Sex, Suicide and The Sublime - A Reading of Goethe's Werther PDF

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Sex, Suicide, and the Sublime: A Reading of Goethe's "Werther"

Author(s): Joyce S. Walker
Source: Monatshefte, Vol. 91, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 208-223
Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
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Sex, Suicide, and
the Sublime:
A Reading of
Goethe's Werther
JOYCE S. WALKER
Everett Community College
The sublime and the beautiful emerged as importantcategories in

eighteenth-centuryaesthetics,occupyingphilosophersin Englandand Ger-
many.Because these earlyformulationsoffer speculationsabout the fit be-
tween the mind and the world, we may see in them the glimmer of an
aestheticpsychologydeveloped more fully by the Romanticsand extended
into the twentiethcenturyby psychoanalytically-minded and feministcrit-
ics. My aim here is to apply this eighteenth-centuryaesthetic to Johann
Wolfgangvon Goethe's 1787 novel, Die Leiden des jungen Werther,while
examiningits implicationsfor notions about gender.'As SilviaBovenschen
has argued,the eighteenthcenturypromulgatedRousseaueanideas about
femininity that ultimately erased women as active subjects and situated
them in a silent realmof imaginedfemininity.2Using Bovenschen'sideas as
a startingpoint, I examine the notion (whose defense I will brieflysketch
before proceedingto a considerationof Werther)that Rousseau'sconcepts
of both femininityand masculinityderivefrom the currencyof the sublime
and the beautiful,and that these ideas may serve to illuminateGoethe's
text. Rather than beginningwith ImmanuelKant, whose most important
work on the sublime and beautiful (his Kritikder Urteilskraft)appeared
after Werther'spublication,3I will first turn to EdmundBurke to provide
the principaloutlinesof this aesthetic,since his workprecededGoethe'sby
a generation.My interpretationof the genderednatureof this aestheticis
at the heartof my interpretationof Werther,a richtext whichmay bear the
weight of many different readings,even those that were perhapsnot in-
tended by its illustriousauthor.
I contend that Die Leiden des jungen Werthermay be read in a way
that emphasizesthe dramaticinterplayof beautyand sublimityin the hero's
mind.This dialecticis complex and subtle-never clear cut and formulaic,
but fraughtwith an ambiguitythat is a markof Goethe'sgenius.The move-
Monatshefte,Vol. 91, No. 2, 1999 208

0026-9271/99/0002/0208 $01.50/0
s 1999 by The Board of Regents of The University of Wisconsin System
Sex, Suicide,Sublimein Goethe'sWerther 209
ment from the beautifulto the sublimeis reflectedin Werther'sconscious-
ness and projectedonto nature,embodiedin the transitionfrom Homer to
Ossian, and epitomizedin Werther'srelationshipto Lotte. Ultimately,the
move from the beautifulto the sublimesuggestsanotherfacet of the much-
disputed meaning of Werther'ssuicide and the enigma of Lotte's fate. To
establishthe presence of the sublime and the beautifulin these aspects of
the text, I rely in large part on Goethe'svocabularyand imageryand their
correspondenceto the concepts and language used in the philosophical
discussionabout these aestheticcategories.
The firstdefinitivestatementof the sublimeandbeautifulin the eight-
eenth centurywas the EnglishphilosopherEdmundBurke'selegant essay,
A PhilosophicalEnquiryinto the Originof our Ideas of the Sublimeand
Beautiful (1757).4 In my view, Burke merges aesthetics and psychology, at-
tempting to anchor the sublime and beautiful in physiologicalresponses
based on an empiricalpsychology.Implicitlyunderliningthe role of per-
ception, Burke identifies beauty with objects which have a "naturalten-
dency to relax the fibers"and the sublime with "the exercise of the finer
partsof the system.""Burke explicitlyanchorsthe sublimeand beautifulin
the individual'sphysiological/psychological response,arguingthat the sub-
lime is evoked by such qualitiesas terror,obscurity,power,vacuity,dark-
ness, solitude,silence, vastness,infinity,and magnificence.6
While elaborat-
ing the sensible of
qualities beauty, such as smallness,smoothness,softness,
variety,mergerof parts,delicacy,clarity,and brightness,Burke revealshis
underlyingidentificationof the beautifulwith the feminine:
Observethat partof a beautifulwomanwhere she is perhapsthe most beau-
tiful, about the neck and breasts; the smoothness; the softness; the easy and
insensible swell; the variety of the surface, which is never for the smallest
space the same; the deceitful maze, throughwhich the unsteadyeye slides
giddily,withoutknowingwhere to fix, or whitherit is carried.7
This "deceitfulmaze" has its counterpartin the behaviorof women,

who, knowingthat "beautyin distressis much the most affectingbeauty,"
feign distress,weakness,and even sicknessin order to fascinatethis giddy
masculinegaze. Correspondingly,sublimequalitiesof mind, like fortitude,
justice, and wisdom, are ascribedto men, while the beautifulqualities of
the female excite love and engage our (male) heartswith the "softer"vir-
tues of compassion,kindness,and liberality.The psychologicaland socio-
logical implicationsof this aestheticemerge in Burke'sobservationthat the
sublimedemandsfrom us submission,while we love and find beautifulthat
which submitsto us."
Submission, beauty, and femininity merge again in Jean-Jacques
Rousseau'sdescriptionof the perfectwoman, Sophie, in Book V of Emile
(1762).9Here the sublime and the beautifulbecome a nexus of aesthetics
210 Walker
and psychologythat pervadeshis influentialrepresentationsof masculinity

