Spinning. The story hinges on

the fate of Heiteretei and her Hangle, and because of the
close connection between the latter and the Holunderbusch,
Ludwig repeatedly refers to the Holunderbusch. Through

the use of personification these references not only struc-
turally unite the story due to their frequent appearance
reminding the reader every time of each earlier mention of
the Holunderbusgh, but they also become symbolical in the
manner of Walzel's second class of Leitmotifs. The Holunder-
bgggh.has become throughout the years a friend-substitute

for Heiteretei; and, consequently, Ludwig‘s portrayal of the
bush in the story is done in such a way as to mirror her
different moods as well as the effect which her fate in
Luckenbach has upon her. "Ludwig has made of it a fully
individualized persona narrationis; endowed with human
feelings and powers, it is present at every important event,
in the story."11

The bush is introduced in such a way as to show its

129

close connection with Heiteretei‘s household and its aura of
protectiveness surrounding the heroine. In describing the
sorry condition of the little house at the beginning Of the
story Ludwig says: "ES war ungewiB, Ob der grOBe Holunders-
strauch das Hauschen mit allen seinen Armen umschlang, um
dessen Mangel zu verdecken oder um seine auseinander-
strebenden Teile zusammenzuhalten." (II, 28). Here the verb

umshhlingen hints at the protective role‘of the bush. Later

 

when the great ladies try, unsuccessfully, to convince
Heiteretei that the HolderséFritz has evil intentions to-
ward her, the Holunderbusch give moral instead Of physical
support: "Die Heiteretei war nicht einzutreiben, und der
alte Holunderbusch schien ihrer Meinung. Noch eine ganze
Weile, nachdem die Weiber gegangen, hOrte man, wie er Sich
vor Lachen schfittelte." (II, 51). And when Heiteretei
shows her anger toward the great ladies and their gossip
by dismissing them from her house, there is again a refer-
ence to the actions of her foliar companion: "Der alte
Holunderbusch wirtschaftete wie toll. Er warf Raupen,
Schnecken und dfirre Blatter den Gehenden auf die KOpfe."
(II, 146).

Even later after everyone in the town deserts poor
Heiteretei because of her "attack" againsfthe Holders-Fritz,
or perhaps even more against the great ladies, only her com-
panion the Holunderbusch remains faithful. He seems to be
the only one in all of Luckenbach who worries about Heiteretei

as the long weeks of rain gradually, but completely ruin her

 

150

little house:
Von den Nachbarn kam keiner, wie sonst wohl
geschehen. Und ging einer vorfiber, so geschah
es nur, eine offene Schadenfreude zu befriedigen.
Der Holunder konnte nichts, als rathS seine
Zweige zusammenschlagen; sie wurden ihm immer
schwerer. Von Zeit zu Zeit pochte er an die
Wande, wie um zu sehen, wie fest Sie noch seien,
und nach jedem Pochen schfittelte er angstlicher
daS Haupt und griff immer zitternder in den
Regen hinein, ihn zu bescthren, er solle nun
endlich nachlassen. Der hatte keine Antwort
ffir ihn als sein ewi es platscherndes Hohn-
gelachter. (II, 165%

Later, when Heiteretei is at her wits' end as to what
to do for a living, since the rain has destroyed her house
and no one will give her work, Ludwig again pictures what a
constant companion the Holunder is for her:

Wie schfittelte Sich der alte Holunder vor Freude
und Schmerz zugleich, alscier Heiteretei einfiel:
"Es ist noch Welt auBer Luckenbach, wo's nicht
mehr heiBt: Respekt muB Shin mm Haus vor den
dummen groBen Weibernl..."’ (II, 214)
The joy the Old bush expresses is caused by the anticipatiOn
of a brightening of Heiteretei's future, yet this is mixed
with sorrow at the idea of her leaving him. He would do
anything to keep her in Luckenbach, as we see shortly there-
after when she first refuses to marry the Holders-Fritz.
Whereas Heiteretei would let Fritz just walk away from her
after their conversation, "Der Holunder nickt ihr von
drfiben zu: 'LaB ihn nicht fort.'" (II, 217).. Whether on
the basis of the advice of the Holunderbusch or on her own

inclinations, Heiteretei does finnally agree to Fritz's
proposal, and from this point on we hear little about the

Holunderbusch until the night before the wedding when Fritz

151

and Heiteretei reach a crisis in their relationship. When
these two visit Heiteretei's Hausle at her insistence, and
She discovers not the old house which she expected but
rather the new rebuilt one, the Holunderbusch again is
persuasive in keeping the two together. "Sie [Heiteretei]
stand wie selbst versteinert davor, bis der alterHolunder
aufrauschte wie vor Freude oder Schmerz deS Wiedersehens."
(II, 240). That night is a difficult one of indecision
for Heiteretei, but in the and everything turns out for
the best. When Heiteretei and the Holders-Fritz return
to the Hausle as man and wife, the personified Holunder-
busch is again present:
Ein schOnerer Vormittag ist nicht leicht gewesen.
Kein WOlkchen am Himmel, und der alte Holunder-'
busch hat von dem leisen Sprfihregen her ein
Hochzeitkleid an, weit prachtiger als der rote
Kirchenfrack des Meisters Schramm; das blinkt
und funkelt durcheinander wie tausend Diamanten,
wenn er nach seiner Art in sich hineinlacht;

und so herzlich und selig in sich hinein elacht
wie heute, hat er noch nie. (II, 246-47§

 

 

This Leitmotif of the Holunderbusch can be placed
into Walzel's third category as a structural element
harmoniously joining many different parts of the story.
At the same time it has a definite symbolic function. 'The
bush is present at all the main events of the story, and
the gestures which it performs mirror the thoughts and
actions of the heroine of the story. In a sense, the many
gestures it performs actually summarize in a condensed form
the action of the plot.

Aside from this one example of the Holunderbusch

152

there are many other instances where Ludwig uses person-
ification in his works. We have repeatedly noted in this
study the importance which Ludwig places in theory and in
pradtice on the use of action and gesture in his works.
That he even Ebbi'SO far as to personify the inanimate
in order to Show it in action is not surprising. However,
this is by no means the only reason which causes him to
include so many personified Objects of nature and concepts
in his works.
Ludwig began his literary career, as we noted in
chapter two, under the direct influence of romantic authors
such as Tieck and E.T.A. Hoffmann, and it is perhaps here
that his ideas originated to depict nature as possessing
human feelings and as being capable of human actions. In
March of 1840 he described his feelings towards nature in a
letter to his uncle Chr. Otto:
ES ist seltsam, daB die Natur ffir mich personifiziert
ist, daB ich nicht nur in ihr lebe, sondern wie ein
Mensch mit dem andern. —Gedanken austauschend (nicht
bloB empfangend) und Geffihle, und zwar so,‘dEB mir
einzelne Platze fOrmlich zum Individuum werden,
abgeschieden von den andern und SO zu sagen wan-
delnd im BewuBtsein, so daB ich nicht allein ffihle,
daB Sie Wirkung auf mich machen, sondern mir ist,
als Ob ich auch auf sie wirke und die Gestalt,
wie sie mir erscheinen, die Spuren dieser Wirkung
zeige, nota bene einer geistigen. (Leipzig, March
17, 1840). 11

Ludwig, thus, believed in a close and harmonious reldtionship

between man and nature, and many of the characters and sit-

uations described in his works reflect this belief.

In the story Maria Ludwig lets the main character,

Eisener, express Ludwig's own ideas about a living nature.

153

In the following scene Eisener is on his way to Marklinde
to ask the pastor for Marie's hand in marriage.
Unwillkfirlich schlug er die Richtung ein nach
Marklinde. Mit jedem Schritt wurde seine
Stimmung heiterer. wahrend er mit seinem
Innersten selig bei Marian war, sagte er vor
sich hin: ‘Jedem andern ist die Natur ein
Ding, eine Sache ffir den Nutzen Oder ffir das
Vergnfigen; dem Germanen ist sie eine Person,
die mit ihm empfindet wie er mit ihr. Von
seinem innern Reichtum leiht er ihr die Seele,
deren Sympathie ihn trOstet, erheitert, erhebt;
sie ist sein Echo, sein Spiegelbild, das ihm
als ein Selbstandiges entgegentritt, und so ist
seine Zusammenstimmung mit der Natur nur seine
eigene innere Harmonie. Wer diese Harmonie aus
sich herausgetrieben, der findet sie auBer sich
nicht mehr; wer sich der Natur nicht verschlieBt,
dem verschlieBt sich auch die Natur nicht." (I, 211-12)
There are many passages in Ludwig‘s works which demon-
strate how he realized this belief in a living nature. The
personification of nature is present in all his works, and
these personified aspects Often function, as we saw in the
case of the Holunderbusch, almost as characters Of the story.
AS Fritz Tiemann says, "Die Natur ist personifiziert, Sie
handelt und ffihlt mit. Der Mensch empfindet das aber nur,
wenn er in engster Verbindung mit ihr steht.‘fla Heiteretei
is such a person with a close relationship to nature, and
that is why She is able to experience the elder bush as her
friend. Others in the story, such as the great ladies of
Luckenbach, do not live in such close harmony with nature,
and, therefore, they merely see the Holunderbusch as
another bush, albeit a beautiful one.
There are further examples in Die Heiteretei to Show

how the heroine feels such a closeness with nature that

154

for her, as for the character Eisener or even Ludwig him-
self, it is to be regarded as possessing personality, §,g,.
as being an animate organism. For instance, in the follOwé
ing scene where She tries to get her little niece to fall
asleep, She refers to the moon just as She would to another
person-

"Sei nicht dumm, Liesle," sagte sie schnell,

um ihr zuvorzukommen; "es ist ja nicht wahr.
Der hond guckt"rein, ob du ein gut Kind bist
und schlafst, und hernachen sagt er'S seinen
kleinen Brfiderlen am Himmel. Guck', er ist
schon auf dem Gringel da oben; da trinkt er erst
eins, hernachen legt er sich auch nieder und
schlaft." (II, 181)

In other cases the use of personification seems to
be attributable more to Ludwig's personaD.love of action
and gesture rather than to the harmonious relationship
of any one particular character with nature. Often per-
sonification is thus employed by Ludwig to create more
picturesque and lively description.

In the story figggg Ludwig's description of the arrival
of Spring is befitting of his love of action. The person-
ification of the small elements of nature make the scene
come alive:

Von der Bohnenlaube vor der Haustfire war nur
erst das wettergraue Holzgerfist zu sehen, aber
in dem Gartchen zu beiden Seiten der Laube
zeigte sich schon der Krokus, und hin und wieder
zitterte unter einzelnen dfirren Blfittern, die
noch vom Herbste her lagen, ein blaues Veilchen
in der Frfihlingsluft. Drfiben fiber der StraBe
dehnte sich eine groBe Wiesenflache, fiber deren
fiuBerster Linie gerade die untergehende Sonne
hinabrollte. fiber dem frfihlingsbrfiunlichen
Grfin lag der warme Widerschein des Abendhimmels
wie ein rosenroter Florschleier. Die kleinen
Graschen nickten in der Abendluft, als sprfichen

155

sie emsig und heimlich zusammen. WeiB- und
dunkelgraues, hoch fibereinandergerolltes Frfih-
lingsgewfilk, an den Enden rOtlich gesfiumt, zog
Furchen von violetten Schlagschatten fiber die
weite goldrotglanzende Ebene dahin. ... (I, 240)

The little violets Shivering under the thin leaves, the
talkative stems of grass as well as the other personified
elements here convey the sense of immediacy and intimacy
which is so intrinsically connected with the arrival of
spring.

