The Technique of a "Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex" in "Lotte in Weimar"Author(s): Keith DicksonSource: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Jul., 1964), pp. 413-424Published by: Modern Humanities Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3721179 .

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Mod. Lang. Rev. (1964), LIX, 413-24 413 Printed in Great Britain

'THE TECHNIQUE OF A 'MUSTKALTSCH-IDEELLER BEZIEHUNGSKOMPLEX' IN 'LOTTE IN WEIMAR'

'Was ich machte, meine Kunstarbeiten, urteilt dariiber wie ihr wollt and miiBt, aber gute Partituren waren sie immer.'l This much-quoted statement from the problematical Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen has given rise to a great deal of controversy and speculation as to the precise relationship of Thomas Mann's art to the world of music. Leaving aside the rhapsodic prose commentaries on specific musical performances which form highlights in Buddenbrooks, Tristan, Luischen, and Das Wunderkind, as well as the detailed and often formidably technical analyses of musical compositions strewn liberally throughout Dr Faustus, in what sense is Thomas Mann's own individual style comparable to the

genius of music? H. A. Basilius has objected that most critics restrict their

appraisal of Thomas Mann's epic-musical mode of expression solely to a considera- tion of his use of the leitmotif. Despite his insistence on musical parallels to the extent of a somewhat arbitrarily chosen 'principal theme' and 'subordinate theme' and a host of 'codettas' in his analysis of Tonio Kr6ger, his detailed com-

parison of the structure of that early work with the musical complexity of com-

pound binary form is extremely cogent.2 Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that when Mann himself speaks of the 'music' of his work he is not thinking primarily of these formal aspects, nor of the lyrical effects of skilfully manipulated vowel- consonant juxtapositions to which Basilius also draws attention, but to the use of the leitmotif. His familiar description of the novel in terms of the symphony is specifically related to his own individual use of this literary-musical device, for which Mann acknowledges his debt to both Homer and Wagner: 'Der Roman war mir immer eine Symphonie, ein Werk der Kontrapunktik, ein Themengewebe, worin die Ideen die Rolle musikalischer Motive spielen.'3 He goes straight on to a consideration of his own leitmotif, which is no longer a purely mechanical device

('naturalistisch-charakterisierend') but an allusive thematic formula which is

applied 'in der symbolischen Art der Musik'. He had made almost the same state- ment in his 'LebensabriB 1930' with reference to Tonio Kr6ger: Vor allem war darin das sprachliche 'Leitmotiv' nicht mehr wie noch in Buddenbrooks bloB physiognomisch-naturalistisch gehandhabt, sondern hatte eine ideelle Gefuhls- transparenz gewonnen, die es entmechanisierte und ins Musikalische hob.4

The eternal yellow side-whiskers of Herr Griinlich, Spinell's decayed teeth, Hieronymus's sunken cheeks, in themselves little more than parodistic identification-

marks, have become in the later works highly charged 'Gefiihlstrager' capable of

connoting by means of cumulative association any number of emotional contexts. Thus the 'Zigeunermotiv' in Tonio Kr6ger ('Wir sind doch keine Zigeuner im

1 Gesammelte Werke, xII, 319. (All subsequent refs. to Thomas Mann are from this edition.) The fullest discussion of Mann's musical ideas to date is given by Martin Gregor in his book Wagner und kein Ende (Bayreuth, 1958).

2 H. A. Basilius, 'Thomas Mann's use of musical structures and techniques in Tonio Kroger', Germanic Review, xix (1944), 284-308.

3 xi, 611. Thomas Mann repeated almost these exact words in an interview with J. G. Brennan in 1941; cf. J. G. Brennan, Thomas Mann's World (1942).

4 xi, 116.

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414 ' Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in 'Lotte in Weimar'

griinen Wagen'): by a process of almost unconscious association with adjectives in its first context, it is charged with connotations of 'liederlich', 'gleichgiltig', 'fahrlissig', 'widerspenstig' and 'sonderlich' and characterizes Tonio's ambivalent attitude towards his parents. It is directly associated with the equally repetitive 'Kroger-motiv' ('Konsul Kroger, aus der Familie der Kroger') which is in its turn charged with associations of 'wiirdig', 'respektabel', 'anstandig', 'solide' and 'mittelmaBig'. This is later transferred to the conversation with Hans Hansen, and interprets Tonio's adolescent love for this successful, uncomplicated playmate. It occurs in connexion with Hans's refusal to use the name 'Tonio' on the grounds that it is exotic and disreputable. The 'Kroger-motiv' is repeated. From this point on almost any reference to the hero's name, 'dieser aus Nord und Siid zusammengesetzte Klang', will evoke all the emotional overtones already associ- ated with the double Zigeuner-Kroger-motiv. The 'development section' of the book puts the whole range of motifs into a more intellectual context in the discus- sion with Lisaweta Iwanowna, and at the very end of the Novelle, in Tonio's letter to her, the entire complex of associations, Zigeuner-Kroger-Father-Mother-Hans- Inge-Lisaweta-'Fixativ und Friihlingsaroma', is recalled by the single word 'Bohemien'. The emotional chain-reaction touched off in such a complex of associations by any one part of it in the subtlest variations has been aptly des- cribed by J. G. Brennan as 'musical synecdoche'. Mann's own term for it was 'musikalisch -ideeller Beziehungskomplex'. It is this aspect of the leitmotif's function which I find most rewarding in a study of Thomas Mann's style, in particular that of the later works.