and femininity.Rousseau describesman as strong and active, possessing
both power and will (sublimequalities),while woman is weak and passive,
like Burke's"beautyin distress."The fortuitouscomplementarityof their
dispositionsleads Rousseauto concludethat "womanis madeto please and
to be in subjectionto man..,. her strengthis in her charms,by their means
she should compel him to discoverand use his strength."'0As the epitome
of his time's "imaginedfemininity,"Rousseau'sSophie provides the pro-
totype, even archetype,for Goethe'sLotte. Indeed, I contendthat this aes-
thetic of the sublimeand the beautiful,with its Burkeanand Rousseauean
stamp,helps us constructa useful subtextfor interpretingboth Lotte'sfate
and Werther'ssuicide.
Thus, since a hallmarkof the sublime encounteris that the aroused
emotions take precedenceover the object whichoccasionsthem, we might
seek this dynamicin the narrativeof Werther.There we find that Lotte
never speaks for herself;rather,she is alwaysmediatedby Wertheror der
Herausgeber.Lotte is alwaysa beautifulobject, never a subjectin the nar-
rative.As reflectedby the narrative'sdependenceon Werther'sletters,that
most personal of literaryforms, Werther'sever-increasingsubjectivityis
matched by his tendency to appropriateobjects, such as "his"Wahlheim,
"his" Homer, "his" Ossian, "his" Lotte. Thus, as Werther'ssolipsismin-
creases, so does this sublimedynamicbegin to dominatehis consciousness
as his subjective response obscures and destroys the occasioningobject,
Lotte.
This movement toward the dominance of the sublime in Goethe's
narrativeis embedded in the languageof the text, principallyin two con-
stellations.The firstconstellationinvolves the beautiful,expressedin vari-
ous noun and adjectiveformsof Schonheit,often accompaniedby formsof
Reiz. The typical Germanequivalentsfor the sublime,forms of Erhaben-
heit, are strikinglyabsentfrom the text. Althoughmy interpretationhinges
on common vocabularyand imagery rather than etymology alone, it is
temptingto suggest that perhapsGoethe (intentionallyor not) marksthe
sublimethroughhis frequentand consistentuse of Herrlichkeit(noun) and
herrlich(adjective).The WahrigDeutschesWorterbuchtracesherrlichback
to the adjectivehehr,an archaicsynonymfor erhabenwhich,it says,shares
a common root in Mittelhochdeutschwith Herr." Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimmtrace this meaningof hehrthroughLutherto Wieland,who revived
it for the late seventeenth centuryby recommendingits usage to express
sublimityin the highest poetic sense. Subsequently,the Grimms tell us,
Klopstockused it in this sense in Messias(1780), and as a result, "es wird
nun hehr wieder haufig im sinne von erhaben ....,"12 Their entry for hehr
concludes with several quotations from Goethe and his contemporaries.
des Deutschenmakesthe con-
Interestingly,the EtymologischesWorterbuch
Sex, Suicide, Sublime in Goethe's Werther 211
nection even more direct: "herrlich bedeutet zunichst ihnlich wie hehr so-
viel wie 'erhaben, hervorragend,' nimmt unter Einflul3 von Herr im Mhd.
und Frtihnhd. auch den Sinn 'herrenmailig, herrisch' an... ."13Considering
this etymology, I observe that it parallels the gendered nature of these aes-
thetic qualities, since herrlich also shares, as these sources note, in the lin-
guistic heritage of Herr, connoting nobility, power, masculinity, and patri-
archy.Perhapsit is no coincidencethat sublimity,cloaked in Herrlichkeit,
permeates this text as a manifestation of Werther's consciousness which is
so obsessed with patriarchy.14Likewise, Goethe's language provides the
principal means for understanding the drama of sublimity in Werther,as we
trace it in his depiction of nature, in the change of his literaryallegiance
from Homer to Ossian, in his objectification of Lotte, and finally, in his
suicide.
The depiction of nature undeniably plays a central role in Werther.In
fact, Hans Peter Herrmann argues that landscape serves here not as mere
ornamentation, but as the central carrier of meaning.'" Thus, I will turn to
these passages first in an effort to detect evidence of the sublime and the
beautiful. The qualities of beauty, like the sweetness, smoothness, variety,
smallness, clarity, and brightness (of both light and temperament) which
Burke cites, characterize Werther'searliest descriptions of nature. However,
a latent sublime (Herrlichkeit) shimmers through the vocabulary of beauty
even in these passages, so that the movement from beauty to sublimity is a
matter of degree rather than an abrupt transition. Below I have interpreted
the vocabulary and imagery in Werther's letter of May 10, 1771, in terms
of its association with the sublime and the beautiful. Notice the interplay
between the language of beauty (italicized), and the emerging sublime (un-
derlined) which is characterized by obscurity, darkness, power, limitlessness,
and the substitution of the subject's response for the object:
Eine wunderbareHeiterkeithat meine ganze Seele eingenommen,gleichden

