Frank Wedekind’s first major play, The Awakening of Spring, explores the sexually repressed society of nineteenth century Western culture and what authority figures we should and should not submit to.
In short, The Awakening of Spring follows a number of youths as they explore their emerging sexuality. Notably, the play follows Wendla, Melchior, and Moritz. The lives of the three are ultimately ruined by the authority figures they placed their trust in. After being sexually assaulted, Wendla ends up dead from a failed abortion operation. Moritz commits suicide after becoming a self-perceived failure for failing out of school. Finally, Melchior is expelled for writing a letter to Mortiz about sexuality. Melchior is almost perused to commit suicide by the ghost of Mortiz, but is ultimately stop by the only uncorrupted authority figure in the play, the Masked Man.
There are two clear messages contained within The Awakening of Spring. The first is that it is okay to explore sexuality and discuss it. All these tragedies could have been prevented if the children were better informed and not afraid to discuss their sexuality. Adolescence should be a time of exploration. However, by labeling certain topics as off limits for discussion and preventing them from being discussed we as a culture suffer.
The second, more subtle message, contained within The Awakening of Spring is the importance of questioning authority. All supposed figures of authority in The Awakening of Spring; the Pastor, Mrs. Bergmann, Mrs. Gabor, Martha’s parents, Ilse’s parents, and the teachers, in someway eventually fail the children who trusted them. The only true exception is the Masked Man. It is hard to say exactly what the Masked Man represents. Perhaps, he represents a higher power, in which case the message becomes that the only true authority is that which comes from our own spirituality and our own set of values. Moreover, the Masked Man could represent truth. This would make sense since he reveals what death really is like to Melchior. The message then becomes that we should only value the truth as authority.
Regardless, it is important to discuss and contemplate what the value of labeling “taboos” have within our society and who we should follow.
I agree that adolescence should be exploration and understanding of sexuality; repression only complicates matters. Everything awful that happened in this play could have been avoided if the parents and the society in general were more open about the topics of sex and management of stress. The main characters are constantly tormented by their changing bodies and minds. Moritz, for example, could have led a happy life if his parents helped him with schoolwork and told him he would be okay. So the play teaches the audience that questioning the authority and embracing the inevitable changes are healthy, not sinful.
I really enjoyed reading your analysis of this play, especially of the Masked Man. His interaction with Moritz and Melchior confused me at some point – he seemed like the Devil, but he warned Melchior from committing suicide as well. However, your interpretation of him makes sense.
I agree that adolescents should question authority. Your teenage years are a period of time in which you transition from the world and society you were born and raised into, to the world and society you wish to create. It is a very individual process and so by listening to authority without stopping to think about whether or not you agree with its mandates, you prevent yourself from maturing. It is crucial to assert your individuality as the masked man suggests, by leaving what hunts you and disagrees with you behind, in search of an individual truth and meaning.
I concur that we shouldn’t follow everything we are told and question our authorities once in awhile. Too often our society doesn’t like to talk about things, but that is when we learn the most about life and our values. If we don’t talk about what is going on, we only end up repeating the mistakes of our past. Each of us has to explore our individuality, but we have to do it in a safe manner by learning various aspects of life from our authorities. If our authorities choose to give us false information, they are only slowing the growth of our society and our values. There are so many different factors that influence how we are raised, but communication cannot be hindered in any way.
Vincent I completely agree with you in that it is best for our culture to change past “taboo” topics, which has overall occurred for the better. What was interesting to me was that you brought up the topic of authority. In the play, and generally in society parents and teachers are the most dominant forms of this in an adolescents’ life, and it is hard to constantly battle with inner opinions and what is considered already “standard.” The play in this case showed that the “authority” was wrong, and ironically their repression of any ideas of sexuality engendered the students to perform the act, and later lead to their tragic deaths.