Mann's own fondness for the term 'Beziehung' is well known. In his 'Lebens- abriB' he says: 'Ich liebe dies Wort: Beziehung. Mit seinem Begriff fallt mit der des Bedeutenden, so relativ er immer auch zu verstehen sei, durchaus zusammen. Das Bedeutende, das ist nichts weiter als das Beziehungsreiche.' Like Goethe, Thomas Mann is continually aware of the necessity to see things whole, to interpret them in their entirety, to relate them to their proper context. This explains in great measure his use of irony. This is not for him a mere literary 'gimmick', it is an intimate expression of his most personal 'Weltanschauung' . With its associative richness the leitmotif, in Mann's own sense of the term, is the perfect instrument with which to communicate 'das Beziehungsreiche'.

It has often been objected that the written or spoken word is by its very nature incapable of any genuinely contrapuntal effect, and cannot justifiably be called 'musical' on these grounds. Ronald Peacock, for instance, in his excellent study of the leitmotif in Mann's earlier work, has written:

Bei dem Prosaepiker steht erstens nicht Punkt contra Punkt, sondern Punkt nach Punkt, sodal3 man erst mit der Phantasie oder gar Vernunft die abstrakten kontra- punktischen Linien konstruieren muB. Das sinnliche Nebeneinander der Musik (Zusammenklingen) muB der Epiker durch ein schnelles Nacheinander ersetzen.2

This difficulty seems to me to be adequately overcome by the writer's own proviso 'erst mit der Phantasie oder gar Vernunft'. This is surely exactly how prose, and still more often poetry, is capable of attaining the same emotional effect as music. The tag 'Wir sind doch keine Zigeuner im griinen Wagen' cannot, of course, be read simultaneously with 'Der Sohn Konsul Krogers, aus der Familie der Kroger'

2 R. Peacock, Das Leitmotiv bei Thomas Mann (Bern, 1934). 1 xI, 124.

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KEITH DICKSON

in the same way as the Preislied-Meistersingermarsch-, and Zunftmotive sound to- gether in perfect three-part counterpoint in the overture to 'Die Meistersinger'. Nevertheless, every reader is made to sense the irony inherent in both, and finds that each will inevitably suggest the other. Moreover, this process of emotive suggestion is far more characteristic of music as a whole than true counterpoint. The whole concept of compound binary form is that two contrasted themes are explored in relationship to one another, so that each gains from juxtaposition with the other. Oskar Walzel wrote: 'Das Leitmotiv ist tatsachlich ein rein formales Mittel, den Inhalt der Worte zu steigern, ihm etwas hinzuzufiigen. 1 What is added is precisely this stimulation of the imagination and intelligence, this evoking of past memories, the pointing forwards and backwards at the same time. Herder made much the same point in his criticism of Lessing's 'Laokoon'. Lessing's celebrated distinction between the plastic arts and poetry is based on the same concept that the spoken word represents a succession of sounds in time, not simultaneous images in space. Herder objected that successive sounds are not the essence of poetry, which relies upon the evocative effect of ideas that are not confined to the sounds. He speaks of 'Musik der Seele' and 'Melodie der Vor- stellungen': Und dies ist die Kraft, die dem Inneren der Worte anklebt, die Zauberkraft, die auf meine Seele durch die Phantasie und Erinnerung wirkt; sie ist das Wesen der Poesie.2 This is equally applicable to what Mann chose to call his 'musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex '.3

There is an undignified but interesting parallel to this technique in the so-called 'catch-phrase' of modern radio and television. Audiences of the 1940's were mysteriously and invariably reduced to paroxysms of laughter by the opening words of a quaint old 'char' to her boss, Tommy Handley: 'Can I do you now, sir?' There was nothing even remotely funny about the words in themselves; they relied for their comic effect entirely upon the association between this isolated repetitive formula and the hundreds of comic situations in which it had been used before. The audience would have found it difficult to say why they had laughed, for as likely as not they had forgotten the conscious details of previous shows, and only the subconscious level of the mind registered their effect.

The relevance of this to Thomas Mann's technique can be seen from an example of his use of leitmotif in the later work, where a repetitive symbolic formula has precisely this effect of subconscious memory persistence on the character of whom it is used.