Another example where Ludwig uses personification to
make an entire panoramic scene of nature come alive is
in Die Heiteretei where he describes the return 06 good
weather to Luckenbach after the long weeks of rain.

Der Morgenwind aber, wie anders wurde er heut
vom ganzen Stadtchen begrfiBt, als wenn er in

der Zeit der Kornblfite zu Besuch kam! So
angenehm hatte nicht die Milde des sfiBesten
Westlfiftchens geschienen als das rahhe Wesen

des alten trockenen Gesellen. '

Denn rauh und streng muBte er sein, um all das
heruntergekommene Wolkengesindel, das wochenlang
mit strotzenden Wasserbauchen von Abend herge-
kommen war, wieder dahin zurfickzujagen. Unter
seinem zornigen Schnauben raffte es sich zu-
sammen aus seiner Zufahrenheit und floh zurfick
nach seiner Heimat, dem alten Meer. Was davon
zurfickgeblieben war, als er sich zum Ruben legte
nach der schweren Arbeit, das hing hoch wie
schneeweise Baumwollenrocken am blauen Himmel.
Da Spann es die Sonne ab in langen, zarten Ffiden
mit rosiger Hand. (II, 171) ‘

Ludwig‘s references to the wind as a "Geselle," to the clouds
as "Wolkengesindel," or to the rosy hands of the sun spin-
ning together the remainder of the Slouds give this scene
action. Nothing remains merely quiet and dormant. Rather,

all of nature is full of life, just as Ludwig pictured it

156

to his uncle in the letter we quoted above.

Ludwig, however, does not restrict his use Of per-
sonification in description to broad scenes from nature.
In 25g Mdrchen vom toten Kinde, for example, he Shows
the moon performing a gesture and functioning almost like
a character in the story. In the following scene Ludwig
is describing the animals" attack on the two lawyers as l
the latter, on their way to the city, are immersed in

their daydreams of how much money they will be able to glean

 

from the poor farmers:
Da quakt's und pfeift's, da brummt‘s und brfillt's--
die wilde Jagd ist ein KinderSpiel dagegen -- da

stfirzt es donnernd hervor aus dem Hinterhalt,
Der Mond hat sich in Wolken verkrochen vor

Angst. (I. 553)

This description of the moon disappearing behind the
clouds throughthe use of personification not only fulfills
Ludwig's love of action, but it also enhances the whole
aura of make-believe which surrounds this particular story.

There are other cases where Ludwig personifies partic-
ular objects instead of nature in order to make a scene I
more picturesque and the description more alive. A good
example is found in Die Heiteretei. The following passage
describes the lamp in Heiteretei’s house after the heroine
returns home late from the Grfinder flggkg: "Die Lamps konnte
kaum die Augen offenhalten vor Schlfifrigkeit und kampfte
immer schwficher zwischen Einnicken und gewaltsamen Empor-
raffen." (II, 28). This description of the lamp not only

shows without the addition of auctorial intrusion the

157

lateness of the hour, but it also adds action to an other-
wise motionless Scene.

To select one last example of how Ludwig uses per-
sonification for description, we again turn to Die Heiteretei
where he describes the decay of Heiteretei's house in the
rain.

Jetzt sank die linke Seitenwand des Hfiuschens
unter ihrem Gewichte. DaS Dsch ware nachgesunken
hatte nicht der Fels mit zu Spatem Erbarmen
jene ersetzt und daS wankende mit der eigenen
Schulter gestfitzt. Und nun begann auch der
grOBte Teil der Vorderwand zu weichen. Sie bog
sich matt vornfiber, als wolle sie um die Ecke
nach Hfilfe sehen. Als keine kam und immer und
immer noch keine kam, da sank ihr, ein Bild stiller
Ergebung, daS Haupt auf die Kniee; dann brachen
auch diese ein, und der Tod lOste zu frfih, wenn
auch mit sanfter Hand, einen so innigen Bund,
als Holz und Lehm nur je geschlossen. (II, 165)
In chapter three we mentioned how certain aspects of Ludwig's
style Show him to be a forerunner of naturalism, yet a
description such as this certainlyxwould have no place in
any naturalistic Novella. Instead it shows Ludwig's close
connection with the poetic realists with whom he sought
his kinship.

In addition to its usage for purposes of more lively
and picturesque description, Ludwig also employs persons-
ification in his works to achieve different goals. For

instance, in the drama Die Rechte des Herzens there is a

 

good example of a satirical usage. In act I scene 8
Michael Czarinski tells his friend Paul of his plan to

kill the major:

Paul: (wird aufmerksam) Du willst? --
Michael: Diesem Major ein Tfirchen in den Leib

158

machen, durch welches seine Bedientenseele
ehorsamst untertanigst herauskriechen kann.
V. 47)
Here, the use Of personification gives Michael's Speech a
satirical sneer which it otherwise would not possess. It
conveys thereby more clearly his intense hatred and dis-
gust toward the major.

A slightly more common usage Of personification is
for purposes of foreshadowing future events. In Das
Fraulein von Scuderi Miossens Speaks in personified
terminology of the "revolutionary“ song he has heard on
the streets of Paris:

Miossens: Ein Lied scheint jetzt der Gfinstling

von Paris. . V

Schon vor dem Tor empfing es mich; bald lief's

Neben mir her, bald kam es mir entgegen. ...

(v, 121)
This short song of which Miossens Speaks contains.all the
important ideas of the play:

Liebe sei der Helmschmuck fein,

Den nur Tapferkeit soll tragen.

Wer vor Dieben kann verzagen,

Ist nicht wert, geliebt zu sein. (V, 122)
Through his personification Miossens accentuates the song's
importance and thereby stresses the important role which
fidelity and thievery play in the drama.

Another example of the use of personification to
foreshadow future events occurs in Maria. Marie has
trouble falling asleep in Rosine's house the first night
after her arrival, und Ludwig describes the scene thusly:

Alles pulsierte an ihr. Im wachsenden Fieber

wechselten immer schneller, immer lebendiger
die Bilder, und erst gegen Morgen verschleierte

139

ihr die freundliche Hand des Schlummers das

zornige Antlitz, welches das Leben nur erst

seit kurzem ihr zeigte. (I, 257-58)
The description of the friendly hand of Sleep veihing the
angry countenance which life has recently shown Marie
parallels and thus foreshadows Marie‘s life in her new
surroundings. In the comfort and seclusion of Rosine's
household Marie will again be able to return to a comfort-

able life and forget the recent bad experiences connected

with her departure from Marklinde.

 

In Die Heiteretei Ludwig personifies nature in order
to anticipate Fritz's danger as he waits for Heiteretei
on the evening of her return from the Zainhammer:

Alles ist still um ihn, kein Mensch zu sehen
und zu hOren, das ganze Tal hin und her. Wie
ist'S so schwfil und so angstlichl Die Weiden
flfistern wehmfitig und winken ihn vom Steg weg.
Der Bach hfipft als mOchte er nur schnell vorfiber
sein, und der Fritz sollm's such so machen.
(II, 110)
A clue to the understanding of this passage is contained
in the word "angstlich," but its real meaning is conveyed
by the personified willows and the brook. They are the
ones who actually express the imminent danger awaiting
Fritz unless he leaves this particular Spot.

To choose one last passage Showing Ludwig's use of
personification for foreshadowing, we turn to Zwischen
Himmel und Erde. In this story the author makes use of
personified concepts and ideas in order to hint at the
forthcoming action. Many actually appear repeatedly

throughout the story as Leitmotifs. In the following

140

passage Ludwig personifies the spirit Of the Nettenmair
household in this manner:

Der Geist des Hauses mit den grfinen Fensterladen
wuBte mehr als Apollonius Nettenmair, wuBte mehr
als alle. Er schaute nachts durch daS Fenster,
wo Apollonius bei der Lampe noch immer an seinem
Gutachten schrieb. Auf daS Papier vor dem jungen
Manne fiel sein bleicher Schaften, und der
Schreibende atmete schwer auf, er wuBte nicht
warum. Dann schritt er mit angstlicher Gebérde
den Gang zum Schuppen hin, und der alte Hund an
seiner Kette heulte im Schlafe und wuBte nicht
warum. Die junge Frau sah seine Hand fiber des
Gatten Stirne fahren; Sie erschrak, der Gatte
erschrak mit und wuBte nicht warum. Dem alten
Herrn traumte, man trfige einen Toten mit Schande
in das Haus, und daS alte Haus knackte in allen
Seinen Balkan und wuBte nicht warum. Und der
Geist wandelte noch lange, als alles schon zu
Bette war, durch seine Zimmer, herauf und herab,
her und hin, auf der Emporlaube, im Gartchen,

im Schuppen und im Gang und rang die bleichen
Hands; er wuBte warum. (III, 45-46)

It is the most advanced and complex example of personifi—
cation used for foreshadowing which has been quoted here.
The dream of Old Mr. Nettenmair conveys to the reader what
it is that the stalking Spirit of the house portends.

The innocence of the actual members of the household,
however, is repeatedly emphasized by the use of the phrase
"und wuBte nicht warum." Only the fact that each one starts
as the Spirit passes by emphasizes their awareness that all
is not as it should be in the house with the green Shutters.
Extended personifications of this type occur frequently in
Zwischen Himmel und Erde,where they function in addition to
anticipating the plot as structural Leitmotifs giving the
work harmony and unification.

Another way in which Ludwig employs personification

141

in his works.is to create a mood which is of importance to
the plot or main action line of the work. Die Buschnovelle
begins, for example, with a personified description of the
landscape where the story takes place._

...BiS zu dem Buschbade ist das Tal noch ziemlich
breit und zeigt eine reiche Mannigfaltigkeit von
Hausern, Garten, Feldern und Wiesen. Dort aber
Spielt es hinter machtigen Eichen und dem vor-
geschobenen Knie eines bewaldeten Barges mit dem
Wanderer Versteckens- Er muB sich rechts wenden,
um ihn zu folgen. Nun leistet die Triebisch ihm
ununterbrochen Gesellschaft. Nur fiber ihr ffihrt
der Weg, anmutig gewunden, bald aufwarts, bald
abwarts an‘den Felsen hin; links zwischen dem
Bach und dem Wege Erlen, Weiden, Eichen, und der
fippigsten Vegetation von Grasern und Schling-
pflanzen heraufstrebend, rechts an den Felsen-
wanden empor Haselbfische, Hangebirken und ganze
Strecken rotblfihender Pechnelken. Ganz Oben
bficken die Felsen ihre grauen Hdupter neugierig
fiber, als war‘ ihnen um die Heimlichkeiten zu
tun, die die Bfische hier und dort, die Blumen

in dem engen tiefen Wiesengrunde fiber der
schmalen Triebisch einander zuwinken und zuflfistern.
(1.1267-68)

The secretive aspect of the hidden valley where Pauline
lives sets the mood for the whole story which is based
on the unravelling of the secret and hidden backgrounds
of the three main characters. The beauty and friendliness
of the valley which are also conveyed in the above passage
are likewise indicative of the happy ending of the story
where the good are rewarded and the bad punished for their
past deeds.