siif3enFrtihlingsmorgen,die ich mit ganzem Herzen genief3e.Ich bin allein
und freue mich meines Lebens in dieser Gegend, die fuirsolche Seelen ge-
schaffenist wie die meine. Ich bin so gliicklich,mein Bester,so ganz in dem
Gefiihlevon ruhigemDasein versunken,daBmeine Kunstdarunterleidet ....
Wenn das liebe Tal um mich dampft,und die hohe Sonne an der Oberfliiche
der undurchdringlichenFinsternismeines Waldes ruht, und nur einzelne
Strahlensich in das innere Heiligtumstehlen, ich dann im hohen Grase am
fallendenBacheliege,und niher an der Erde tausendmannigfaltigeGriischen
mir merkwuirdig werden;wenn ich das Wimmelnder kleinen Weltzwischen
Halmen, die unzahligen, unergrtindlichenGestalten der Wirmchen, der
Miickchenniher an meinemHerzenfiihle, und fuihledie Gegenwartdes All-
machtigen,der uns nach seinem Bilde schuf,das Wehendes Alliebenden,der
uns in ewiger Wonneschwebendtrigt und erhilt; mein Freund!wenn'sdann
um meine Augen dimmert, und die Weltum mich her und der Himmelganz
212 Walker
in meiner Seele ruhn wie die Gestalteiner Geliebten-dann sehne ich mich
oft und denke: Ach konntest du das wieder ausdriicken,konntest du dem
Papiere das einhauchen,was so voll, so warmin dir lebt, daB es wiirdeder
SpiegeldeinerSeele,wie deine Seele ist der Spiegeldes unendlichenGottes!-
MeinFreund-Aber ich gehe dariiberzugrunde,ich erliegeunterder Gewalt
der Herrlichkeitdieser Erscheinungen.(W 9)
The preceding attempt to differentiate between elements of the sublime
and the beautiful in this passage offers only one among many possible read-
ings, and it illustrates the difficulty of drawing neat lines between these
categories in Goethe's text. Phrases like "ewige Wonne" demonstrate the
complexity of these elements in Goethe's descriptions of nature: here, the
limitlessness (sublime) of bliss (beauty) are juxtaposed, though it is in fact
arguable whether or not bliss, as an emotion which the finite human body
can scarcely contain, might not also point toward the sublime.'6 But despite
(and perhaps through) these ambiguities, this passage illustrates the early
stages of Werther's solipsistic tendency to view nature as "his." Here, he
exclaims that the landscape was created especially for souls like his, and he
claims that heaven and earth rest in his soul. The passage culminates in the
final, ominous adumbration of his destruction by the "Gewalt und Herrlich-
keit" hidden behind the surface of beautiful appearances. This passage is
paradigmatic in another way, for it reveals the loss of the (beautiful) object
(nature), as it is swallowed up by the subjective sublime. In fact, these
elements are intertwined in the text and constitute a dialectic between
beauty (thesis) and the sublime (antithesis) which eventually collapses, as
we shall see, in favor of the sublime.
In a later passage, the dominance of the sublime in Werther's rela-
tionship to nature is even more pronounced. As he admires "das schone
Tal" and the surrounding hills, Werther exclaims:
O kinnte ich michin ihnen verlieren!-Ich eilte hin, und kehrtezuriuck,und
hatte nicht gefunden,was ich hoffte. O es ist mit der Ferne wie mit der Zu-
kunft! Ein groBesdimmerndesGanze ruht vor unsererSeele, unsere Emp-
findungverschwimmtdarinwie unserAuge, und wir sehnen uns, ach! unser
ganzesWesenhinzugeben,uns mit allerWonneeines einzigen,groBen,herr-
lichen Gefiihlsausfillen zu lassen.-Und ach!wenn wirhinzueilen,wenndas
Dort nun Hier wird,ist alles vor wie nach,und wir stehen in unsererArmut,
in unserer Eingeschrainktheit, und unsere Seele lechzt nach entschliipftem
Labsale.(W 29)
Here, Werther's attention, attracted by the beauty of the landscape, quickly
abandons objective nature-the world of appearances-and becomes an
insatiable, sublime longing. He desires to lose himself in the beautiful scene,
but instead the opposite happens: he ingests it, internalizes it, subjectifies
it until he is filled with dissatisfaction at his own limitations. This passage
typifies Werther's meditations on nature.'7 R. D. Miller rightly points out
that Werther'semphasis on the "feral aspect of nature" represents the
"problematiccharacterof his own existence" and his misanthropy.'8But
Werther'sobsession with "natureat its most inhospitable"'19 is even more
than a sign of his existentialdilemma:it is also the cause. The dialecticof
the sublimehere closely follows Burke'sinsistencethat the beautifulis so-
cial in characterwhile the sublimeis individual,even isolating.20 Werther's
isolation,his solipsism,is inherentlypart of his sublimeresponse.
This dialecticbetween the sublimeand the beautifulin natureparal-
lels the shift in Werther'senthusiasmfrom Homer to Ossian. In the first
half of the novel, Wertherpraises "his"Homer, losing himself in reveries
of a beautiful,peaceful, and patriarchalexistence.21Ossian, the (alleged)
author of a collection of ancient Gaelic poetry,is brieflymentioned mid-
way through the first half of Wertherin a fiery meditationon Lotte and
death (W 37). Early in the second half, Wertherconsoles himself after his
traumaticexpulsionfromthe nobles'soir6eby readingHomer's"herrlichen
Gesang" (W 69) alone on a hilltop by the light of the setting sun-a rec-
ognizablysublimesetting. After he quits his post and abandonshimselfto
his desire to be near Lotte, he writes:"Ossianhat in meinem Herzen den
Homer verdraingt.Welch eine Welt, in die der Herrlichemich ftihrt!"(W
82). What a world, indeed-a world in which death is exalted and nature
is sublime.Werthercontinues:
Zu wanderntiberdie Heide,umsaustvomSturmwinde, derin dampfenden
Nebelndie GeisterderViter22imdimmernden LichtedesMondeshinftihrt.
Zu hiren vom Gebirgeher,im Gebrtilledes Waldstroms,
halbverwehtes
Achzen der Geister aus ihren Hohlen, und die Wehklagendes zu Tode sich
jammerndenMidchens,um die viermoosbedeckten, grasbewachsenen Steine
des Edelgefallnen. (W 82)
In Ossian,Wertherfinds a poet whose consistentlysublimeportraitof na-

ture describes the interior of his own soul, or rather,inscribesit on the
external world.23Thus, Ossian's portrayalof sublime nature fuses with
Werther'sperceptionof sublimenaturein the "realworld"and reinforces
Werther'sstate of mind. The predominanceof sublimity is inextricably
bound up with his perceptionsof and feelings towardLotte.
The gender implications of the sublime and beautiful crystallize
aroundthe figureof Lotte, who embodiesidealizedfemininity.SallyWinkle
traces Lotte'sRousseaueaninheritanceand presentsher as the victimof a
double idealizationby Albert and Werther:for the former,she is the "ra-
tional pictureof an industrious,responsiblehousewife,"while for the latter,
she is "the sentimentalideal of female compassion,and a warm heart ...
[with] innocent sensuality,feminine vulnerabilityand cheerfulness."24 The
real Lotte is inaccessibleto the reader,for she is embeddedand objectified
in the male narrative.Winklefollows Bovenschen,suggestingthatfeminine
214 Walker
idealization results from male projection of repressed or rejected aspects