In Lotte in Weimar the central theme, though not immediately apparent, is that of 'gelauterte Lebenswiederholung'. Lotte comes to Weimar in September 1816 ostensibly to visit her married sister Amalie, but in fact to re-visit the now famous Goethe, grand patriarch of Weimar, formerly the unbalanced and irresponsible young Stirmer-und-Dringer who had shaken all Europe with the story of his love for her. The meeting is embarrassing, even painful, for Lotte has to learn that she no longer exists as a living personality in Goethe's life. (On hearing of her visit from his son he had immediately turned the conversation to mineralogy!) She has become Werther's Lotte; Goethe's Lotte is no more. Having sublimated his

1 0. Walzel, Das Wortkunstwerk (1926), pp. 152-81. s Herder, Sdmtliche Werke, ed. B. Suphan (Berlin, 1878), p. 139. 3 XI, 611.

415

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416 'Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in 'Lotte in Weimar'

passion for her creatively, Goethe has moved on to new experiences. But the whole of his life is a complex series of repetitions, and the Werther-episode is re-lived in his love for Marianne von Willemer. She plays exactly the same part in Goethe's life, and precipitates the same spiritual crisis as Lotte Kestner had done forty years before. The Werther-novel has become the Divan-cycle. This is not, however, mere repetition; it is 'Steigerung'.

One of the many motifs which Mann uses to illuminate Goethe's most intimate thoughts, is that of the 'Himbeer-KuB'. It first occurs when Lotte catches herself out thinking of an immortal scene from her past, Goethe and his Ossian, the kiss in the drawing-room. But, no, that was not how it happened. In reality-'die kleine Wirklichkeit'-he had stolen that kiss in the garden 'halb Wirbelwind, halb Melancholicus beim Himbeersammeln in der Sonne'.1 This scene in the garden thus already stands for two things at once: it is true reality as opposed to the 'Vagabundenland' of Goethe's poetic imagination, and associated with an illicit kiss which broke into her peaceful existence as from another world, an unreal and irresponsible kiss, the kiss of poetry. Lotte deliberately blurs the edge between reality and imagination and as by a slip she even speaks of Kestner as 'Albert', so much more real than life does the Werther-episode seem to her, in its literary guise.

The next occurrence of the motif within this ' Beziehungskomplex' is during the inner monologue. Goethe is reminiscing about his amour with Marianne. Their first kiss. A new paragraph begins unexpectedly with the words 'Himbeeren, auf denen die Sonne steht. Erwarmter Fruchtgeruch, unverkennbar. Kochen sie ein im Hause? Ist doch die Jahreszeit nicht. Ich hatts in der Nase.'2 It is just possible that the smell of raspberries is real, for a couple of days later a Himbeercreme forms part of the lunch in honour of Charlotte, but it is much more likely that this olfactory image is purely subjective. His thoughts have dwelt on Marianne the new inspiration, the new Lotte, and on their first kiss. Subconsciously the whole complex of ideas which for Goethe link the two episodes in his life recalls that scene in the garden amongst the raspberries, forty years earlier, a scene which he was to transform into the poetry of 'Werther'. Unbidden the image returns, evoking all its old associations: 'Ist die Liebe das Beste im Leben, so in der Lieb das Beste der KuB-Poesie der Liebe.' The kiss is purest art, for it represents the passion and beauty of love without its burdens and responsibilities. 'Auch ists der Unter- schied von Kunst und Leben, denn die Fiille des Lebens, der Menschheit, das Kindermachen ist nicht Sache der Poesie, des geistigen Kusses auf die Himbeer- lippen der Welt.....' He is not conscious himself of the origin of his own poetic image 'Himbeerlippen' nor does he realize, like the reader, why his thoughts now immediately turn to Lotte. Presently he crystallizes the whole of his poetic think- ing in a direct comparison between 'Werther' and the 'Divan '-both sublimations of an illicit passion. 'Divan und Werther sind ja Geschwister noch mehr, besser gesagt: dasselbe aufungleichen Stufen, Steigerung, gelduterte Lebenswiederholung.' Twice in the course of this monologue Goethe makes the same 'slip' as Lotte, using the name Albert, only this time, of course, with reference to Johann von Willemer. He too blurs the distinction between 'Dichtung' and 'Wahrheit' but

1 II, 390. The psycho-analytic aspects of this motif are discussed by Joyce Crick in her article 'Psycho-analytic elements in Lotte in Weimar', Lit. and Psych. x, no. 3.

2 , 647.

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KEITH DICKSON 417

not because, like Lotte, he resents the difference between the two: for him they are one and the same.