The passage in Die Heiteretei personifying the land-
scape in Luckenbach on the morning of the wedding of the
two main characters (part of which was quoted above) Sim-a

ilarly Shows the mood which surrounds the happy event.

 

142

Ein schOnerer Vormittag ist nicht leicht gewesen.
Kein WOlkchen am Himmel, und der alte Holunder-
busch hat von dem leisen Sprfihregen her ein
Hochzeitkleid an, weit prfichtiger als der rote
Kirchenfrack des Meisters Schramm; das blinkt

und funkelt durcheinander wie tausend Diamanten,
wenn er nach seiner Art in sich hineinlacht; und
so herzlich und selig in sich hineingelacht wie
heute, hat er noch nie. Das erneute Hauslein
unter seinen Flfigeln glanzt, als war' es selber
eine Braut. Der Fels an seiner linken Flanke
hatte fiber sein graues Hemde einen Rock angetan,
aus den schOnsten rOtesten Pechnelken gewebt,

auf seinem Haupte einen grfinen Hut wie ein Tiroler.
"Siehst du," redete er mit hundert rauschenden
Stimmen auf daS Hauschen hinein, "all den Glanz
dankst du mir, und hast mir's fibelgenommen, wie
ich dir das alte Gewand auszog, wie ein ungebfirdig
Kind auf dem Kniee der Mutter, die as putzen will.
Es wird nichts Neues und Gutes, wenn das Alte
nicht ausgetrieben wird, frag' nur den Holders-
Fritz und seine Braut; denen ist's gangen wie dir."
-— Und such an Musik fehlte es nicht. Der alte
Holunderbusch Stellte in seiner wunderbaren
Vielseitigkeit den Brautffihrer und das Musik-
orchester zugleich vor. Ein Grasmfickchen darauf
sang die Melodie zu dem ewigen Lied von der
glficklichen Liebe, und zwei selige Herzen schlugen
den Takt dazu. (II, 246—47)

By portraying the cliff next to the house as well as the
elder bush dressed up in new clothing, Ludwig once again
stresses the change which Heiteretei and the Holders-Fritz
have undergone. The joyousness of their beginning a new
life together despite all their past difficulties and the
happy ending of the story are also conveyed in this gay
personified description Of the area surrounding the Hfiusle.
Personified mood description of a different sort is
found in Zwischen Himmel und Erde. Here, instead of show-
ing happiness, the sound Of the bells of the church as they
race through the town set the mood of danger and fear which

surrounds the fire in the tower which takes place this night.

 

145

Es schlug awblf vom Sankt-Georgenturm. Der letzte
Schlag schien nicht verhallen zu konnen. Aber

das tiefe drohnende Summen, das so lang anhielt,
war nicht mehr der verhallende Glockenton. Denn
nun begann es zu wachsen; wie auf tausend Flfigeln
kam es gerauscht und geschwollen und stieB zornig
gegen die Hfiuser, die es aufhalten wollten, und
fuhr pfeifend und schrillend durhh jede Offnung,
die as traf; polterte im Hause umher, bis es eine
andere Offnung zum Wiederherausfahren fand, riB Laden
103 und warf sie grimmig zu; quetschte sich stohnend
zwischen nahstehenden Mauern hindurch; pfiff wfitend
um die StraBenecken; zerlief in tausend Bache;_
suchte sich und schlug klatschend wieder zusammen
in einen reiBenden Strom; fuhr vor grimmiger Lust
heraB und hinauf; rfittelte an allem Festen; trillte
mit wild spielendem Finger die verrosteten Wetter—
hahne und -fahnen und lachte schrillend in ihr
Geachze; blies den Schnee von einem Dach aufs
andere, fegte ihn von der StraBe, jagte ihn an
steilen Mauern hinauf, daB er tor Angst in alle
Fensterritzen kroch, und wirbelte ganze tausende
Riesentannen aus Schnee geformt vor sich her.

(III, 183-84)

The wild and fierce action which is portrayed here is aug-
mented by Ludwig's choice of violent vocabulary such as
"zornig," "grimmig," and "wfitend" which he uses to describe
it. Again, as in the previous passages, the mood which per-
vades the story here is depicted much more picturesquely‘
through the use offaction scene rather than simple auc-
torial description inserted into the story.

There remains one more area of discussion to conclude
this section of the chapter on Ludwig's use of personification,
and that is his "inverse" personification, the cases where
human action is given inanimate, yet active qualities. For
instance, in Aug dem Regen in_gig Traufe in the scene I
where the strange apprentice arrives at the Bfigel household,

Ludwig denotes the change which takes place in die Schwarze

 

144

through the following use of inverse personification:

Der Geselle schien nicht gern zu gehen. Der
kleine Meister schien ihm SpaB zu machen;
vielleicht war auch das "jemfitliche Madchen"

im Spiel. Oder es erlaubte ihm nur sein na-
tfirliches Phlegma nicht, sich schneller nach
der Tur umzuwenden, als die Schwarze im Osten
dér Kammertfire aufging und ihre ersten Strahlen
ihn beleuchteten. (II, 806)

By comparing die Schwarze to the sun Ludwig denotes the

 

regularity of her changing moods and likewise her in-
human treatment of the little tailor as well as of the
rest of the household.

Inverse personification of a more active type is
found in Die geiteretei. In the following scene Ludwig
describes the activity of the residents of Luckenbach
after the long weeks of rain.

Wie war das nun ein ander Leben, als aus dem
zerborstenen Leibe des Grau all die Farben
wieder erstanden, die es verschlungen hatte!
Wie Scharlachspinnchen auf grfinem Papiere
rannten auf den grfinen Wiesen die roten Un-
terrbcke durcheinander, dazwischen dunkle
Jacken und Beinkleider wie schwarze Kafer—
chen oder wie lebendig gewordene Tintenklexe.
(II, 172)
Just as the personification of the inanimate is used by
Ludwig to make a scene livier and more picturesque, so
he employs inverse personification for the same reason
here. By comparing the red petticoats of the women to
little scarlet Spiders and the dark clothing of the men
to little black beetles Ludwig puts the whole scene into
a different perspective. Instead of portraying the action

on a larger human scale, he reduces it in size to enable

 

145

the reader to obtain an overall view of the busy action
of the peOple.

Examples of this type of inverse personification are
not overly abundant in Ludwig's works, and yet in refer-
ring to the role of personification in general and gesture
in personification in particular in his works it must
at least be mentioned. Even these few examples accentuate
once again Ludwig's great concern with writing active works
which are at the same time picturesque. --

In this chapter we have discussed two important
functions of gesture in Ludwig's works, characterization
and personification, in addition to one of the primary
means through which this gesture is employed, namely
the Leitmotif. The usage of gesture for characterization
is perhaps Ludwig's most obvious display of his desire
to show figures in action, for, as we have seen in the
examples in this chapter, he is fonder of describing
the characters by the manner in which they perform certain
actions either at the beginning or within the work itself
than by simple auctorial intrusion. He often employs
for characterization one of Walzel's three types of
Leitmotifs: either the "calling card," the symbolical,
or the structural type. In addition to the use of gesture
for descriptions and eSpecially Leitmotifs Ludwig also
personifies many aspects of nature and intangible con-

cepts in his works. The effect of this personification

146

is intended to infuse his works with a maximum of active
scenes. This consequently makes the whole work come

alive and become more immediate for the reader.

 

CONCLUSION

Otto Ludwig's works contain numerous examples of
characters performing gestures of all types. This study
has attempted to show through an analysis of the author's
theoretical as well as his poetical writings in what manner
and for what purpose this gesture has been integrated into
his works.

Ludwig discusses in his theoreticalwritings the great
influence which Dickens and Shakespeare had on his poetical
creations. These two men,in his opinion, had both achieved
that toward which he strove, the creation of a realistic
plot with rounded characters where both the real as well
as the ideal aSpects of humanity are presented; and, in so
deing, they made use of certain dramatic techniques in their
style which Ludwig greatly admired. One of these techniques
which Ludwig then adapted to his own needs was the use of
gesture. Because he Speaks of this aspect in such detail
in his theoretical writings, both in regard to Dickens and
Shakespeare as well as himself, we know that its use was
not mere happenstance. Ludwig was quite aware of how
skillfully integrated gesture in his works could augment
their content, and it is this fact which justifies this

study as a legitimate analysis of a conscious element of

147

 

148

his writing technique.

The style of Ludwig's works pe§,§2_is one which is
conducive to the use of gesture. Although his prose works
show a distinct development from the traditional.method
of narration in the earliest shorter works to the use of
scenic narration in the two related works Die Heiteretei

and Aus dem Regen in’die Traufe to finally the combination

 

of these two techniques and the use of erlebte Eggs in
Zwischen Himmel und Erde, they all lend themselves very
well to the incorporation of realistic gesture. In these
works he presents a great variety of forms of gesture, yet
they are integrated basically in two ways, either by auctorial
intrusion directly into the epical flow or else in connection
with dialogue. The use of gesture in his dramatic works
is likewise incorporated in two distinct ways. Here the
gestures are either merely hinted at through the comments
of other characters, or else they are given by explicit
stage directions. In the case of prose as well as drama,
no matter how the gesture is integrated, it aids Ludwig
in achieving the same goal: the creation of realistic and
credible characters in his works.

In so doing the gesture functions in several different
ways. Often Ludwig utilizes gesture in his works in order
to tell the story in place of words or to convey a certain
message which is otherwise left unspoken. In other cases
he seems to employ gesture merely because of his own love

of detail, in which case it augments the sepects of realism.

 

149

Another function which gesture performs is to supply his
poetical creations with humor through the inclusion both

of humorous characters as well as humorous actions. Gesture
also has a limited symbolical function in Ludwig's works
when, in addition to its overt usage, it also serves to
emphasize a particular, otherwise unnoticed, aspect of the
character performing it, or, of the plot in general.

In addition to these four functions,gesture is also
important in Ludwig's works for its ability to characterize
the figures in a much more powerful manner than by mere
.auctorial description. This is his primary and most obvious
use of gesture, and it is employed for this purpose in
three diStinct ways: either as introductory remarks, as
accentuation within the text, or as Leitmotifs.

Ludwig is also fond of including the gesture of
personified aSpects of nature or intangible concepts as
leitmotifs in his works. This he does mainly for thelove
of action, and such Leitmotifs function chiefly in either
a symbolical or a structural manner. Personification,
however, also occurs in forms other than in the Leitmotif,
and then it serves to infuse the literary work with a
maximum of activity in order to give it a sense of im-
mediacy.