of the self:
WhileGoethe'sfemaleprotagonistin Wertheris describedfromthe beginning
as a fully developed, perfect feminine soul, who either retains her exalted
status or is destroyed,the author'scriticismin this novel againstbourgeois
society as an obstacle to the developmentof the humanpersonalityis con-
cernedsolely withthe self-actualizationof the malecharacter,anticipatingthe
trendin this periodto projectthe male sex as developing,individualsubjects,
and the female sex as symbolizingidealized qualitieswhich are no longer
useful in the productive/public,competitivesphere.25
This sphere is recognizably Rousseauean, a sphere in which, as Bovenschen
so colorfully states, "Die Frau bildet sozusagen den Humus fir die Ver-
vollkommnung des 'Menschen'-eine Redeweise, die jetzt korrigiert wer-
den muB: fir die Vervollkommnung des Mannes." Concluding her analysis
of Rousseauean influence on the idealization of women, Bovenschen cites
Lotte as a prime example:
[D]ort, wo der Mann triumt, phantasiert,imaginiert,poetisiert, gerit das
Weiblichezum Mediumseiner den Zwingen des biirgerlichenAlltags ent-
gegengesetztenVorstellungvon einer glticklicherenWelt-Werthers Lotte
umgebenvon den spielendenKindern,ein Bild des Glticksund der Ruhe!-,
dort aber,wo er sich den prosaischenRealititen des hiuslichen Lebens zu-
wendet, wo er das Alltagsgesichtdes Weiblichenwahrnimmtoder wahrzu-
nehmenglaubt,dortgibt es Reglementierung,Direktiven,Arbeit undZwang
fir die Frau.26
This picture of Lotte is Werther's first glimpse of her, a moment which
he describes as "das reizendste Schauspiel... das ich je gesehen habe" (W
21). Werther's account of that first evening with Lotte at the ball and his
subsequent descriptions of her emphasize her grace (Anmut), her charm
(Reiz), and her beauty (Schonheit). The language of Werther's descriptions
of Lotte is quite revealing. He rapturously describes her grace as she dances:
"Sie ist so mit ganzem Herzen und mit ganzer Seele dabei, ihr ganzer Kor-
per eine Harmonie, so sorglos, so unbefangen, als wenn das eigentlich alles
waire,als wenn sie sonst nichts diichte, nichts empfiinde" (W 24). This grace
fits perfectly with the Rousseauean ideal27as analyzed by Ellen Spicker-
nagel, who argues that grace and beauty were prized above all other fem-
inine qualities or achievements.28 According to Spickernagel, eighteenth-
century women were divided into two categories: die Jungfrau, whose im-
perative was grace and beauty, so that the emphasis was placed on the
graceful process, rather than the outcome of her industriousness; and die
Matrone, whose duties (having already caught herself a man) were faith-
fulness, patience, and Hiauslichkeit.29Lotte combines all these qualities; she
is the "virgin-mother" who tends her eight younger siblings and attempts
to fulfill her role as faithful,patient fiance and wife. Lotte is like Homer's
Penelope, who refuses to answerher suitorsuntil her weaving (which she
unravelsnightly) is completed. Like Lotte, Penelope is both Matroneand
Jungfrau:faithful,patient, industrious,but also beautifuland graceful,de-
voting herself to this activityfor the sake of its processratherthan its out-
come.
WertherfurtherdescribesLotte as "[ein]Schatz... der in der stillen
Gegend verborgenliegt" (W 20), recallingthe peaceful essence of beauty
and identifyingLotte with nature.When Wertherexclaims,"wiedie leben-
digen Lippen und die frischen,munternWangenmeine ganze Seele anzo-
gen" (W 23-24),30he is assertingthe irresistiblepull of her charms."Mit
welchem Reize ... bewegte sie sich!" (W 24-25), he exclaims, and he casts
his internalstrugglein terms of this pull, this attraction:"Ichziehe zurtick
wie vom Feuer, und eine geheime Kraftzieht mich wieder vorwlirts-mir
wird'sso schwindeligvor allen Sinnen" (W 38-39). Indeed, Lotte charms
both his sense (Sinn) and his senses (Sinnen),as is perhapsbest symbolized
in his confession that "ich sah mit jedem Wort neue Reize, neue Strahlen
des Geistes aus ihren Gesichtszuigenhervorbrechen"(W 23), where her
charm is both sensual and spiritual.When he first mentions Lotte in his
letters,Wertherconfesses,"Siehat allen meinenSinngefangengenommen"
(W 19). After she has tormentedWertherwith the canary'svicariouskiss,
he fumes, "Sie sollte es nicht tun, sollte nicht meine Einbildungskraftmit
diesen Bildern himmlischerUnschuldund Seligkeit reizenund mein Herz
aus dem Schlafe,in den es manchmaldie Gleichgtiltigkeitdes Lebenswiegt,
nicht wecken!"(W 80).
In his internalstrugglewith Lotte'scharms,Wertherultimatelytrans-
forms her beauty into sublimityin his perceptions:
Sie fuihlt,was ich dulde. Heute ist mir ihr Blick tief durchsHerz gedrungen.
Ich fand sie allein;ich sagte nichts, und sie sah mich an. Und ich sah nicht
mehr in ihr die liebliche Schinheit, nicht mehr das Leuchtendes trefflichen
Geistes, das waralles vor meinenAugen verschwunden.Ein weit herrlicherer
Blick wirkteauf mich. (W 87, emphasismine)
Not surprisingly,this transition occurs only a few pages after Werther's con-
fession of his preference for Ossian and at a moment when the sublime
dominates both his literary taste and perception of nature. But the problem
of Reiz still persists: how is Werther to break free of its gravitational pull?
Reiz elevates his spirit, but reminds him of his senses, his physical bonds,
his Einschriankungen.31As Bovenschen argues, the Rousseauean woman
could excel in only one sector of her life: "in der erotischen Anziehungs-
kraft."She continues:
[I]n den Verftihrungslisten
bilden sie erstaunlicheFertigkeitenaus;hier ent-
steht ihre situationsbezogeneMacht tiber den Mann ... Daher ... handelt
216 Walker
es sich bei den RousseauschenAnweisungenzurErziehungder Frauenweni-
EntwurfalsumeinDomestikationsprogramm.32
gerumeinen-pidagogischen
Thus, woman'sonly power over man must be tamed, controlled,perhaps
destroyed,and the sublimeis the perfect weapon. As R. JahanRamazani
writes, "The sublime breaks through decorum and the wholeness of the
beautiful."33The cost of this sublimebreak is destructionof the beautiful,
a price reflected,as we shall see, in not only Werther'sfate, but Lotte'sas
well.
Werther'stransitionfrom beauty to sublimity,particularlyas embod-
ied in his passage from Homer to Ossian,has subtle but enormousconse-
quences for Lotte. Lotte, already nearly immobilizedin her position be-
tween Albert and Werther,is also caughtbetween two models of feminin-
ity-Homer's Penelope and Ossian'sDaura.Her enmeshmentin these fic-
tional role modelsilluminatesboth her actionsand the complicatedmotives
of Werther'ssuicide.
At the beginningof the novel, shortlyafter he meets Lotte, an exhil-
arated Wertherdescribeshow he shells peas while reading "his"Homer.
He writes:
[W]ennichin derkleinenKiuche mireinenTopfw~ihle,mirButteraussteche,
SchotenansFeuerstelle,zudeckeundmichdazusetze,sie manchmal umzu-
da
schtitteln: ich
fuihl' so wie
lebhaft, die uibermutigen
Freierder Penelope
Ochsenund Schweineschlachten,zerlegenund braten.(W 29)
Thisreveriecontainsat least three importantlessons.First,whilePenelope's
suitors "schlachten,zerlegen und braten"(that is, deal with real flesh and
blood), Werthershellsandcooks peas, an activityfarremovedfrompassion,
blood, and death. Secondly,this referenceto Penelope is a reminderof her
exemplary faithfulness, patience, and submission as she lovingly waits
twenty years for her husband'sreturn.Finally,the ultimategoal of Penel-
ope's suitorsis undoubtedlyto achieve power and authoritythroughmar-
riagewith Odysseus'sattractiveandvirtuous"widow,"a factwhichbecomes
importantlater in comparisonto the Ossianictale.
When, at the novel'sclimacticmoment,Wertherchooses to read po-
etry to Lotte, Ossian has replaced Homer in his affections,and his trans-
lation offers her an alternativefeminine model, doubly ominous by virtue
of the fact that it is Werther'spartingmessage to her. The final section-
the passage which evokes their tears and then their kisses-recounts the
fate of a beautifulyoung woman, Daura, and her lover, virtuousArmar.
Poor Daura is kidnappedand then abandonedon an islandby the warrior
Errath,who is tryingto avenge himselfon Armarfor killinghis brotherin
battle. Daura cries for help, but in his attempt to save her, her brother
accidentallymurdersArmar and then drowns. Daura screams and cries
throughoutthe stormy night while her father listens helplessly from the
shore, preventedby the tempest from rescuingher.Towarddawn,she dies

