Broken Bodies at Play: Physical Comedy and Ironic Bodies in Heinrich Von Kleist’S Dramas

BROKEN BODIES AT PLAY: PHYSICAL COMEDY AND IRONIC BODIES IN HEINRICH VON KLEIST’S DRAMAS by Christina Hinz A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland July 2020 © 2020 Christina Hinz All Rights Reserved Abstract The present dissertation examines broken bodies in the plays of the German dramatist Heinrich von Kleist, applying a particular focus on the movements, gestures and, most importantly, fractures and injuries of these bodies to propose their fragmentation and brokenness as a form of physical comedy and a unique conceptualization of corporeal irony. Three plays, Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, Der zerbrochne Krug and Penthesilea, exemplify Kleist’s distinctive use of organic and inorganic broken bodies as vehicles for the representation and performance of both ironic and comic effects. The approach adopted here is mostly informed by literary theory, literary aesthetics, theories of laughter and the comic, profiting mainly from the formulations of Paul de Man, Friedrich Schlegel, August Wilhelm Schlegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schiller. Putting these theories into dialogue with Kleist’s plays, I argue that he creates his own often complex form of physical comedy, achieved through the fractures, movements and appearances of the bodies, and invents an equally complex form of materialized bodily irony that lies outside the understanding of irony as a rhetorical device. I further contend that the representations and performances of Kleist’s broken bodies challenge theoretical and conceptual frameworks of this time, as detailed in the central three chapters. Adam and the titular pitcher are two broken bodies that critique dysfunctional power structures, while Käthchen’s leap from her window, fracturing her own legs, weighs in on contemporaneous ideals of femininity. The descriptions and staging of Penthesilea’s and Achilles’s bodies evoke comic effects, ultimately questioning categorizations of genre, while also challenging the distinction between passivity and agency by fashioning situations of both voluntary and involuntary irony. Through close readings of the selected plays – in particular, of the fragmented and injured bodies therein – ii I conclude that Kleist not only develops and articulates his own form of irony and comedy through literary and theatrical means but also that he uses these inventions to critique prevailing social structures, gender norms and value systems at the turn of the nineteenth century in addition to broader questions of genre classifications. Dissertation Advisors: Prof. Katrin Pahl and Prof. Rochelle Tobias iii Acknowledgements The completion of this dissertation project would not have happened without the extraordinary support I have received from numerous people along the way. First and foremost, I want to thank the German section of the MLL department of the Johns Hopkins University, not only for providing me the opportunity to learn, but also to grow through some of the most insightful, instructive, and inspirational dialogs. I am particularly indebted to Katrin Pahl, for her guidance, her productive challenges, her constructive input, her patience as my advisor and, above all, her seminars that sparked my enthusiasm for Kleist. I would also like to thank Rochelle Tobias for her insights and her encouragement to complete this seemingly impossible task. Special thanks are owed as well to Danilo Piana, for his unfading support as a friend and for his valuable knowledge and advice at unearthly hours; to Troy Tower, for his feedback and the hours spent reading and commenting on my dissertation; to Mack Zalin – without whom my research could not have been finished during a pandemic – for going above and beyond to provide me with every material needed when the libraries were closed; to Ed and Leigh Simone for always cheering me on; and to Kathy Loehmer, not only for making sure I never miss a deadline but also for encouraging me throughout the years. Neither would my research have been possible without the help of people who made sure I could take time to work and I want to especially thank Cara Tenerelli for all the help she has provided me and for the love and care she has given our children. I also want to thank my parents for always being understanding and supportive of my goals. iv But, above all, I will never know how to thank my children, Jimmy and Vicky, for understanding when Mama could not sit with them to play Legos, for putting up with my missing important trips to look at construction sites and trains, and for providing endless hugs, or how to thank my husband Nick for his constant support, for never doubting that I could succeed and for ultimately helping me across the finish line, especially in the last three months by stepping up as a cook and sole caretaker of children, house and dog so I could work. Not one word of this study could have been written without the three of you. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................ vii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 10 Irony: Between Truth and Trope....................................................................................... 10 The Comic Effect .............................................................................................................. 26 2 Das Käthchen von Heilbronn: A Body Breaking the Rules ............................................. 35 3 Corpora delicti: Bodies of Evidence ................................................................................ 68 4 Torn Apart: Ambivalent Bodies in Penthesilea ................................................................ 99 Injured and Ironic .............................................................................................................. 99 Tragic Opportunities for the Comic ................................................................................ 122 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 138 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 145 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 145 Print and Digital Sources ................................................................................................ 146 Biographical Statement ............................................................................................................... 157 vi Table of Figures Fig. 1: Las Meninas (1656), by Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez ........................................ 4 Fig. 2: La cruche cassée (1772 or 1773) by Jean-Baptiste Greuze .............................................. 82 Fig. 3: Le Juge, ou la cruche cassée (1770-1786) by Jean-Jaques LeVeau ................................. 85 vii Introduction Corporeality is a central element of Kleist’s work. Throughout his oeuvre, bodies are tortured in unexpected ways. They are tormented, ripped open, torn apart, shattered to pieces or pieced together, and we find body parts, like a finger or a breast, amputated. His first work, Die Familie Schroffenstein (1803), places physicality literally front and center, by displaying a lifeless body in the middle of the scene. An open casket, surrounded by other characters dominates the opening of the play: the corpse, the mere physical remains, marks the central place held by the body in Kleist’s work.1 Scholarship has consequently devoted substantial attention to the body in Kleist, with an eye to the evidently violent treatment of bodies in both his prose and dramas. In this regard, scholarly research offers a seemingly exhaustive discussion of the theme.2 So why should one contribute yet another study to an already copious body of research? Have not we heard enough about bodies in Kleist? With the present study, I will examine a perspective that has, to my knowledge, largely been overlooked, namely, the body – and especially the injured body – as a medium to articulate and perform irony and comic effects. Throughout the discussion, irony and the comic will be largely considered alongside each other. Rather than considering their relationship, the focus will lie on ways in which the body reflects and performs irony and the comic respectively. The Äthethische Grundbegriffe states: “Im Komischen werden für die Wahrnehmung inkongruente Kontexte über zwei- oder mehrwertige Bezüge auf eine ungewohnte Weise überraschend miteinander kombiniert, so daß plötzlich eine Durchlässigkeit zwischen diesen 1 See the stage directions to act one of the first scene (SW,

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