Despite the abundance of gesture in the author's works,
one cannot say that he has "stuffed" them with a variety
of moving characters merely for the sake of utilizing as.

much gesture as possible. Instead, this feature is always

150

incorporated in as realistic a manner as possible. The
dictates of the plot determine when gesture is to be used,
and a number of factors, as for instance the personality

of the character involved, determines which gestures are

to be used. There is no evidence in Ludwig's works

that through the artificial repetition of any one gesture,
as for example sitting at an Open window, he sought to use
it as certain type of recurrent symbolism found in and
thereby interrelating all his works. Instead, the only
repetition of gestures which occurs throughout the works
discussed are those which augment their realistic aSpemts.
Thus, anger is often represented by a noticeable clutching
of the fists and bewilderment by a shrugging of the shoulders.
Such gestures are not symbolical, but rather they serve to
show Ludwig's emphasis on reality and his astute observance
of the details of life around him.

Within the twelve years from 1840 to 1852 Ludwig com-
pleted nine prose works and eight dramas. It is obvious
that in a study like the present one an attempt is made to
show a marked develOpment in the use of gesture during
this time period. Unfortunately, such an attempt here is
doomed to failure. As the tables in the appendix show,
Ludwig did not noticeably increase the frequency of gesture
in his works in these years, and even the gestures which
he used tend to remain fundamentally the same. One can only
point, as we have already done in the text, to an increased

skill in incorporating the gestures, especially in the

 

151

latter dramas and prose works, and this, one must also
mention, is more the result of a general develOpment on
the part of Ludwig in creating more credible prts than
of an increased awareness of the use of gesture.

As Ludwig points out in his theoretical writings,
he was definitely aware of the importance of the inclusion
of realistic gesture in a literary work, and his own works
show how he put this theory into practice. However, he also
realized that gesture is mainly a stylistic device, that it
is the means of creating realistic and believable characters
and action. At no time, and quite rightly so it seems, did
he consider the use of gesture an end in itself. This is
the conclusion which must be drawn from this investigation.
Although Ludwig's works can be considered models of the
correct methods of integration and function of gesture in
literature, it is not merely for this reason that he
should be considered one of the outstanding poets of
nineteenth century Germany. Gesture is an important as-
pect of his style, but style is not the sole critical norm
applicable to a literary work. Ludwig achieved fame,
consequently, not because of his skillful literary writing
techniques but rather for the skillful embodiment of those
ideas in his works which gave rise to the movement of

poetic realism in German literature.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

The basic model for the methodology of this study
was the dissertation (Tfibingen, 1915) by Wera Kostova
entitled Die Bewegungen und Haltungen des menschlichen
Kbrpers i2 C.F. Meyers Erzahlungen. In this work the
author divides the moving and stationary gestures found
in Meyer's works into four distinct categories: those
referring to the entire body (such as gghgg, gigh erheben,

sich setzen, or sich wenden); feet and leg gestures;

 

hand and arm gestures; and head and face gestures. These
basic divisions were used here also. However, it needed
to be taken into account that Meyer's vocabulary differs
in many reSpects from Ludwig's. Consequently, detailed
lists are compiled of all Specific gestures occurring in
Ludwig's three earliest prose works. These lists are
subsequently divided in the manner shown in the following
tables.

As each gesture was located in the texts, the page
number was noted along with any eSpecially meaningful or
unusual characteristics of the gesture. From thescstatistics
the information for the body of this study was derived.
The discussion of possible develOpment in the use of

gesture found in the conclusion was obtained through an

152

 

 

153

analysis of the numbers listed to the right of each table.
These refer to the total number of occurrences of every
gesture in each of the three different creative periods
of Ludwig's literary career, the early prose works, the

dramas, and the later prose works.

Period I, the early prose works: Das Hausgesinde, 1840;
Die Emanzipation der Domestiken, 1841; Die wahrhaftig

 

 

 

 

 

GescEiChte von den drei Wfinschen, 1843; Maria, ,
Die Buschnovelle, 1855? Das Marchen vom toten Kinde,
1835.

Period II, the dramas: Hanns Frei, 1843; Die Torgauer Heide,
1844; Die Waldbur , 18KB; Die Rechte des Herzens, 1855;
Das Fraulein von Ecuderi, 18KB; Die Pfarrrose, 1849;

Der Erbforster, 1859; Die Makkabaer, 1852.

Period III, the longer prose works: Die Heiteretei, 1854;
Zwischen Himmel und Erde, 1855; Aus dem Regen i3 die
Traufe, 1855.

 

154
ENTIRE BODY

liegen
sitzen
stehen
other stationary positions

Achsel zucken

sich aufraffen

sich aufrichten

aufstehen or aufspringen
sich auskleiden (ankleiden)
bficken

sich erheben

hocken

kauern

zu sich kommen

sich hinlegen

sich neigen

ohnmachtig werden

sich setzen

sich stfitzen

(sch)wanken

sich wenden (ab- or zuwenden)
zittern

zurfick- or zusammensinken
empor— or zusammenschrecken
other singular, stationary movements

begegnen
begleiten
begrfiBen

sich empfehlen
entgegenkommen
folgen

fuhren

tanzen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 4 7
30 23 61
37 53 62
5 O 1
5 8 6
5 4 1
2 6 p§_
2O #58 <50
12 8 16
7 6 6
2} 1i_ 14‘
2 O 0
_§. 1 5
6 O 0
2 0 O
14 2O 1
5 9 2
26 51 25
O 1 2
6 1O 1
55 64 55
28 17 15
16 22 ,3_
1O 8 ,5
4O 2O 16
8 O O
6 8 2
a} 9 1
2 4 1
12 8 _§_
21 22 10
20 52 7
5 0 5

 

 

 

1'75

wecken

other motions involving two or more
people

ans Fenster treten

auf und ab, hin und her gehen

eilen

ent- or losreiBen

fahren

fallen

(ent)fliehen

gehen

herabsteigen

hinauf- or besteigen

kommen (any manner)

laufen or rennen

sich nahern

ein Ort verlassen

reiten

schreiten

treten

verschwinden

auf den Weg machen

sich werfen

other gestures of motion

allgemeine Bewegung

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 5 2
1o 1 3
a 419 1
3 7 6
2o 22 2o
1 4 o
9 O 7
17 4 3_
_7 4 2
43 101 51
12 5 7
15 3 .2l
56 84 381
19 7 21
4 12 2
11 o 1
1 2 o
17 25 1
58 7s 50
s 7 4
_5 o 1
5 7 2
10 11c 6
15 1 41

 

 

 

 

 

156
HEAD AND FACE

beissen
erbleichen
erraten
essen
kfissen
lachen
lacheln
singen
trinken
weinen
etwas zuckt
allgemeine Anderung der Gesichtszfige

flfistern

schreien

seufzen

schlucken

other Speaking mannerisms

betrachten, ansehen
Augen, Blickhbewegen
blinzen
Augen charakterisieren
Augen haften
hin-, hinfiber-, hinauf-, herabsehen
sehen
Augen Sprache geben
starren
umsehen
other Augen or Blick gestures
Gesicht, Haupt, Antlitz
biegen
drehen
erheben
lehnen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 o 2
12 11 6
14 ‘5 4o
2 2
14 14 ,5
43 60 139
55 12 17
9 18 7

9 15 5
51 16 41
4 o 2
46 13 2:_
6 o o

7 0 3
16 5 1
11 12_»
12 2 1
2o 15 s
18 o o

1 o 1
50 15 52
1o 1 5
19 21 14
6 o o

5 1

2 . o
14 29 2o
52 10 229
4 £0

1 10 o

4 lo

4 ‘0 H

 

 

 

 

Gesicht, Haupt, Antlitz
richten

sinken
wenden
other head movements

157

 

 

 

 

 

2 o o
4 1 1
6 1 2
21 11 47

 

 

 

 

158
HANDS AND ARMS

Arme ausstrecken
gekreuzte Arme

in den Armen halten
den Arm um etwas legen
in den Armen legen

in die Arme nehmen

in die Arme pressen oder drficken
den Arm reichen

die Arme sinken lassen
umarmen

other arm movements

die Fauste ballen
Fauste hinausstrecken
mit den Fausten schlagen
Hands sich bewegen
Hands drficken

Hande falten

bei der Hand fassen

in den Handen halten
in die Hands klatschen
Hand kfissen

Handeaaflf etwas legen
die Hands ringen

Hand in der Tasche
Hands zittern

other hand movements

mit der Finger berfihren
mit der Finger drohen
Finger heben

Finger auf dem Mund

mit der Finger zeigen
Finger zittern oder zucken
other finger movements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 1 2
1 o o
2 5 4
2 1 5
3 o o
5 .5 5
2 5 o .
3 1 1
2 o o
12 1s 17
15 5 1']
5 2 5
4 4 3
2 2 5
2 o 2
j 2 2
11 8 7
9 9 8
19 12 11
9 2 1
1 o o
4 4 5
4 o 3
2 2 2 a
5 1 12
45 62 82
2 o o
2 o o
2 o o
1 o o
2 o o
2 o o
4 4 1

 

 

 

 

aufheben

beruhren

etwas bringen

deuten

drficken

fassen

geben

greifen

hinsetan, stellen, legen
knapfen

heraus-, ab-, aufnehmen
dffnen

schliebsen.

(Haare) streicheln
tragen

weg-, entreiBen (-nehmen)
werfen

winken

159

other general hand or arm movements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15. 12 7
_4_ o 1
12 1o 6
5, 35 11
4 o 4
i 11 4
§__ 19 2
17 6 15
4 35 16
1 3 2
11 52

28 o 50
Z_ O 9
9 o

11 12 a
g o o
8 15 l4
2 21 I7
124 140 [66

 

 

160

FEET AND LEGS

knieen
Kniee zittern
auf die Kniee sinken oder fallen

other

 

 

 

 

12 30 9
1 1 o
a 10 4
11 4 4

 

 

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

INTRODUCTION

1A partial listing of such studies would include the
following:
Mathilde Eppmann, "Gottfried Keller: *Kleider machen
Leute' (Versuch.einer Stilbetrachtung)," 22£_Deutsch-t
unterricht, Jg. 5, Heft 1 (1955), 108-11.
Ottokar Fischer, "Mimische Studien zu Heinrich von
Kleist," Eu horion, XV (1908), 488-510, 716-725, and
XVI (1909 9 v 412’25: 747.72.
Fritz Hellermann MienenSpiel und Gebardenspiel i2,
Meyers Novellen Diss. GieBen,—1912).
era ostova, 2$2_Bewe un en Efig Haltun en(%§§_mensch-
lichen KOr ers in 52F. Eeyers z- ungen ss.
TuEingen, S915fl- - '—
wOlfgang Nehring, "Die GabardenSPrache E.T.A. Hoffmanns,’
Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philolo ie, 89 (1970), 207-21.
Hans Armin Peter, Thomas dann un s i e episéhe Charak-
terisierungskunst (Dias. Berni—192 .
Hans Joachim Schifferdecker, _§§_mimische Element 39
Goethes Dramen (Berlin, 1928).
U. VIasimsEy, "Mimische Studien zu Storm," Eu horion,
£381 (1910), 636-50, and XVIII (1911), 15 , -
G. Vulpius Das mimische Element ig_Wagger (Dias.
Heidelberg: 1930).

2Hans Heinrich Reuter, "UmriB eines 'mittleren'
Erzfihlers: Anmerkungen zu Werk und Wirkung Otto Ludwigs,"

W den W W. XII (1969,).