of grief (W 112-14).
This Ossianictale contrastswith Werther'smeditationson Penelope
in three significantways. First,the setting changes dramatically.Insteadof
a cozy, domesticscene before the hearth,Ossian describesterrifyingdeath
and wild, sublime nature.Passion and violence step into the place of pea-
shelling,a reificationof the suitors'more metaphorical"schlachten,zerle-
gen."Secondly,Daura,as an ideal of femininefaithfulness,dies fromsorrow
because she witnesses the death of both her lover and her brother.Her
screams and cries contrast starklywith Penelope's calm. Finally,revenge
becomes the primarymotive in Daura'skidnapping-not aspirationsfor
marriage,nor love, nor even Daura'svirtue. Daura is the turningpoint in
the strugglebetween men, a strugglewhich ends in death for all.
The image of Penelope in Homer is clear,bright,calm,and beautiful,
and Odysseuseventuallyreturnsto defeat and kill the suitors.The image
of Daura in Ossian is ominous, dark,threatening-she inhabitsa sublime
realm of annihilation,revenge, and death. FaithfulPenelope survivesand
resiststhe suitors,and her virtueis rewardedby the respectand love of her
husband(thoughhe will again leave her to travel inlandin propitiationof
Poseidon) and long life (we know, at least, that she is no longer young by
the time Odysseusreturns),while Daura'slove andfaithfulnessare requited
by sorrowand early death:"sie starbweg wie die Abendluftzwischendem
Grase der Felsen" (W 114).
In this change of feminine models from Penelope to Daura, the re-
wardsfor feminine faithfulnessare transposedfrom joy to sorrow.Lotte's
emotional,tearfulresponse to Ossian registersthe deep impressionwhich
the image of Daura has made upon her, influencingnot only her feelings,
but also her understandingof herself and her role. Until this point, she has
struggledto remain a faithful Penelope, an effort for which criticscredit
her with varyingdegrees of success and sincerity.But no matter how one
interpretsher relativeculpabilityor innocence in respectto Werther'spas-
sion, she correspondsat first to Penelope as she waits patiently for her
absent fianc6 to return. The idealized Daura may be a punishmentem-
ployed by Wertherto avenge himselfon Lotte for her transgressionsof the
Penelope image-that is, for her seductivecharmsas he interpretsthem-
or even for her reprimandof Werther'sinappropriatepassion, when she
cries: "Ich fuirchte,ich fuirchte,es ist nur die Unm6glichkeit,mich zu be-
sitzen, die Ihnen diesen Wunsch so reizend macht" (W 102-03). Lotte's
identificationwith Daura would lead to her demise,.sinceaccordingto this
model her faithfulnessto Albert would have been in vain, rewardedonly
by sufferingand death as she perishesin the strugglebetween two men, a
victimof an unavoidablefate. The substitutionof Daura for Penelope here
218 Walker
sheds light on Lotte's condition at the end of the novel, on the dark and
enigmatic words which report, "Man ftirchtet fur Lottens Leben" (W 124).
Thus, this transition to Ossian also illumines the complicated motives
of Werther's suicide.34 In his last letter to Lotte, Werther alleges, rather
unbelievably, that he is killing himself in order to restore her happiness, as
if his sublime act of darkness and death could restore the wholeness, sweet-
ness, and light of her beauty: "Ich wollte mutig, ich wollte freudig sterben,
wenn ich dir die Ruhe, die Wonne deines Lebens wiederschaffen konnte"
(W 123). Of course, this cannot work. Indeed, the story of Daura, com-
pounded by Werther's last letter, makes evident the dominating motive of
revenge. There, Werther writes: "Hier, Lotte! Ich schaudre nicht, den kal-
ten, schrecklichen Kelch zu fassen, aus dem ich den Taumel des Todes trin-
ken soll! Du reichtest mir ihn, und ich zage nicht" (W 123). This image
alludes to the fact that his servant received the pistol from Lotte's own
trembling hands, as Lotte hesitated, trapped in her dilemma between the
two men, full of anxiety and premonition but paralyzed by silence and
doomed like Daura to wordless grief. Werther's accusation is indeed an act
of reprisal and revenge, and if Lotte has introjected the image of Daura,
then her life is truly endangered. As Errath's revenge culminates in Daura's
death and the death of the men she loves, so does the question of the effect
of Werther's revenge on Lotte hover as an omen of destruction at the novel's
end.
This interpretation of the centrality of revenge in Werther's motives
is borne out structurally in the novel in several ways. First of all, the subplot
involving the farmhand, the widow, and the rival emphasizes a triad in which
two men "struggle" for the possession of a woman. Werther's enthusiasm
for the farmhand's passion, and his blind defense of the farmhand's murder
of the rival, reveal his empathy for and identification with the murderer (W
18-19, 76-79, 95-97). In addition, the motif of brotherhood further empha-
sizes Werther's rivalry with Albert and his desire for revenge, even at the
cost of his own life. Werther asks himself, "Ist nicht meine Liebe zu ihr die
heiligste, reinste, brtiderlichste Liebe?" (W 99), a claim which his revealing
letters and amorous dreams seem to negate, or at least to tinge with incest.
Just before Werther'sclimactic visit, the Herausgeberreports Lotte's
thoughts: "O, hitte sie ihn in dem Augenblick zum Bruder umwandeln
konnen, wie glicklich waire sie gewesen!" (W 106). This wish is followed
closely by the Ossian reading, where the triad (Lotte = sister, Werther =
brother, Albert = lover) is structurally paralleled by Colma's song, in which
her brother and her lover kill one another in battle. Colma's song, which
concludes with her death, is actually sung in the poem by Minona, who
mourns the death of her brother, Morar; this is finally "sung" in our text
by Werther (brother/lover) to Lotte in Albert's absence! (W 108-12). This
passage is followed by the dramatic climax, composed of the triangle of
Daura, and her brotherArindalwho mistakenlymurdersher lover Armar,