The Himbeermotiv appears twice more. The first re-appearance is by no means obvious. The dessert-course has been served at Goethe's rather stiffly formal luncheon party. It is Himbeercreme. The patriarchal monologue continues un- abated, and this takes the form of a saucy little anecdote which strikes Lotte as in distinctly bad taste; it relates the eccentric behaviour of a young man who left the condensed imprint of a kiss on the glass frame of a portrait in the Weimar gallery. This kiss, like Goethe's with Lotte and Marianne, is totally unconcerned with realities, hence its unconscious association once more with the 'Himbeer- motiv'. There is no open reference to the nexus of ideas suggested by the image: Goethe simply bursts out with an impetuous 'Ach! Ich muB Sie was erzahlen'.l Finally, Lotte alludes to this unsavoury tale herself in the imaginary meeting with Goethe in his carriage at the end. Goethe at once sees Lotte's true feelings, even though she scarcely admits them to herself-a trait she shares with most of the other characters in the novel. She is resentful of Goethe's treatment of her, resent- ful of the difference between Werther and Goethe, between the Lotte of fiction and Charlotte Kestner, nee Buff, mother of two children. Lotte blushes to hear the indelicate truth: 'Das hab' ich nicht horen wollen und werde so rot dabei wie bei der Geschichte, die Sie zur Himbeercreme erzahlten. '2 She still pretends that she has nothing to forgive. Goethe is the universally admired. Thus once again the association of the two main subordinate themes in the work, which all the sub- sidiary characters develop one way or another, is evoked by reference to the delicate Himbeermotiv. Lotte's admiration of the great poet, her resentment of his attitude, and the theme into which they both fit so that their discords are resolved to form part of a greater harmony, Goethe's 'Steigerung'-all are present in this one evocative image.

Lotte in Weimar is in fact altogether rich in this kind of 'Beziehungskomplex' and the fact that all the constituent elements, leitmotifs, symbols, integral quota- tions3 and references to Goethe's writings, are of the warp and woof of Goethe's own life and work, makes this remarkable biographical study a very fertile field of investigation into Thomas Mann's use of this particular technique.

There is no dearth of motifs of the kind which Mann characterized as 'physiog- nomisch-naturalistisch' and which abound in the earlier work, but their use shows quite clearly the tendency of the maturer work to fit them into a wider complex of ideas. Linguistic parody is very common. The malapropisms of Frau Stohr, the earthy Bavarian dialect of Permaneder and the refined distortions of Sesemi Weichbrodt are matched in Lotte by the varying shades of Saxon dialect in Mager and Adele Schopenhauer, the strong Alemannic of 'Kunscht-Meyer' and Goethe's own Frankfurt accent. These last two examples reveal a more subtle application than the others. We first learn of Meyer's accent from Riemer, who clearly has a chip on his shoulder about the treatment he has received from Goethe. Riemer is undisguisably jealous of Goethe's apparent affection for both Meyer and Zelter and speaks slightingly of them in Lotte's presence. The reference to 'Kunscht- Meyer' therefore serves to illustrate the 'maulende Zug'4 that Lotte detects in

1 I, 739. 2 II, 760. 3 Cf. Herman Meyer, Integrative Zitierkunst in 'Lotte in Weimar', Wdchter und Hiiter (Yale,

1957). 4 P. 429; cf. pp. 704, 709, etc. For 'maulen', cf. pp. 404, 731, 763.

27 M.L R. LIX

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418 ' Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in 'Lotte in Weimar'

Riemer's manner, and when we finally meet Meyer at the luncheon party in chapter 8 the repeated references to his accent recall Riemer's resentment. In the case of Goethe's dialect there is a similar connexion with the important theme of resentment, and again through Riemer. There is an unmistakable glee in the secretary's pedantic comments on Goethe's use of impure rhyme in his work, such as 'zeigen' and 'weichen' which appears to Riemer's resentful spirit as a chink in the armour of the otherwise unassailable maestro.1 The other secretary John, whom Goethe disliked, makes a very similar objection in his proposed revision of the line rhyming 'Griechen' with 'besiegen'. This calls forth a variation of Goethe's famous aphorism 'Der Bar brummt, wie's Brauch seiner Hohle'.2 This linguistic trait is representative of Goethe's loyalty to his 'biirgerlich' Frankfurt origins- a feature which Mann stresses again and again in the various Goethe-essays. It therefore serves to illuminate one of the main themes of the book: the difference between the Goethe of 1774 and the Goethe of 1816. 'Des Lebens ernstes Fiihren' -very largely his paternal heritage-has succeeded in exercising the vital control over the creative but inimical demonic urge which he knows as a poet; it enables him to undergo the ceaseless and fruitful 'Steigerung' of his personality, and execute unscathed his 'Messertanz der Kunst'. Adrian Leverkiihn continues to write music of Kaisersaschern long after he has left home; Goethe remains a child of Frankfurt, as Thomas Mann of Liibeck.

