Awakening of Spring by Frank Wedekind depicts a group of teenagers raised in a rigid environment where abstinence is preached over education. Teenagers are forbidden from asking anything that has to do with sex or masturbation, which leads to catastrophic results. The fates of the main three characters, Moritz, Wendla, Melchoir demonstrate the dangers that a lack of knowledge can lead to.
The play exposes how the minds of teenagers work as they approach adulthood. Moritz, Wendla, and Melchoir discover different sensations, but have never been told what those thoughts mean. Because the play is written in 1891, the topic of sex, abortions, and suicide is strictly off-limits. The characters battle with their emotions as they try to figure out what these feelings mean. Without a proper education, teenagers cannot be expected to simply transform into adults and know everything. Awakening of Spring proves that sheltering young adults from information simply because it is considered controversial only does harm. Adolescents have the right to correct and comprehensive sexual health information. Statistics have shown that abstinence programs actually increase risk for pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Virginity pledge programs do not prevent teenagers from having sex and essentially do not deter them from starting younger. With the proper sexual education that has been implemented between 1991 and 2004, the U.S. teen birth rate fell from 62 to 41 per 1,000 female teens. These results further prove that hiding information from teenagers is not the proper path.
Wedekind did not only expose the dangers of a lack of information about sex, but also the dangers of organized religion. Moritz is shamed for committing suicide, and at his funeral the pastor talks about how sinful and immoral his acti
ons are. Although Moritz commits suicide because he loses hope after trying his best in school and failing, people only listen to what the church tells them is right and wrong. This shows how the times have changed. People now question
their religion and look at what is morally right rather than what a pastor tells them. Melchior, who claims to be an atheist, is upset when Wendla tells him that she likes to help the poor. He finds it frustrating that she enjoys something that is supposed to be a sacrifice, but he could never share his thoughts with anyone else.
I think you bring up very important points about the importance of sex education. Many adults used to ignore the issue and hope it would simply go away but the results of their actions led to catastrophes. Spring Awakening really promotes education and acceptance. Also, I was mortified about what happened at Moritz’s funeral, he was just a stressed kid. I agree that in this case religion promoted discrimination and hate rather than sympathy.
I agree with you.. Knowledge is power. If people know more about the risks, then they can make better informed decisions. By having proper sexual education courses, U.S teen birth rate, as you mentioned, went down. I didn’t really think about Wedekind having a “mission” when writing this play, but I can certainly understand how he may have wanted this play to open the eyes of its audience and teach them the importance of education!
The question I would like to raise after reading your article is whether you believe sexual education should be encouraged or institutionalized? If your view point, from what I perceive, is that it should be institutionalized then it is the fault of the government for not mandating sex ed. I think Frank Wedekind wanted to change society, not government, because it is society’s fault for labelling topics of limits.