all withinthe frameworkof mischiefwroughtby Errath'sattemptat revenge
(W 112-14).
The dynamicof the sublime,mediatedhere throughWerther'strans-
lation and performanceof Ossian'spoetry,portendsdestruction.Thisread-
ing of the novel, with its aestheticdialectic,places the Ossianicpoetry and
its destructiveconsequences in a clearer light and justifies the passage's
centrality.Thus, I differ with Ignace Feuerlichtwho writes that Werther's
translationof Ossian'spoetry,with its "soft and misty sadness ... and its
many mentions of death" is used to "soften the impact of suicide on the
reader."35The story of Ossian's reception in Germany,36with the well-
knownlegends of copy-catsuicides,indicatesthat on the contrary,the pow-
erful dynamicof the sublimeheightened,ratherthan diminished,its effect.
Lotte, after this fateful encounter,has lost her peaceful, calm, cheer-
ful, and contentednature,andWerther'sunrelentingpressurehas shattered
her silence and reduced her to tears. Lotte's silence is a consequence of
"unaussprechlicheSch6inheit"(W 8) for which only the genius can find
words.Wertherhimself lacks the genius to drawLotte'sbeautifullikeness,
so he substitutesa Schattenbild(W 41) whose very blanknessis analogous
to this ineffable,noncommunicablequalityof beauty.37 In the gripof dread
and terror,emotions identifiedwith the sublime, she still remainssilent,
fearingthat a confessionto her husbandwill destroythe beautifulideal he
has formedof her.38Her behaviorhere is in perfectaccordwiththe "Stumm-
heit der Frauen"which, Bovenschenargues,correlateswith their idealiza-
tion.39
The crushingtransformation,the real shattering,however,is accom-
paniedby tears,whichseem to functionas a sublimemediumof dissolution.
For instance,Wertherdescribeshow, when he seeks Lotte in his dreams,
"einStromvon TranenbrichtausmeinemgepregtenHerzen,und ich weine
trostloseiner finsternZukunftentgegen"(W 53); then as the climaxof the
novel approaches,he reports:"Und mit mir ist es aus! Meine Sinne ver-
wirrensich, schon acht Tage habe ich keine Besinnungskraftmehr,meine
Augen sind voll Trinen .... Mir wire besser, ich ginge" (W 100). At the
climax of Werther'sreading from the tear-filledpoetry of Ossian, Lotte
breaksinto "ein Stromvon Tr~nen"whichculminatesin their embrace(W
114-15).Tearsare paralleledin natureby storms,rangingfrom the thunder
and lightningwhichelicits the "Klopstock!"scene at the ball (W 27) to the
stormy,dark interludesin which Wertherroams the hills, seeking sublime
nature(W 98-99),just as he seeks it in the descriptionsof naturein Ossian.
Thus, there is a symmetryin the fact that the fatal romancebegins in the
"Klopstock!"stormscene and culminatesin Lotte'sunrestrainedtearsdur-
ing the Ossian reading.After Werther'ssuicide, she is "dissolved"to the
220 Walker
point that the Herausgeberwrites tersely,"von Lottens Jammerlaf3tmich

nichtssagen"(W 124).
In Werther,then, the sublime leads to destruction.Werther'sletters
are markedby his frequentreferencesto death and suicide,40often in sub-
lime contexts. In the following passage,Wertherconcludes a sublime de-
scriptionof the stormy,flooded valley, and he mournsthe destructionof
the gentle and familiarbeautywhichhe used to enjoythereduringhis walks
with Lotte:
Und wie ichwehmuitig hinabsahaufein Plitzchen,wo ich mitLottenunter

einerWeidegeruht,auf einemhei3enSpaziergange,-daswarauchtiber-
schwemmt, undkaumdaBichdie Weideerkannte! Wilhelm!UndihreWie-
sen, dachteich, die Gegendum ihr Jagdhaus!Wie verstortjetzt vom
reil3endenStromeunsereLaube!dacht'ich.UndderVergangenheit Sonnen-
strahlblickteherein,wieeinemGefangenen ein TraumvonHerden,Wiesen
undEhrenimtern. Ichstand!-Ich scheltemichnicht,dennichhabeMutzu
sterben.(W99)
Here, the dialecticof the sublime and the beautifulis evident in the
language,and the triumphof the sublimeis doubly symbolizedby the de-
structiveflood andWerther'smovementtowardself-destruction.Death and
the sublime seem fatallyinterwoven.As KariLokke suggests,"in the end
sublimityseems to presuppose and require violence, violence against in-
stinct, passion, and nature, and ultimately against life itself."41Indeed,
Werther'sfascinationwith the sublimeleads to the ultimately"unnatural"
act of suicide,leavingbehind his shatteredLotte on the thresholdbetween
life and death, pulled towardhim by the sublimepower of Daura'simage.
The story of love and faithfulnesshas indeed become, in Werther'spro-
nouncementon the farmhand'scrime,the story of violence and murder.42
Goethe's own attitude toward the sublime appears ambiguous.In
Werther,as in Faust,his hero is obsessed with transcendinghumanlimita-
tions. The reader encountersbeautifuldescriptionsand sublimeflightsof
language;yet characterssacrificethemselvesor each other to this sublime.
Neil Hertz observes that the sublime is a passage to the very limit which
becomes, afterthe recoveryfrom the momentof blockage,"a confirmation
of the unitarystatus of the self."43This resolutionis apparentin Goethe's
novel, for Wertherachieves,throughhis suicide,a lastingimpression,a final
formalizedand formulatedself, a text which confirmshis integrityby in-
terpretinghis life as an inevitableprogresstowardhis sublimeself-annihi-
lation. Lotte, on the other hand, experiencesthe opposite:the sublimeis a
shatteringweapon in the hands of Werther.So it is fittingthat in the text,
her fate is left unresolved and doubtful-a hovering question. Here the
sublimeis negatingand destructive,"inimical"to woman.n
Yet any analysisof the sublimein Goethe'sWerthermustbe tempered
by an awarenessof the author'sambiguousattitudetowardhis hero, whose