Goethe was fond of the word 'Personchen' which he applied to his son's bride- to-be, Ottilie von Pogwisch. He only uses it on one single occasion himself, in the course of his monologue, but like so many other motifs, the emotional associations have been carefully prepared by previous contexts. Lotte learns the expression from Adele,3 and uses it in her conversation with August. She imagines she has heard August use it, and in her confusion apologizes for the word by ascribing it to him! There are a dozen references in all, most of them occurring in rapid suc- cession in the two dialogues with Adele and August. They transfer Adele's resent- ment at Goethe's tyrannous treatment of his son and Ottilie, to Lotte. She feels, rightly, that Ottilie is more the father's choice than the son's, that even in his marriage August is going to present the pale reflexion of a greater father, as in all other matters. Like Riemer and Lotte herself, he allows himself to be used as a means to an end and has to sacrifice his 'Selbstheit'. Lotte feels an instinctive sympathy with these other victims of Goethe's tyranny; she is 'ganz solidarisch mit dem Personchen'. The use of the words 'solidarisch' and 'Opfer' in immediate juxtaposition with the 'Personchen' motif, bring it into an involuntary association with the whole complex of ideas revolving around the thinly disguised resentment of Goethe's admirers, and more especially with the theme of sacrifice. Thus when Goethe finally uses the word himself the foregoing dialogues between his various accusers are recalled involuntarily and form a subtle and eloquent commentary on his own thought, even though there is no other speaker present.4 Finally, Lotte herself brings it into line with the Opfer-theme in the carriage-scene and like all the other discords of this Goethe-music it is resolved in the poignant image of the butterfly from 'Selige Sehnsucht'.5

One of Thomas Mann's most frequently employed motifs in the earlier work, particularly memorable in Tonio Kroger, is the cumulative reference to his charac-

1 P. 433. 4 P. 654.

2 P. 675. 5 P. 763.

3 P. 502; cf. p. 614.

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KEITH DICKSON

ters' eyes. 'Die Blauaugigen' becomes in Tonio Krbger a perfectly intelligible concept in its own right, by association with the artist-burgher conflict which forms the principal theme. In Lotte there are independent references to Riemer's 'glotzende Augen', Adele's and Rose Cuzzle's squint, and even to Mager's 'rotliche Augen' but the main emphasis is on the contrast between the blue eyes of Lotte, resolute representative of the Biirgertum, and the dark eyes of Goethe, the artist. At a very early stage Lotte refers to the dark eyes of her literary counterpart. Goethe may have taken this trait from her sister Dorthel, but even Lotte admits it is more likely to be a reflexion of his passion for the dark-eyed Maximiliane von la Roche. From this point on almost any reference to blue eyes or dark eyes will tend to evoke a feeling of Lotte's resentment that there is a marked difference between the Charlotte Buff of Wetzlar, now mother of eleven children, and the Lotte of literature. She is jealous of any other pretender to her niche 'im Dome der Menschheit'. It is the difference between art and life, poetry and truth. When Lotte speaks of Goethe's 'heillosen Vermischung von Dichtung und Wahrheit' her daughter comments astutely 'Von schwarzen und blauen Augen '.1 So this physical feature too takes on the wider function of recalling a major theme by its merest repetition: here the theme of resentment. Goethe's own eyes are brown, sometimes almost black, and close-set, and Riemer sets the motif in its associative context with the words 'Aber zwei Augen, meine Teuerste, ob sie nun ndher oder weiter beieinander liegen, ergeben einen Blick,... es ist der Blick der Kunst'.2 Moreover, just as Gerda Arnoldsen's 'blauliche Schatten um die Augen' are transferred to little Hanno to show the fatal artistic connexion between mother and son, so August has inherited his father's dark close-set eyes. This gives added support to the theme of resentment inasmuch as August is unable to represent more than a poor imitation of his father's more questionable features. He has no will of his own.

Perhaps the most delicate variation on this contrast occurs in the form 'VergiB- meinnichtaugen' twice used in chapter 8.3 This stresses the real function of Lotte's visit. She is here to remind Goethe of his past, and try to come to terms with her own feelings of resentment that she is one of the involuntary sacrifices to his greatness. It is no accident that it is used in direct connexion with three other extremely persistent motifs: the 'Schleife', 'Kopfzittern', and 'Scherenschnitt' motifs.

Like the play on the eyes the frequent references to Lotte's tremor show a physical feature closely associated with one particular character being used to suggest a variety of interconnected themes. On its first appearances it is associated merely with the equally frequent references to Lotte's age, and so points to the contrast between the real Charlotte Kestner and the youthful Lotte Buff, whose literary image preserves the poetic distillation of Goethe's passion for her in the Wetzlar days. Yet on its very first appearance the author comments that its origin is 'nicht so sehr Schwache als Lebhaftigkeit'.4 Subsequent references occur when Riemer is announced as a possible missive from Goethe, and even more markedly when Riemer speaks of Goethe's 'Schmarutzertum'.5 It serves as a constant reminder that Lotte has a very active interest in the issues at stake: she is no un- biased witness of the troubles of Goethe's other victims. She feels the keenest

1 p. 383. 2 P. 439. 3 Pp. 706 and 734. 4 P. 370. 5 P. 465.