3J. Vlasimsky, "Mimische Studien zu Storm," Eu horion,
XVIII (1911), 468.

“Richard Mfiller-Ems, Otto Ludwigs Erzahlungskunst,
(Berlin, 1905), 67. .

161

GESTURE IN GENERAL

«Macdonald Critchley, The Language 2; Gesture
(London, 1959), 11.

2Critchley, 11.

3Critchley, 11.

4Hans-Ulrich WeSpi, 223_Geste als Ausdrucksform und
ihre Beziehungen zur Bede: Darstellfifiganhand.zgggBeI:f
s ielen aus‘ggg franzOsischen Literatur zwIschen QEQQ
und 19§§ iss. Zfiricfi, 1949), 1.

5Eduard E. Schmid, "fiber die Gebérde in Ballade,
Novella und Drama," Wirkendes Wort, X (1960), 239.
6 6J.J. Engel, Ideen 53 einer Mimik,I (Berlin, 1785),
1.

7Julius Wiegand, "Die Gesten in der deutschen erzéhlenden
Dichtung," Neue Jahrbficher fur das klassische Altertum,
Geschichte und deutsche Literatur, XL (1917), .

8'w'erner Habicht, Die Gebérde in englischen Dichtun en
des Mittelalters, Abhandlungen des bayrischen.Akademie
PEilOSOpEiSOH35istorische Klasse 46 (Mfinchen, 1959), 9-10.

 

9Wespi , 6 o

10L. Klages, Grundle n der Wissenschaft vom Ausdruck
(Leipzig, 1956), 15.

11Wespi, 5.

12Hans Armin Peter, Thomas Mann und seine epische
Charakterisierungskunst ZDISS. Bern, 1929), 13 .

15Habicht, 8.

14F.C. Hayes, "Should we have a Dictionarycof Gesture?,"
Southern Folklore anrterl , 4 (1940), 244-45.

15 .
R.P. Blackmur Language g§_Gesture: Essays gaDPoetrz
(New York, 1952), 4:

162

 

163

16"It should be realized, furthermore, that gesture
is not only one Of the important means whereby ideas and
emotions are declared and recognized, but that it also
serves as an important adjuvant to spoken speech. Thus
gesture, gesticulation and facial movements Of eXpression
usually accompany the act of talking and serve to em-
phasize the content Of what is said." Critchley. 9.

47Blackmur, 6.

18Blackmur, 6.

19Blackmur, 6.

20cf. the following definition by H. Urtel: "SO
geht denn fiber die Erde hinweg neben den in steter
Neubildung schnell sich abschleifenden Lauten der Sprache
ein schweigsamer und doch SO beredter, in dauerhafte
Form gebannter Genosse einher, die Gebarde, die die
Gedanken in den Raum projiziert, die kOrperlich wirksam
die Sprache unterstfizt, wO aber diese verstummt, nur
um so deutlicher und eindringlicher zu reden vermag;
ein SymbOLen zwar wie die Sprache, an uralte Tradition
gebunden, aber nach eigenem Gesetz fortlebend und individ-
ualisierend, schwerer fibertraghar als das flfichtig von
Mund zu Mund wandernde Wort und deshalb auch dauernder
verankert in dem innersten Wesen eines Volkstums....'
H. Urtel, Beitraggggg_portugiesischen Volkskunde, Abschnitt:
Zur GebardenSprache, Abhandlungen aus dem GeEiet der
IfiglandSRunde g2;‘HamburgischenIUnIVErEItfit, 27 (1928),

21Charles Darwin, The §g2ressions'_f he Emotions ig_
Man and Animals (Chicago, .

22Edith Aulhorn, "Zur Gestaltung seelischer Vorgénge
in neuerer Erzahlung," Vom Geiste neuer Literaturforschun :
Festschrift fur Oskar WaIseI (WIIdparE-Potsdam, no date),
72.

25Frans Bernhard Zons Auffassung der Gebérde ig,der
mittelhochdeutschen Epik Diss. Mfinster, 1935), 12.

24Georg Hartmann, "Die Bfihnengesten in Shakespeares
Dramen als Ausdruck von Gemfithsbewegungen: Ein Beitrag
zur Geschichte der Schauspieltechnik im Elisabethanischen
Zeitalter," Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakes eare esellschaft,
Neue Folge I (19245, 42:

25"Doch welche aller Kfinste bedient sich mit grOBerer
Hingabe der Nimik und der Gabarden als die SchauSpielkunst?
Seiner eigenen Leib als Material darbietend formt der
Schauspieler mit Hilfe der Mimik und Gebarde ein schnell

 

164

vergingliches Kunstwerk." Hans Joachim Schifferdecker,
Das mimische Element i3 Goethes Dramen (Berlin, 1928),

O

26Friedrich Bruns, Friedrich Hebbel und Otto Ludwi :
Ein Ver leich ihrer Ansichten fiber das Drama, HebEeIIorschun en,
mm~ '—"—"

27For a more detailed analysis Of this change, cf.
Schifferdecker, 11-14.

28weapi, 41.

29WeSpi, 41.
50Peter, 129.

3I'For a more involved discussion Of the role Of
the enlightenment and Latater's Studien, cf. R. Riemann,
Goethes Romantechnik (Leipzig, 1902), 217 ff. Also:

W. Greiner, Die ersten Novellen Otto Ludwi s und ihr
Verhaltnis zu Ludwi Tieck (Dias. Jena, 1965), 50-31.

AISO: Ffitz-Lfi er is e ischen Werke Otto Ludwi s und
ihr Verhaltnis gngEarles Dickens (Diss. GreIIswaId,
W1), 31:.- V,

52Peter, 129. Also of. footnote 1 Of the introduction.

33Ernst Hirt, Das Form esetz der e ischen, dramatischen
und lyrischen Dichtung isa. uricE; 1926), 8.
341mm, 9.

55J Vlasimsky "Mimische Studien zu Storm " '
. . Eu horion
XVII (1910), 636. ' ’ -—2--—-

OTTO LUDWIG

1Heinrich Bulthaupt, Dramatur ie des Schauspiels
(Oldenburg and Leipzig, 1908), 22%.

2Ludwi s Werke, ed. Dr. Viktor Schweizer (Leipzig
and Wien, 1 98), I, 24.

3Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 27.

4Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 40.

5Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 44.

6A slightly different division is Offered by L. Geiger:
"Otto Ludwigs literarisches Schaffen laBt sich in drei
Teile zerlegen. Den ersten schmachtigsten, zeitlich
frfihesten nimmt seine Lyrik ein, den bei weitem breitesten,
sein ganzes Leben durchziehenden die dramatischen und
dramaturgischen Arbeiten; nur wenige Jahre waren novellisti-
schen Versuchen gewidmet, die, soweit sie ausgeffihrt
sind, nicht blOB die reifsten Frfichte seines Talentes
sind, sondern zu den schOnsten Gaben moderner Novellistik
gehOren." Ludwi Gei er, "Otto Ludwig," Westermanns
Monatshefte, 75 (1894 , 74. William H. McClain has further
suEdivided the prose works into the following three
categories: I Apprenticeship: Das Haus esinde, Die Emanzi-
ation der Domestiken, and Die-93hrhafgi e GescEIEh e
von figgfdfei‘fifinschen. II PEEiOd OI Experimentation:
MEEia and—Ehe prose’Iragments. III Masterpieces (Emergence
of the mature artist): Die Heiteretei, Aus dem Re en in dis
Traufe, and Zwischen Himmel und Erde. WIIIIEE H. McCIEin,

Between Real and Ideal: The Course Of Otto Ludwi s's
DeveIOpment §§,§ narrative Writer (ChapeI.HiII, 1963), 79.

7McClain, 9.

 

 

 

8Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 28.
9McClain, 28-29.

quichard M. Meyer, Literatur eschichte des 12,
Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 19 , .

119232,;%g§;§; Samtliche Werke unter Mitwirkung des
Goethe- und c i lerarchivs, 33:_Paul Merker (Mfinchen and

165

166

«2"'Maria' bedeutet...einen Fortschritt. Die fiuBere
Charakteristikaist fein durchgeffihrt, innerlich werden
die Personen besonders durch Urteile anderer charakterisiert,
daneben finden sich geschickte Kontrastwirkungen und
Charakteristik durch die Handlung- und Denkweise."
Richard Muller-Ems, Otto Ludwigg Erzahlungskunst (Berlin,

1905). 87.

13Richard M.Meyer, "Otto Ludwigs ShakeSpearestudien "
Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespearegesellschaft, 37 (1901 ,

14Bruno Markwardt, Geschichte der deutschen Poetik
(Berlin, 1959), IV, 452.

15Franz Koch, Idee und Wirklichkeit: Deutsche Dichtun
zwischen Romantik und Naturalismus (DfisseIHorI, 19 ,

’ O

16"Auch sein wohl starkstes Drama, der 'Erberster',
wirkt wie eine dramatisierte Novelle." Markwardt, IV, 452.

 

 

17Markwardt, IV, 455.
18Markwardt, IV, 452-55.

49"0tto Ludwig steht unter den grOBten Erzfihlern
unserer Literatur, wenn er auch diesen Platz nicht bean-
sprucht hat, den er allein unter den Dramatikern einnehmen
wollte." Ludwi s Werke, ed. Arthur Eloesser (Berlin/
Leipzig, 1958), I

2OHeinrich LOhre, "Otto Ludwig und Charles Dickens,"
Archiv ffir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen,

CITIV”K191677‘16217.

21The quotation continues: "Es ist das Zeichen einer
gebrochenen Bildung, wenn man zwischen Idealisten und
Realisten unterscheidet. Derjenige Dichter ist classisch,
der in seinen Werken allgemein menschliche Ideale, d.h.
echten bleibenden Lebensgehalt darstellt, und der diese
Ideale so darzustellen weiB, daB jede Zeit an ihre Reali-
tat glaubt. Die Sonne Homers leuchtet auch uns, d.hl er
ist das ErzeugniB einer ungebrochenen Bildung, einer
Bildung, in der man um Ideale zu Schaffen, nur in die
Realitét greifen durfte." Julian Schmidt, Geschichte
der deutschen Literatur von Leibnitz big Eggruhsere
'Z'éi't (BerIin, 16967—17", ., 245'.

9 - °

 

22Otto Ludwi s gesammelte Schriften, ed. Erich
Schmidt and ZEOII Stern (Leipzig, 1891), VI, 10.

25"Die irrige Meinung, Otto Ludwig habe die Formal
‘Poetischen Realismus' gepragt, halt sich fibrigens bis

167'

heute unverwfistlich. DaB sie schon bei Schelling ('Vor-
lesungen fiber die Methods des akademischen Studiums'

1802, Schellin s Werke, hrsg. v. Manfred SchrOter Mfinchen
1927, . , . 568) steht und von dort offenbar durch
Ludwig fibernommen wurde, scheint weithin unbekannt geblieben
zu sein." Richard Brinkmann, Wirklichkeit und Illusion:
Studien fiber Gehalt und Grenzen des Be riffE—Healismus

fu"r 31' e erza"hIen8e Dfihtung gig 1'9.- TéErEunaertg (Tu'EIngen,

195777—3347.
24Markwardt, IV, 456-57.
25Moclain, 19.