sublime rapturesend so tragically.This ambiguityemerges subtly in the
text, particularlythroughthe identificationof Werther'sstate of mindwith
illness,45suggestingthe folly of readingthe text as an unqualifiedexaltation
of this solipsistic hero and his sublime obsessions. Perhaps Goethe him-
self-the great German classicistmisconstruedas a Romantic-had res-
ervationsaboutthe sublime,as he had reservationsaboutRomanticism.He
once complainedto a friendthat, "it was never perceivedby the criticsthat
WertherpraisedHomer while he retained his senses and Ossian when he
was going mad."46If we temperour readingof the sublimein Wertherwith
this awareness,though the text sweeps us to the sublime "frontierof the
'invisibleworld',"47 We must pause before following the hero across the
threshold.In this sense, Werthermay be read as a subversivetext which
emphasizesthe anti-humannature of the sublime. The final shatteringof
Lotte-as the paradigmaticfeminine, as beauty, as the avenue of male
groundingin the sensibleworld-may be a warning,a cautionarytale about
the dangersof desiringthe infinite-an ethical rejectionof the sublime.
1Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Werke, ed. Erich Trunz, Vol. 6/1 (Hamburg: Christian
Wegner, 1965). The first edition, under the title of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers,appeared
in 1774. This essay uses the final edition of 1787; the title of this final edition lacks the genitive
"s" in the hero's name (hence, Die Leiden des jungen Werther). Though the earlier edition
would also be suitable for analysis, I thought it best, for this close reading, to treat the final
edition on the assumption that Goethe's revisions created an even more carefully and con-
sciously crafted text.
2 Silvia Bovenschen, Die imaginierte Weiblichkeit (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1979).
3Immanuel Kant, Kritik der Urteilskraft, ed. Karl Vorlinder (Hamburg: Meiner, 1963).
4Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime
and Beautiful, ed. James T. Boulton (Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell, 1987).
'Burke 150, 136.
6Burke 57-79. Burke also states that one goal of his treatise is to "discover what affec-
tions of the mind produce certain emotions of the body; and what distinct feelings and qualities
of the body shall produce certain determinate passions in the mind" (129).
7Burke 117, 115.
8Burke 110-11, 113. For another discussion of the gender implications of Burke's aes-
thetics, see Kari Lokke, "The Role of Sublimity in the Development of Modernist Aesthetics,"
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 40 (1982): 421-29. I am deeply indebted to her for
guidance in the preparation of this essay.
9Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, trans. Barbara Foxley, 1911 (London: Dent, 1966).
10Rousseau 322.
"These etymological links are substantiated in entries for hehr and herrlich in Grimm's
Deutsches Worterbuch,the Brockhaus WahrigDeutsches Worterbuch,the Etymologisches WOr-
terbuch des Deutschen, and the Etymologisches Worterbuchder deutschen Sprache. All but the
last of these sources also specify erhaben as a synonym for hehr. Gerhard Wahrig, ed.,
Deutsches Worterbuch (Munich: Mosaik Verlag, 1986); Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsches
Worterbuch (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1877); Gerhard Wahrig, et al., eds., Brockhaus WahrigDeutsches
Worterbuch (Wiesbaden: Brockhaus, 1981); Wolf Pfeifer, ed., Etymologisches Worterbuchdes
Deutschen (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1989); and Friedrich Kluge, et al., eds., Etymologisches
Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1989).
12Grimm 791.
222 Walker
3 Pfeiffer682.
14Earlyin the novel, Wertherdreamsabout "diepatriarchalische Idee" and the idyllic
life of "dieAltviter" (W 10). He imaginesthat Lotte'sfatherinhabitsa "Kinigreich"(W 20).
Later,he fantasizesabout "patriarchalisch[es] ... Leben"(W 29) in a remarkableparagraph
in whichhe appropriateseverythingin his environment:"mein... Wahlheim,""meineZucker-
erbsen,"and "mein... Homer"(W 29). Describinghisvisit to his childhoodtown,wherehe
lived untilthe deathof his father(W 72), he enviesthe happylivesof "dieherrlichenAltvfiter"
(W 73), and in subsequentpassages,he addresseshimself to God the Father (W 86, 90-91,
117).
15Hans Peter Herrmann, "Landschaft in Goethes Werther,"Goethes Werther.Kritik und
Forschung,ed. Hans Peter Herrmann(Darmstadt:Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,1994)
369.DirkGrathoff'sinterpretationof Wertheralso emphasizesa dialecticbetweenthe creative
and destructiveaspectsof nature,an interpretationthat correspondswell with my analysis.
See Dirk Grathoff,"DerPflug,die NuBbiumeund der Bauerbursche.Naturim thematischen
Gefuigedes Werther-Romans" in Hermann,397.
16Psychoanalytic criticM. Faberarguesthat "Wonne"undergoesa transformation later
in the text, and that althoughinitiallyWertherexperiencesit in the naturalrealm, it later
becomes emblematicof Werther'slonging for an "unattainablesymbioticreunionwith the
breast."This same differenceis explainableas a move fromthe beautifulto the sublime.The
psychologicaland aestheticaspectsof the text harmonizein this instance.See M. D. Faber,
"TheSuicideof YoungWerther,"ThePsychoanalyticReview60 (1973):257.