27-2

419

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420 'Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in 'Lotte in Weimar'

'Solidaritat' with them. She not only hears Riemer's pretended eulogy of Goethe's genius with patience, she even encourages him to reveal the resentment which lurks behind it. Three times she catches him out as his acrimony betrays itself involuntarily. Each time she urges him to speak freely, for though she is critical of his 'maulender Zug' she has the intelligence and honesty to see that it is only an exaggerated reflexion of her own. He too has been used as 'Mittel zum Zweck'. This is the new connotation of Lotte's tremor, and its most moving variation occurs in the carriage-scene. Goethe has teased her about her own 'Zeitgebunden- heit' which is revealed by her nodding head, but she relates this physical trait herself to the effects of the exertion that was necessary to make a success of life despite the intervention of a wild young 'Stiirmer-und-Dranger' whose parasitic love disturbed her 'biirgerlich' world. Friederike Brion had succumbed to the yearning for 'das Mogliche' and died prematurely. 'Es ist etwas Fiirchterliches um die Verkiimmerung, das sag' ich dir, und wir Geringen miissen sie meiden und uns ihr entgegenstemmen aus allen Kraften, wenn auch der Kopf zittert vor Anstrengung'.l Lotte has shown strength of purpose, and her eleven children- reference to them forms a leitmotif of its own-are ample testimony to her success.

The 'Schleife' is also closely associated personally with Charlotte. It refers to her embarrassing ' Schulmidelstreich' which prompts her to remind Goethe of his part in her past by wearing the Volpertshausen ball-dress, a ribbon from which Goethe had kept as a souvenir. In the opening section of the book Lotte's daughter draws attention to the impropriety of her mother's little joke. Lotte blushes.2 The motif thus forms a comic reference to Lotte's secret reason for coming to Weimar, and at the same time recalls her connexion with the Werther-period. At the luncheon-party the embarrassment is increased by Goethe's completely ignor- ing the obvious allusion, and by the increased aloofness which marked the public appearances of the older Goethe. Even the Weimar gossips take up the subject and discuss Lotte's distasteful 'Allusionen auf die Werther-Liebschaft'.3 When Lotte reappears in public, at the theatre in Goethe's box, she is wearing the same dress, but this time with purple ribbons, and all intact! Like so many other motifs this too finds its harmonious resolution in the final scene of reconciliation. Goethe teases Lotte about the 'verblaBte Anspielungen' and Lotte gets her own back by drawing attention to Goethe's own signs of the ravages of time: his 'Steifigkeit' for instance.4 This provokes Goethe's explanation of the 'Steigerung' of his life and work. By weaving this motif into the complex of themes based on resentment, pride, and time, it serves to enrich their emotional associations, and focus their interrelationship in that final scene.

The 'Scherenschnitt' is likewise concerned with memory. Goethe has kept a silhouette of Lotte, and her children, though he has never made efforts to see them

1 P. 762. 2 P. 385. 3 P. 750. 4 P. 758. References to this trait form a motif in themselves, part of the complex of Goethe's

'biirgerlich' features. It corresponds to Aschenbach's motto 'Durchhalten' and illustrates Goethe's discipline over his poetic spirit. Mann, nevertheless, makes an ironic joke of it, e.g. p. 666 Goethe upbraids John for letting his shoulders droop, and contrasts his own habit of pulling them back stiffly, 'daB die Brust sich wolbt'. An objective description is less flattering (p. 711): 'die Schultern zuriickgenommen, den Unterleib etwas vorgeschoben'! J. Bithell seems to me to miss the point when he speaks of Mann's Goethe as 'stiffened and sterile' (Mod. German Lit. 1939). The inner monologue, seething with creative ideas in the process of development, is ample evidence that Goethe's 'biirgerlich' control is anything but inimical to his imagination and productivity.

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KEITH DICKSON

in person as he once promised. Does he keep the souvenir still? Like the 'Schleife' motif with which it is often linked it connotes Lotte's chagrin at Goethe's negligence, but without the literary overtones which the dress-motif carries.

These examples of the tendency of physical features and tangible attributes to take on symbolical significance in the course of varied repetition make it clear that they are scarcely ever autonomous or 'athematic'. Each one is related to one or more abstract themes which bring out the whole meaning of the novel. Though less tangible than the motifs already discussed, and though often divorced almost entirely from the more obvious repetitive linguistic formulae which usually characterize the leitmotif, these themes are also treated in much the same way. Their recurrence under different circumstances, their cross-association, frequently in connexion with the more tangible motifs, contributes to the same 'musikalisch- ideeller Beziehungskomplex'. The themes of resentment, pride and 'Steigerung' are so paramount to the structure of the whole novel that it is not very helpful to trace their development as motifs, but it should be stressed that the difference is one of degree rather than of kind. They too are woven into the total fabric, and only their complexity obscures their affinity with the lesser motifs. Several sub- ordinate themes, however, in themselves distinguishable from the leitmotifs proper, cross the main themes at many points and demonstrate the tendency of all thematic material to take on the same musical-associative function as the older leitmotif.