26Jakob StOcker, Otto Ludwi und sein Stil g2 Erb-
fOrster (Diss. Marburg, 191 , .

 

 

27Fritz Martini, Deutsche Literatur im bfirgerlichen
Realismus 1848-1898 (Stuttgartj‘196277‘265.

28Martini, 205.

29MoClain, 17.

30"Es braucht nicht mehr wiederholt zu werden daB der
'Erbf" ster' trotz seiner offen liegenden Fehher d.h.
Zufal eine grOBe Dichtung, ein bedeutendes Drama, ein
erschfitterndes Theaterstfick ist. Und eben darum und noch
aus einigen andern Grfinden gehOrt er immer wieder auf die
Bfihne, wie angstlich sichsdas Publikum gegen seine furcht--
bare Wirkung auch stréube. Es Egg, und ware eine Schmach,
wenn dies zweite der bfirgerlichen TrauerSpiele Deutschlands,
das in den FuBtapfen von 'Kabale und Liebe’ wandelt ('Maria
Magdalene' ist das andre), sich sein Recht auf das Podium
nicht erzwingen kOnnte. Eben hier kOnnen die Poeten lernen,
wie das realste Leben von einem begnadeten Dichter kfinstv
lerisch gebéndigt wird ohne von seiner ursprfinglichen
Echtheit das mindeste zu verlieren; hier wird diesem nach
Realismus schreienden Zeitalter der Beweis erbracht, daB
man wahr und poetisch zugleich sein kann und daB es eine
MOglichkeit gibt, die Gegenwart auf die Bfihne zu bringen
und die Menschen unsere Sprache reden zu lassen, ohne der
Poesie etwas zu vergeben, die doch noch mehr sein will
248 zin phonographischer Abklatsch des Lebens." Bulthaupt,

5" 0

51Cf. Ludwigs Werke, ed. Stern and Schmidt, V, 59f.

32A.P. Berkhout Biedermeier und poetischer Realismus
(Diss. Amsterdam, 1 42), 273.

53MoClaln, 71. Also of. Bulthaupt, 245.44.

168

34Karl Kley, "'Zwischen Himmel und Erde' und die
Heimaterlebnisse Otto Ludwigs," Otto Ludwig Kalender
XII (1940), 60.

35Johannes Klein, Geschichte der deutschen Novelle
Egg Goethe b;§.ggg Gegenwart (WieEEEden, 1966), .
56Ludwigs Werke, ed. Stern and Schmidt, VI, 218.
A number O stufiies and comments have been made on this
very fact that behind many of Ludwig's characters are
peOple who really existed and whom he had known. For
example: Karl Kley "Eisfeld in Otto Ludwigs Werken,"
OLK, X 01958), 75-85. Karl Kley, "Otto Ludwig-Erinnerungen
in Eisfeld," OLK, I (1929), 55-57. Karl Kley, "'Zwischen
Himmel und Erde' und die Heimaterlebnisse Otto Ludwigs,"
OLK, XII (1940), 59—68. Waltraut Leuschner-Meschke,
"Aus Otto Ludwigs Kunstauffassung,” Worte und Werte:
Bruno Markwardt zum 60. Geburtsta , e6. GuStEVIESEEann
ana IlItns EichstEEOt—(Berlin, 1961), 200-15.

57Ludwigs Werke, ed. Stern and Schmidt, VI, 215.

38Walter Silz, "Otto Ludwig and the Process Of
Poetic Creation," PMLA, LX (1944), 860.

ggéfiéfliséuflgggg, ed. Stern and Schmidt, VI, 215-16.
49229!i5§,fl33§g, ed. Stern and Schmidt, VI, 217,

41As quoted in Otto Ludwig: Samtliche Werke, ed.
Merker, V, x.

42LEQ!$E§,E£§§3, ed. Stern and Schmidt, VI, 41-42.

45in example Of an hallucination which he had is con-
tained in the following anecdote by August Kretzschmar:
"Eines Tages, als ich gegen Abend bei ihm eintrat, saB
er unbeweglich auf einem in der Mitte des Zimmers frei--
stehenden Stuhle und rief mir flfisternd zu, daB ich nicht
néher kommen, sondern an der Tfir stehen bleiben machte.
Da ich seine wunderlichen Launen kannte, so kehrte ich mich
natfirlich an dieses Verbot nicht, sondern ging stracks
auf ihn zu. Mit im ersten Augenblick unwilliger, dann aber
sofort wieder freundlicher Miene erhob er sich und sagte,
nun hatte ich den Zaubér gestOrt, und es sei ihm dies
gewissermaBen selbst lieb. Er hatte némlich, setzte er
hinzu, seit lénger als sechs Stunden so gesessen, weil
plOtzldch eine Schar von Liliputern oder winzigen Gnomen
aus der Diele hervorgekommen, an seinen FfiBen und Beinen
emporgeklettert sei und sofort begonnen habe, auf seinen
Knieen einen Turm zu bauen, der bei meinem Eintritt schon
ziemhich bis an die Decke des Zimmers emporgereicht habe.
Natfirlich habe er, um das work nicht zu stOren, weder Hand

 

 

169
noch FuB zu rfihren gewagt." August Kretzschmar, "Erinner-
ungen an einen Jungstgeschiedenen," OLK, IV (1952), 11.

44Quoted from Julain Schmidt, "Otto Ludwig," wester-
manns Monatshefte, 55 (1874) in Fritz Lfider, Die e iscEen
Werke Otto Ludwi s und ihr Verbaltnis gg_CharIes Dickens

(DIS . Grei swa , 1911), 52.
450f. Fritz Martini, "Zur Theorie des Romans im
deutschen Realismus," Deutsche Romantheorien: Beitrége

zu einer historischen Poeggg des Romans’in Deutsc an ,
Ed;‘REifihold Grimm (Frankfurtj‘19687j‘1557'

“60:. Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 26-27.
470:. Otto Ludwi : Sfimtliche Werke, ed. Merker, v,
viii. See aISO the Ietter from O. Luawig to L. Ambrunn,

July 1847 in Otto Ludwi S Briefe _erster Band 1842-
1842: ed. Kurt Vogtherr (deimar, 1955), 228.

48Meyer, Q§§g_Ludwigs ShakeSpearestudien, 59.
49Meyer’ 9232 Ludwigs Shakespearestudien, 60.
50Ludwigs E2335, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 66-67.
5qLfider, 55.

52Lfider, 53.

55Ltder,.96.

54Liider. 95-96.

55Lfider, 107-08.

56Lfider, 119-20.

57Liider, 128.

58922225§,flg3§g, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 154.

59Markwardt, IV, 454.

60Ludwigs flggkg, ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 55-56.
61Ludwigs £3352, ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 147.
62Ludwigs 3335;, ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 471-72.
65pggggg§,ygggg, ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 883.
64Ludwigs £3333, ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 93.

 

17o

65Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 93-949

66"Entwicklung im richtigen und dramatischen Sinne
ist Herauswicklung, Entfaltung des schon Vorhandenen,
welches durch den Vorhang nicht gemacht nur gezeigt wird."
Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 71.

67LSS!15§.E22§2. ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 112.

63222!i£§.fl2£§2. ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 112,

69Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 79.

79929!i5§.fl2£§24 ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 164.

 

OTTO LUDWIG'S STYLE

1"Shakespeare und Scribe," Ludwi s Werke, ed. Erich
Schmidt and Adolf Stern (Leipzig, 1861), V, 168.

2Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 202.

3Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 203.

“Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 205.

5Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 205.
6

Oskar Walzel, Das Wort-Kunstwerk (Leipzig, 1926),
223.

7Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 205.

80f. the beginning of Die Heiteretei: "Annh zum
Grfinder Markt, Dorle? ..."

9Oskar Walzel, Gehalt und Gestalt im Kunstwerk des
Dichters (Berlin-NeuBaBeIsBerg, 19255,-5801

«QLEQE;5§_E2£§2, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 205-06.

110i. the following definition: "Erlebte Bede ist
eine:]besondere Art der Wiedergabe von Gedanken, se tener
ausgeSprochenen Worten einer handelnden Person in der
Epik. ... Die inneren Vorgange werden durch die Perspek-
tive nicht des Erzahlers, sondern der sie selbst 'erlebenden'
Person wiedergegeben, jedoch durch die Verwendung der 5-
Person in direktem und dadurch mehr objektif-unpersanlich
erscheinendem Bericht." Gero von Wilpert, Sachwfirterbuch
g2; Literatur, 4..Auflage (Stuttgart, 1964), 1 - .

12William H. McClain, Between Real and Ideal: The
Course of Otto Ludwi 3 Development §§.g_narrative Writer
ZUEapel-fiiII, 1 , 5.

13McClain, 51.
14 . u . . .
Otto Ludwig: Samtliche Werke unter Mitwirkung des

Goethe- und c 1 lerarcEivs, ed. Paul Merker (Mfinchen and
Leipzig, 1912), I, 5—6.. All other citations from Ludwig
in the text are from this edition of his works unless

otherwise noted.

171

 

 

172

qééggfligg,flgg§g, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 501-02.

16"Ludwigs Glaubensbekenntnis als dramatischer
Dichter, sein Vermagen und Streben léfit sich in der,
Behauptung wiederfinden, in der er das Wesen des echten
fur die Buhne bestimmten Dramas im Gegensatz zur Idee
der Lesedramen so umschreibt: ‘Der Hauptteil des ezivischen
Gehaltes eines solchen (namlich eines Bfihnenstfickgg ist sein
theatralischedramatisch-mimischer, die Unmittelbarkeit
seines Ausdruckes, die wirkliche Lebendigkeit seiner.
Bewegung, der Dialog, der wirklich Gesprach ist, die
lebensvolle unmittelbare Natfirlichkeit und Ungesuchtheit
der Charakter (soL), die Sicherheit, mit der es trotz
charakteristischen Details fiberall den richtigen Ton
der leitenden Stimmung vorbereitet und richtig anschlagt
und steigernd festhalt, die besténdige Tétigkeit und
Steigerung der Charaktere bis zum Ends hin, usw.’ Man
sieht, alles Bestimmungen, die mehr auf das Wie der
Darstellung als auf ihr Was gehen." From a IEtter to
Julian Schmidt, January 2EI'1854, quoted in: Harald
Sgfibgewgg, Ludwigngunstschaffen Egg Kunstdenken (Jena,
1 1 , 5.

17zgggis§,flg£§g, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 162.

18Friedrich Bruns, Friedrich Hebbel und Otto Ludwig:
Ein Ver leich ihrer AnsiChten—fiber das Drama, Heb e -

Torso ungen (Berlin-Steglitz, 1915), 13.

19Kurt Adams Ludwi s Theorie des Dramas (Diss.
Greifswald, 1912), 67.

29LE§E§E§.E2£E§. ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 501,

21Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 517.

aaéggyi5§,fl§£gg, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 28.

zéggggig§,flg£§g, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 29.

21""Ge8prédlche Otto Ludwigs mit Josef Lewinsky, 24.~
Juli 1865,” Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 517.

25"Gesprache Otto Ludwigs mit Josef Lewinsky, 1862,"
Ludwigs Werke, ed..Schmidt and Stern, VI, 297.
26Sch6neweg, 10.