17Hans PeterHermann,in his articleon landscapein Werther, offersa detailedanalysis
of what he calls the three momentsof the text. These include 1) the unfoldingof the emo-
tionalityof the speakingsubject;2) the reciprocaltransformationof the subjectand nature;
and 3) the unfoldingof a new view of nature.His discussionof these three "moments"-
particularlyof the third-offers a complementaryreadingto this analysisof the sublime.
18R. D. Miller, The Beautiful Soul: A Study of Eighteenth-centuryIdealism as Exempli-
fied by Rousseau's La nouvelle H6loise and Goethe's Die Leiden des jungenWerthers(Har-
rogate:The Duchy Press,1981)52.
19Ibid.
20Burkecalls beauty"a socialquality"(42) andthe sublime"anidea belongingto self-
preservation"(86). Similarly,Gary Shapirodescribesthe "communication of our pleasurein
the beautifulandthe isolatingawarenessof the transcendentin ourexperienceof the sublime."
GaryShapiro,"Fromthe Sublimeto the Political,"New LiteraryHistory16.2 (1985):219.
21See note 15.
22It is interestingto note that as Werthermoves from the beautifulto the sublime,he
takes his notionsof the patriarchywith him.
23In this transitionfrom Homer to Ossian, Werther reflectedthe sentimentof its age,
and even furthered Ossian's popularity in Europe. (See Ossian und die Kunst um 1800. Katalog
der Ausstellung Hamburger Kunsthalle, 9. Mai bis 23. June 1974 [Mtinchen: Prestel, 1974] 18).
24Sally A. Winkle, Woman as Bourgeois Ideal: A Study of Sophie von La Roche's Ge-
schichtedes Friuleinsvon Sternheimand Goethe'sWerther(New York:PeterLang,1988)93.
I wouldlike to thankher for her earlyencouragementandinfluencein thisproject,particularly
regardingmy interpretationof Lotte.
25Winkle115.
26Bovenschen173, 180-81.
27Forinstance,Rousseauwrites,"Theaim of physicaltrainingfor boys and girlsis not
the same;in the one case it is the developmentof strength,in the other of grace"(329).
28EllenSpickernagel,"Zur Anmut erzogen-Weibliche Korperspracheim 18. Jahr-
hundert,"Frauenin der GeschichteIV, ed. Ilse Brehmeret al. (Diisseldorf:Schwann,1983)
305. For anotherstudyof Rousseau'sinfluenceon the Goethe era, see JacquesVoisine,"Von
den 'Wonnendes Gefuihls'zum 'Bildungsroman', "in Hermann,174-92.
29Spickernagel 312, 311.
30All underlinedwordsin this paragraph are my own emphasis.
31Friedrich Schillerportraysthe oppositionof the sublimeand beautifulin his essay,
"Uberdas Erhabene"(1801),as a contrastbetweenthe Sinnesweltandthe iibersinnlicheWelt,
and this paradigmis a fittingstatementof Werther'sdilemma.Schillerwrites:"DasErhabene
verschafftuns also einen Ausgangaus der sinnlichenWelt,worinuns das Schonegernimmer
gefangen halten m6chte."FriedrichSchiller,"Oberdas Erhabene,"Werke,ed. HerbertG.
G6pfert,vol. 2 (Miinchen:Hanser,1966)612.
32Bovenschen178.
33R.JahanRamazani,"Yeats:TragicJoy and the Sublime,"PMLA 104 (1989):168.
MItwould be foolish to pretendthat this interpretationexhauststhe meaningof his
suicide.Rather,I suggestthat it providesanotherlayerof meaningfor this suicidewhichhas
fascinatedcriticsfor so manyyears.
35Feuerlicht 487.
36Foroverviewof Germanreception,see Hans Hecht, "JamesMacphersonsOssian-
dichtung," Germanisch-romanische Monatsschrift 10 (1922): 220-37.
studyof the imagesof the emptyembraceandthe shadow
37See JohnFetzer'sintriguing
in Werther in "Schatten Ohne Frau: Marginalia on a WertherMotif," The Germanic Review
46.2 (1971):87-94.
38Forexample,see Werther101, 118, 120.
39Bovenschen41.
40Forexample,see the referencesto death and suicidein Wertheron pages 43, 46, 47,
48, 82, 84, and 91.
41KariLokke, "Schiller'sMariaStuart:The HistoricalSublimeand the Aestheticsof
Gender,"Monatshefte82.2 (1990):138.
42"Liebeund Treue,die schonstenmenschlichenEmpfindungen,hattensichin Gewalt
und Mordverwandelt"(W 95).
43Neil Hertz, The End of the Line: Essays on Psychoanalysis and the Sublime (New
York:ColumbiaUP, 1985)53. Manymodern-dayexaminationsof the sublimealso emphasize
its role with respectto the "unitaryself."
44Patricia Yaeger, "Toward a Female Sublime," Gender and Theory: Dialogues on Femi-
nist Criticism,ed. LindaKauffman(Oxford:Basil Blackwell,1989) 198.
45"MeinHerz ist wie ein krankesKind;jeder Willewirdihm gestattet"(W 10).
46Lawrence M. Price, The Reception of English Literature in Germany (Berkeley: U of
CaliforniaP, 1932) 173.
47ThomasWeiskel,TheRomanticSublime(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUP, 1976)43.

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University of Wisconsin Press

Sex, Suicide, and the Sublime: A Reading of Goethe's "Werther"

The sublime and the beautiful emerged as importantcategories in

Monatshefte,Vol. 91, No. 2, 1999 208

This "deceitfulmaze" has its counterpartin the behaviorof women,

and psychologythat pervadeshis influentialrepresentationsof masculinity

Eine wunderbareHeiterkeithat meine ganze Seele eingenommen,gleichden

In Ossian,Wertherfinds a poet whose consistentlysublimeportraitof na-

idealization results from male projection of repressed or rejected aspects

shore, preventedby the tempest from rescuingher.Towarddawn,she dies

Daura, and her brotherArindalwho mistakenlymurdersher lover Armar,

point that the Herausgeberwrites tersely,"von Lottens Jammerlaf3tmich

Und wie ichwehmuitig hinabsahaufein Plitzchen,wo ich mitLottenunter

by an awarenessof the author'sambiguousattitudetowardhis hero, whose

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