One of the most persistent of these is what may be termed the 'Jupiter' theme, or the 'divinity' complex. (Like the traditional names attached to Wagner's leit- motifs, nomenclature tends to be arbitrary and misleading). Ferdinand Lion has referred to the initiation of the reader into the 'unio mystica' with Goethe as a kind of godhead.1 This idea is certainly deeply rooted in the novel. The deferential way in which all characters except Lotte speak of Goethe points to an almost religious awe. Hardly any of them uses Goethe's name: he is referred to as 'der Geheimrat', 'Jener' and even euphemistically as 'man' when Riemer's attack is at its most pointed. Mager speaks of Lotte's 'heilige Identitat' and 'das geheiligte Wesen' as though contact with the godhead has imparted something of its divinity to her. This may be the origin of Lotte's own image, twice used, of the 'Nischen- figur im Dome der Humanitat'.2 It is Riemer, however, who makes the most direct statement about Goethe's divinity. 'Er ist ein Gott, oder etwas wie ein Gott. '3 Riemer has spoken of the 'Vernichtung' of Goethe's presence, a quality which tends to drain away all the self-assertion of other individuals, and render them tools in his hands. This is what has kept Riemer tied to a mere secretarial post for so many years, even when a university appointment came his way. The uncanny mixture of love and contempt which marks Goethe's attitude to him is only tolerable because it comes from a kind of god. Goethe represents both art and 'Biirgertum', spirit and nature-his perfect, yet bewildering and even offensive synthesis of polar opposites has the mark of divinity about it: 'das Sigillum der Gottheit'. Lotte introduces a new note of resentment into the complex when she

speaks of Goethe's 'gottliches Schmarutzertum'. Like Jupiter, Goethe has visited her, and treated her as a mere amour. It is true that great art has been born of the experience, but does that justify the fact that he did not love her for her own

1 F. Lion, Thomas Mann: Leben und Werk (Ziirich, 1947), especially the chapter 'Hilferuf an Goethe'.

2 Pp. 473, 761. 3 P. 445

421

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422 ' Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in ' Lotte in Weimar'

sake, but merely as a means to an end without regard to 'biirgerlich' responsi- bilities ? This is the very question which Lotte's presence in Weimar is an attempt to answer. One answer is found in the words with which Riemer expresses what might have been Kestner's attitude in the Werther-period. 'LaB gut sein, es ist nur ein Gott.'

Riemer speaks further of the ' Gottesozon' which seems to emanate from Goethe's presence. There is a comic reminder of this in the eighth chapter when Lotte is sizing up Goethe on his first appearance, reeking as he does of eau-de-Cologne 'bei dem sie sich unwillkiirlich des Wohlgeruchs erinnerte, an dem nach Riemers Worten das Gottliche zu erkennen war'. In point of fact the allusion to the smell reminds the reader not of Riemer's words, but of Napoleon, that other Olympian figure, by association with Goethe's own train of thought during the monologue.' The divinity idea is further echoed by references to Jupiter, and the adjectives 'ambrosisch' and 'jupitergleich'.

There are, however, even more far-reaching variations on this theme. Goethe's role as the godhead of Weimar is deliberately compared on a number of occasions with the ministry of Christ. Riemer, for instance, explains Goethe's apparently callous attitude towards his mother by referring to the equally enigmatic words of Jesus when his own filial piety was questioned: 'Weib, was hab' ich mit dir zu schaffen. '2 Similarly, Lotte enjoys a certain reflected glory (her visit is an 'Evene- ment' which Miss Rose Cuzzle records in the same 'Jagdbuch' as sketches of Wellington, Metternich, and Napoleon! This aspect forms a motif in itself). The effect is compared with the vicarious immortality conferred upon 'die um Jesus '.3

During the luncheon there are echoes of this when Goethe's breaking bread is described as 'das Weiheactartige' and his pouring of the wine has 'etwas Cere- monielles' about it.4 This, together with Adele's statement that no one mentions the work of another in his presence for fear of breaking the first commandment, is designed to make the average reader a trifle more apprehensive about the divinity- idea than he is about comparisons with Zeus. This is finely judged by Thomas Mann. Sensitive readers will tend to share the resentment of the characters them- selves when such a near-blasphemous parallel is drawn between the God become Man of Christian religion and the man become god of Weimar society.