27From "Lyriker, Epiker and Dramatiker," Ludwigs Werke,
ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 51-

“ 28"Die Personen soll man fur Menschen halten, sie
mussen sich also doch einigermaBen als Menschen gebarden.n'

 

 

175

From: "Mein Verfahren beim poetischen Schaffen," Ludwigs
Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, VI, 218.

290f. Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, V, 69.
5°03. Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schmidt and Stern, v, 477.

31L 0 o o o o
udwi s Werke ed. Dr. Viktor Schweizer (Leipzig
and Wien, 1598), I,’520.

 

 

FOUR FUNCTIONS OF GESTURE IN LUDWIG'S WORKS

10ttc Ludwi : Samtliche werhe unter Mitwirkung des
Goethe- und SchillerarchiVs, ed} Paul Merker (Munchen
and Leipzig, 1912), I, 7. All other citations from Lud-
wig in the text are from this edition of his works unless
otherwise noted.

2
J.G. Robertson, A History 2; German Literature

(New.York, without date , .
5William H. McClain, Between Real and Ideal: The

Course of Otto Ludwi 's DeveIo ment as a narrative

Writer (Chapel Hill, 1965), 73.
4McClain, 19.

5L . _ . . . .
udw1 s Werke ed. Dr. Viktor Schweizer (Leipzig
and Wien, fi3935, I: 542.

6Ludwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 545.

7McClain, 64.

80f. Rosa Shapire, "Otto Ludwigs ‘Das Fraulein von
Scuderi'," Zeitschrift fur deutschen Unterricht 19 (1905),
650-51.

9Shapire, 651.

1OLudwigs Werke, ed. Schweizer, I, 505.

174

 

 

CHARACTERIZATION AND PERSONIFICATION

1Otto Ludwi : samtliche Werke unter Mitwirkung des
Goethe- und ScHiIlerarcEivs, ed. Paul Merker (Munchen
and Leipzig, 1912), I, 181. All other citations from
Ludwig in the text are from this edition of his works
unless otherwise noted.

2William H. McClain, Between the Real and Ideal:
The Course of Otto Ludwi 's Development gg‘g narrafiive

Writer (058551 HiIl, 19 , 55.

3McClain, 64.

4Of. page 80 of this study.

50:. the following definition: "The Leitmotiv in lit-
erature...may be defined as the element which harmoniously
connects parts of a work which lie far apart, emphasizing
the important relationships that without it would perhaps
be overlooked." Gerrit deJong, Jr., ”Elements of Musicality
in the literary and critical Works of Otto Ludwig" (unpubl.
diss. Stanford University, 1955): 166.

6Oskar Walzel, Gehalt und Gestilt im Kunstwerk des
Dichters (Berlin—NeuEaEeIsberg, 1925), 359.
7de Jong, 169.

8de Jong, 186.

9de Jong, 194-95.
10McClain, 50.

11McOlain, 12.

1%Q§§g_gggwig§_Briefe im Auftrage des Goethe- und
Schillerarchivs, eretEE‘SEhd 1854-1847, ed. Kurt Vogtherr

(Weimar, 1955), 26.
15Fritz Tiemann, "Der Einklang von Natur und Mensch in

der fiuBeren Gestalt der Werke Otto Ludwigs ‘ Otto Ludwig
Kalender, VI (1954), 45. ’

175

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Kurt. Ludwigs Theorie des Dramas. Diss., Greifswald,
1912.

Arminius, Wilhelm. "Otto Ludwig, der Epiker," Eckart, 7
(1913): 318-32.

Atkins, Stuart, "A Note on Fritz Nettenmair," Monatshefte
fur deutschen Unterricht, XXXI (1958), 54 - .

Auerbach, Isidor. Die Eakkabaer von Otto Ludwi : Eine Studie
zur Technik des Dramas. Diss., Fern, 1956.

Aulhorn, Edith. "Zur Gestaltung seelischer Vorgénge in

neuerer Erzahlung," Vom Geiste neuer Literaturforschun :.
Festschrift ffir Oskar EaIzeI, ed. Julius WEEIe aha
ViEtor KIemperer. WiIdparE—Fotsdam, no date.

Bamberg, Felix. "Otto Ludwig," All emei e deutsche Bio a hie,
ed. die historische Gommi881on Bei Her KOniincEen
Akademie der Wissenschaften, XIX, 602-12. Leipzig,

1885.

Bennett, E.K. A Histor of the German Novelle, revised and
continued by H.M. WEIdson. Cambridge, 1965-

Berkhout, A.P. Biedermeier und poetischer Realismus. Diss.,
Amsterdam, 1942.

Betz, Johanna. Otto Ludwi s Verhaltnis g3 den Englandern.
Diss., FranEIurt, 19297'

Bianchi, Lorenzo. Von der Droste bis Lilienéron. Beitré e
zur deutscheg.NoveIIe und EglIEde. LeiPZ1g, 1922.

Blackmur, R.P. Language as Gesture: Essays in Poetgz.

New York, .

Baschenstein, H. "Zum Aufbau von Otto Ludwigs Zwischen
Himmel und Erde," Egpatshefte ffir deutschen Unterricht,

(19317. 343-56}

Bohn, Ursula. Bild und Gebfirde in Adelbert Stifters "Studien"
mit besondererBerfiéksicfitigungder Lesarten. GermanIEOhe

StfidIEEI‘205'11958).

 

176

 

177

Brinkmann, Richard. Wirklichkeit und Illusion: Studien fiber
Gehalt und Grenzen §g§_§§ riffs ReaIismus fur aie
erzfiEIende Dichtung des 15. JaErhunderts. TfiEingen,
1957.

 

 

Bruns, Friedrich. Friedrich Hebbel und Otto Ludwig, Ein
Vergléich ihrer AnsicEten uBer das Drama. e beI-

TOrsEhungen, 5 (19159.

Bulthaupt, Heinrich. Dramaturgie des SchauSpiels. Oldenburg
and Leipzig, 1908.

 

Conrad, Hermann. "Otto Ludwigs dramatische Kunst,” PreuBische
Jahrbficher, 96 (1899), 452-60.

Critchley, Macdonald. The Language 2; Gesture. London, 1939.

Darwin, Charles. The Expressions g£_the Emotion§_ig_Man and
Animals. Chicago, 1965.

 

deJong, Gerrit. "Elements of husicality in the Literary and,
Critical Works of Otto Ludwig.“ UnpubI. diss., Stanford
University, 1955.

Emonts, Maria. "Zur Technik der Psychologie in der Novella,"
Germanisch-rOmaniSche Monatsschrift, XII (1924), 528-40.

Engel,7JéJ. Ideen £2 einer Mimik I_und II, Berlin, 1785 and
1 8 . __'

Eppmann, Mathilde. "Gottfried Keller: FKleider machen Leute'
(Versuch einer Stilbetrachtung)," Der Deutschunterricht,
5, Heft 1 (1955), 108-11.

 

Fechter, Paul. Das europaische Drama: Geist und KuItur 1g
Spiegel des Theaters, 5 voIS.MannEeim, 1956357.

 

Feierfeil, Georg. Otto Ludwi s Lehre von der tragischen
Schuld. 52. JaHresEericEt des K.K. Staatsgymnasiums
in Reichenberg, 1904.

Fischer, Bernhard. "Volksgestalten und Volkstfimliches bei
Otto Ludwig," Otto Ludwig Kalender, III (1951).

Fischer, Ottokar. "%imis§he Studien zu Heingich von Kleist,"
Eu horion 15 1908 . 488-510 and 716- 5 Euphorion
W: 62-92, 412-25,, and 747-72. ’

Flemming, Willi. "Otto Ludwigs 'Erberster'," Zeitschrift ffir
Deutschkunde, 54 (1920), 198-205. """

Freytag, Gustav. "Otto Ludwig," Gesammelte Werke, XVI, 20-67.
Leipzig, 1887.

 

178
Geiger, Ludwig. "Otto Ludwig," Westermanns Monatshefte, 75
(1894), 895f.

Gapfert, Herbert Georg. "Otto Ludwig Bibliographic,” Otto
Ludwig Kalender, III(1951), 92-107.

Greiner, W. Die ersten Novellen Otto Ludwigs 29d ihr
Verhaltfiis £3 Lfidwig Tieck. Diss., Jena, 1905.

 

 

Habicht, Werner. Die Gebarde in englischen Dichtungen des
Mittelalters. AbhandIung—Eer Bayrigchen Akademie,
PhiloSOpEisch-historische Klasse 46. Mfinchen, 1959.

 

Hartmann, Georg. "Die Bfihnengesten in Shakespearel Dramen
als Ausdruck von Gemfithsbewegungen. Ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte der Schauspieltechnik im Elisabethanischen
Zeitalter," Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespearegesell-
schaft, Neue FoIge I (792E), 41-61.

Hayes, F.C. "Should we have a Dictionary of Gesture?,"
Southern Folklore Quarterly, 4 (1940), 259-45.

Hellermann Fritz. Mienenspfiel und Gebardenspiel i3 Meyers
Novellen. Diss., GIeBen, 1912.

 

Hirt, Ernst. Das Formgesetz der e ischen, dramatischen und
lyrischen Dichtung. Diss., Zurich, 1926}

Hohlfeld, A.R. "The Life of Otto Ludwig," German Classics
of the 1 th and 20th Centuries, ed. Kuno FEanke, IX.
new Yor , 91E.

Holl, Karl. "Otto Ludwi Probleme," Germanisch-romanische
Honatsschrift, VI %1914), 16-51 and 87-100.

 

Isch, Werner. Ludwigs Erberster. Diss., Bern, 1915.

Kaufmann, F.w. "Zum Problem der Arbeit bei Otto Ludwig,
Gerhart Hauptmann und Georg Kaiser," Monatshefte ffir
deutschen Unterricht, XL (1948), 521-27.

Klages, L. gggndlegung der Wissenschaft vom Ausdruck.
Leipzig, 1 .

Klein, Johannes. Geschichte der deutschen Novelle von Goethe
bis zur Gggenwart. WieSEaaen, 1960.

Kley, Karl. "Eisfeld in Otto Ludwigs Werken " Otto Ludwig
Kalender, x (1958), 75-85. ’ "‘“

. "Otto Ludwig -- Erinnerungen in Eisfeld,"
’CttoILudwig Kalender, I (1929), 55-57.

 

 

 

179

Kley, Karl. "'Zwischen Himmel und Erde‘ und die Heimat-
erlebnisse Otto Ludwigs," Otto Ludwig Kalender, XII
(1940) 9 59-68.

Koch, Franz. Idee und Wirklichkeit: Deutsche Dichtun
zwischen Romantik und NaturEIismus. DfisseIEorf, 1956.

Kostowa, Wera. Die Bewegungen und Haltungen des menschlichen
Kaggers lg C.F. 'ezers Erzahlungen.Diss., TuEIngen,

Kretzschmar, August. "Erinnerungen an einen Jfingstgeschiedenen,"
Otto Ludwig Kalender, IV (1952), 7-14.

Leuschner-Meschke, Waltraut. "Aus Otto Ludwigs Kunstauf-
fassung," Torte und Nerte, Bruno Markwardt zum 60.
Geburtstag, ed} Gustav Erdmann anHFAIIEEE—EIEESEEEdt.
Berlin, 1961.