In close connexion with this theme there is the 'Opfer' motif. The word 'Opfer' itself occurs no less than a score of times, and in its verbal form another three. Its very first appearance sets the tone for its subsequent use. Lotte remarks to her daughter that she has led a hard life without becoming 'verkiimmert': 'auch ich habe Opfer gebracht in Tun und Leiden'.5 The conversation with Riemer gives it a new turn. Riemer inquires how the Hofratin and her late husband managed to reconcile themselves 'mit dem Lose unfreiwilliger Opfer'.6 Here is an important overtone which is subsequently always detectable in the Opfer-theme. A voluntary sacrifice is one thing, but a compulsory one a very different matter. Lotte expresses this in so many words in her final peroration to Goethe. There is always, she accuses, the smell of sacrifice in Goethe's presence. Here the relationship of this motif with the divinity-theme is finally established. Lotte, Riemer, August and Ottilie are all sacrificial offerings to Goethe's Olympian greatness. 'Ach, es ist wundervoll, ein Opfer bringen, jedoch ein bittres Los ein Opfer sein.'7 This prompts the poet's

1 Pp. 76 and 720; 659. 2 P. 453. 3 P. 474. 4 Pp. 719 and 722. 0 P. 3 85. " ?. 419. I P. 763.

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final eloquent utterance which brings together in the manner of a symphonic coda the motifs of sacrifice, divinity, resentment, pride, time and 'Steigerung'. The

mystical simile of the butterfly and flame, taken from the poem he had written

only two years previously, is itself a poetic transformation of Lotte's own com-

parison 'wie die Miicke ins Licht'. The essential difference, and the aspect of Goethe's life and thought which Lotte has failed to grasp, is not merely in the motto 'Stirb und werde', the symbol of Goethe's continual spiritual regenesis, but also in the new image, not found in the poem, that Goethe is both insect and candle alike. 'Den Gottern opferte man, und zuletzt war das Opfer der Gott.' The Lottes and Riemers of his life may think that they have made great sacrifices for him, but he has been himself the supreme sacrifice for the sake of his art. 'Damit das Licht leuchte.' Both the resurrection theme of Christianity and the Thamuz- Adonis myth from the Joseph-cycle which was in process of completion during the writing of Lotte, are suggested by this delicate and moving imagery.

' Scherenschnitt'|

| 'Evenement' _ 'Time' ) 'Egmont' - 'Stern'

'vneet ~ ' Tim 'Pride' | - 'Werther' /

I 'Schleife' 'HimbeerkuB 'Blaue Augen'

I'Pers6nchen' ^ 'Biirgerlichkeit' I -' 'Resentment' -- (Geschiftssinn, Ordnungs- |I if \ liebe, Zeitcult, etc.)

Opfer't ' eutschum'

I 'Napoleon'

Fig. 1.

All the other groups of motifs and themes function in the same way: the themes of 'Deutschtum', Goethe's 'Biirgerlichkeit', 'Napoleon' and the 'Stern' motif

(Goethe's decoration in honour of Weimar's being raised to a grand-duchy in the same year as Lotte's visit). Lotte's visit as an 'Evenement', many of Goethe's own works, especially Werther, but also Faust, Egmont, and the scientific writings are integrated allusively with one complex or another. The subtle interrelationship of themes in the novel is a constant source of wonder. Each minor leitmotif is worked into a recurrent pattern of wider significance, and these patterns are them- selves arranged in a hierarchical structure, so that each touches the others at many points, but the main themes find more derivatives. The total network of inter- related themes presents much the same pattern as the so-called 'dynamic lattice' of functional psychology. R. B. Cattell uses the rather forbidding term 'metanerg' to denote a nexus of ideas and attitudes, 'fed' by common basic drives; thus an attitude to politics is not autonomous: it is compounded of more basic drives such as security, gregariousness,1 aggression, etc., which in their turn affect a host of

1 See R. B. Cattell, An Introduction to Personality Study (London, 1950).

423 KEITH DICKSON

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424 ' Musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' in 'Lotte in Weimar' other attitudes. Mann's 'Beziehungskomplex' is strikingly similar, particularly in the later works.

Diagrammatically a greatly simplified picture of the main complex in Lotte might be represented as shown in Fig. 1. Thomas Mann described the attempt in his 'Zauberberg'-again in connexion with the leitmotif-'der musikalisch- ideellen Gesamtwelt...in jedem Augenblick volle Prasenz zu verleihen und ein magisches "nunc stans" herzustellen.'l Each theme or motif is strictly relative. It relates to as many others as the thematic structure of the novel will permit. By carefully varied juxtaposition and reiteration each theme will attain a quasi- contrapuntal effect which is of the very essence of the work. For Thomas Mann, as for Goethe, life is an enriched recurrence of perennial and interlaced motifs. Riemer says of his employer: 'tberhaupt, auch die Welt eines so gewaltigen Geistes, so weit sie sei, ist eine geschlossene, eine begrenzte Welt, ein Einiges, darin die Motive sich wiederholen und in groBen Abstanden dieselben Vorstellungen wiederkehren'.2 This 'musikalisch-ideeller Beziehungskomplex' is therefore a technique which corresponds exactly to Mann's own thinking. Form and content are a perfect unity. KEITH DICESO EXEm'rJ

1 xi, 611. 2 II, 430.

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