Lillyman, William J. "The Function of the Leitmotifs in
Otto Ludwig‘s Zwischen Himmel und‘Erde,It Monatshefte
ffir deutschen Unterricht, 57 (1965), 60-68.

a . Otto Ludwigjs ZWischen Himmel und Erde:
A.Stu 2; its artIStic Structure. The Hague and Paris,

19 .

Lohre, Heinrich. Otto Ludwig und Charles Dickens..Archiv ffir
das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, CXXIV,
Heft 172 (191C).

 

 

. Otto Ludwi s Romanstudien und seine
ErzéhlungSpraxis. WissenscEaItIicEe BeiIage zum Jahres-
bericht der 10. Realschule zu Berlin, 1915.

Ludwig Otto. Otto Ludwigs Werke i3 sechs Banden ed. Adolf
Bartels. Leipz1g, no date. ’

. Ludwigs flerke mit einem Lebensbild versehen,
ed. Arthur Eloesser. Berlin and Leipzig, 1908.

 

. Otto Ludwi : Sémtliche Werke unter Mitwirkung
des Goethe- und Schillerarcfiivs, ed. Paul Merker (with
assistance from H.H- Borcherdt and Expeditus Schmidt).
Mfinchen and Leipzig, 1912.

 

 

 

. Otto Ludwi s_gesammelte Schriften. ed. Erich
Schmidt aha IdoIT Stern. Leipzig, . ’

 

- . Ludwi s Werke, ed. Dr. Viktor Schweizer.
‘LeipZig'aEd Wien,_1898}

Lfider, Fritz. Die epischen Werke Otto Ludwi s und ihr Ver-

haltnis 22 Charles Dickens. Diss., rei swaId, 1911.

 

 

 

180

McClain, William H. Between Real and Ideal: The Course 2;
Otto Ludwi 9s Development g§,§,narrative Writer.
CHapeI HiIl, 1965.

. "Otto Ludwig and the Problem of S annun
inFictionj“ Modern Language Notes, 80 (1965), 659:57.

 

 

Markwardt, Bruno. Geschichte der dentschen Poetik, IV.
Berlin, 1959.

Martini, Fritz. Deutsche Literatur gm bfirgerlichen Realismus,
1848-1898. Stuttgart, 1962.

. "Zur Theorie des Romans im deutschen Realismus,“
Deutsche Romantheorien: Beitrage £2 einer historischen
Foetik des Rbmans in Deutschland, ed. ReinhOLd Grimm.
FranEIurt, 1968.

 

 

 

 

Mell, Max; "fiber das Drama Otto Ludwigs," Die Schaubfihne, I
(1907). 85-89. '_"

Meschke, Waltraut. "Uber Ctto Ludwigs Schaffensweise," Bei-
tra e zur deutschen und nordischen Literatur, 11 (1958),
)- 8.

Meyer, Albert. Die asthetischen Anschauungen Otto Ludwigg.
Winterthur, 1957.

Meyer, Richard M. Literaturgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts.
Berlin, 1912.

"Otto Ludwigs Shakespearestudien," Jahrbuch
der deutSEhen Shakespearegesellschaft, 57 (1901):—58:857’

 

 

Mielke, Gerda. "Englische Literatur," Reallexikon der deutschen
Literaturgeschichte ed. Paul Merker and WOIfgang
Stammler. Berlin, 1928-29.

 

Mis, Léon. Les oeuvres dramatiques d'Otto Ludwig. Lille, 1925.

Muller-Ems, Richard. Otto Ludwigs Erzahlungskunst. Berlin,
1905.

. Zur Erzahlungskuhst Otto Ludwigs.
Diss., Tfibingen, 1904.

Nehring, Wolfgang. "Die GebérdenSprache E.T.A. Hoffmanns,"
Zeitschrift ffir deutsche Philologie, 89 (1970), 207-21.

NuBberger, M. "Psychologischer Roman," Reallexikon der
deutschen Literaturgeschichte, ed. PauI MerEer and
WoIfgang Stammler. Berlin, 1928-29.

 

 

 

181

Obmann, Karl. Der Bericht lg deutschen Drama. GieBener
Beitrage zur deutScEen PhiIOIogie, 12 (19 .

 

Peter, Hans Armin. Thomas kann und seine epische charakteri-
sierungskunst. Diss., Bern, 1929.

Petsch, Robert. "Richard Wagner, Friedrich Hebbel, Otto
Ludwig und.das deutsche Drama des 19. Jahrhunderts,“
Zeitschrift ffir den deutschen Unterricht, XXVII (1915)'

 

Plessner, Helmuth. Lachen und Weinen: Eine Untersuchun nach
den Grenzen mensEhIichen VerEaItens. Bern,_1955.

 

Pongs, Hermann. Das Bdld in der Dichtung I, Versuch einer
Morphologie der metgfifiorischen Formen. MarBurg, 1927.

 

 

. Das Bild in der Dichtung II, Voruntersuchungen
zum Sngol. Narburg, 1967.

 

 

 

Poster, Hermann D. ”German Literature of the 19th Century:
1850-1880: A Current Bibliography “ Germanic Review,
xxx: (1956), 115-47, XXXIII (1958), W- ,
(1959). 124-50, and XXXIX (1964), 40-67.

Raphael, Gaston. Otto Ludwig, ses théories gt ses oeuvres
romanesques. Diss., Paris, 1919.

 

Reuter, Hans Heinrich. "UmriB eines ‘mittleren‘ Erzahlers:
Anmerkungen zu Werk und Wirkung Otto Ludwigs ” Jahrbuch
der deutschen Schillergesellschaft, 12 (1968), 518358?"

Riemann, Dr. Robert, Goethes Romantechnik. Leipzig, 1902.

Robertson, J.G. A_Historv 2; German Literature. New York,
no date.

Schapire, Rosa. "Otto Ludwigs 'Das Frfiulein von Scuderi',”
Zeitschrift ffir deutschen Unterricht, 19 (1905),
5.

Schauer, H. "Bfirgerliches Drama," Reallexikon der deutschen
Literaturgeschichte, ed. Paul’Merker and WoIfgang
Stammler.Berlin, 1928-29.

 

 

Schifferdecker, Hans Joachim. Das mimische Element in Goethes
Dramen. Berlin, 1928.

Schmid, Eduard E. "Uber die Gebarde in Ballade, Novelle und
Drama," Wirkendes Wort, X (1960), 258-48.

Schmidt, Julian. Geschichte der deutschen Literatur von

 

 

182

Leibnitg bis auf Eggere Zeit, V. Berlin, 1896.

Schmidt, Wilhelm. Otto Ludwigs "Makkabaer," Eine Untersuchun
der TragOdie mit—Béfintzung»dEr‘handschriIEIicHen
VOrarbeiten des DIEhters und—mit einem Aqulick 32;
Zacharias WernerSITMuttEr der MakEaBae .II 5183.,
Leipzig, 1907.

 

SchOneweg, Harald. Ludwigs Kunstschaffen und Kunstdenken.
Jena, 1941.

Sengle, Friedrich. "Der Romanbegriff in der ersten Halfte
des 19. Jahrhunderts," Deutsche Romantheorien: BE;-
tra e zu einer historisEhen Poetik'ggg Romans in
DeutscHIand, ed. Reinhold Grimm. Frankfurt, 1968.

 

Silz, Walter. "The Kinship of Heinrich von Kleist and Otto
LUdWig," PODIOLOAO, XI) (1925), 863-75.

. "Nature in the Tales of Otto Ludwig," Modern
Language Notes, XLI (1927), 8-15.

 

. "Otto Ludwig and the Process of poetic Creation,"
P.M1L.A., LX (1945), 860-78.

 

 

 

. Realism and Realit : Studies in the German
Novella OITPoetingeaIism, EniversityET'Nort
CaroIina—Studies infGerman Language and—Literature,

11 (1955).

Spiero, Heinrich. Geschichte des deutschen Romans. Berlin,

1950.

Stern, Adolf. Otto Ludwig, ein Dichterleben, 2.Auflage.
Leipzig, 1906.

StOcker, Jakob. Otto Ludwig und sein Stil ig.Erbf0rster.
Diss., Marburg, 1 .

Tiemann, Fritz. "Der Einklang von Natur und Mensch in der
auBeren Gestalt der Werke Otto Ludwigs " Otto Ludwig
Kalender V (1955), 54-65, and VI (1954 , 59:55.

Treitschke, Heinrich von. "Otto Ludwig," Historische und
politische Aufsatze, I, 6. Auflage. Leipzig, 1905.

Urtel, H. Beitrage zur portugiesischen Volkskunde; Abschnitt:
Zur GebfirdenSprache, Abhéndlungen aus dem Gebiet der
AuslandSkunde der—Hamburgischen Universitét, 27 (1928).

Vlasimsky, J. "Mimische Studien zu Storm," Eu horion, XVII
(1910). 656-50 and XVIII (1911), 150-5 , -. .

 

185

Vogtherr, Kurt. "Otto Ludwig Bibliographic II,‘ Otto
Ludwig Kalender, IV (1952), 109-14.

. Otto Ludwigs Briefs im Auftrag des Goethe-
und SchiIlerarchIVS, erster Band 1854-1847. Veimar,
1955.

Walzel, Oskar. Das Wort-Kunstwerk. Leipzig, 1926.

 

. Deutsche Dichtung von Gettsohed bis zur
Gegenwart, II. WiIdpark-Potsdam, 195C.

 

 

. Gehalt und Gestalt lg Kunstwerk des Dichters.
Berlin-Neubabelgberg, 1925.

. "Objektive Erzahlun ," Germanisch-gomanische
Monatsschrift, VII (1915-1919 , 161277}

 

Weigand, H.J. "Zu Otto Ludwigs Zwischen Himmel und Erde,”
Fahrten und Funde, Aufsatze zur deutSOEen LIteratur,
ed. A. Leslie WIllson.IBern and Munchen, 1 .

 

 

Wespi, Hans-Ulrich. Der Geste als Ausdrucksform und ihre
Beziehungen zur’Rede, Darstellung anhand vOE_Eeis ielen
aus g2; franzfisischén Literatur zwiscEen 19§O‘gg§ 19EE.
BIEe., Zfirich, 1949.

 

 

 

Wiegand, Julius. "Die Gesten in der deutschen erzfihlenden
Dichtung," Neue Jahrbficher ffir das klassische Altertum,
Geschichte Egg deutsche Literatur, EO (1917), .

 

 

Wieschemann, Heinrich. Das Ethos in den Romanen Otto Ludwigs.
Diss., Mfinster, 1956. ’1

Wilpert, Gero von. Sacthrterbuch_der Literatur, 4. Auflage.
Stuttgart, 1964.

Wfinschner-Eisenach, Siegfried. "Otto Ludwigs Jugendnovellen,"
Otto Ludwig Kalender, VIII (1956), 45-54.

 

Zons, Franz Bernhard. Auffassung der Gebarde gg_der mittel-
hochdeutschen Epileiss., Mfinster, 1955.

 

 

CH'IGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

I III III III IIII IIII

I |