WOYZECK 1993

1992 GEORG BUCHNER

words of the dying Bi.ichner reported by an unimpeachable witness: "We denberger's (1964): Ronald Hauser's Georg Bilchner (1974), Maurice Benn's
have not too much suffering but too little. For by suffering we go to God." The Drama of Revolt: A Critical Study of Georg Bilchner (1976), David G.
Richard's Georg Bilchner and the Birth of the Modern Drama (1977), Julian
But such glimpses of a Christian view must not be pressed too hard. The
Hilton's Georg Bilchner (1982), and Reinhold Grimm's Love, Lust, and
play has precisely the virtue of allowing a social, a nihilistic, an all-human,
Rebellion, New Approaches to Georg Bilchner (1985). The Complete Col-
and even a religious interpretation. As it remains unfinished we cannot decide
which would have ultimately received the main stress. lected Works, translated by Henry J. Schmidt (1977), contains the drafts to
What always surprises and fascinates is Bi.ichner's artistry and dramatic Woyzeck, much on Alban Berg's opera, and other documentary materia!.
technique. There is an undeniable progression of the action toward the cli-
max of the murder, but it is not presented as a logical series, as a concaten-
ation of cause and effect, but in a sequence of often very short scenes. There
Woyzeckl
are hardly any transitions and hardly any dialogues if we mean by it a gen-
uine interchange among characters. For instance, in scene 4 in Marie's CHARACTERS
chamber, Marie is shown trying on the earrings given to her by the Drum FRANZ WOYZECK INNKEEPER
Major but there is no interchange with Woyzeck who comes in commenting MARIE FIRST APPRENTICE
on the luck in finding two earrings and speaking rather of the little boy: SECOND APPRENTICE
CAPTAIN
"Those shiny drops on his forehead; everything under the sun is work. Sweat,
DOCTOR KARL, an idiot
even in our sleep." As he puts the hard-earned money on the table, Marie
DRUM MAJOR KATEY
feels an upsurge of remorse which she immediately suppresses with the
reflection that we all end in hell. The concentration, the violent changes of SERGEANT GRANDMOTHER
mood within a few lines, are masterstrokes obviously in defiance of the rhet- ANDRES FIRST CHILD
oric of German and French classical tragedy. MARGRET SECOND CHILD
The way the mood of the murder scene is indicated-forest, pond, cold BARKER FIRST PERSON
fog, a bloodred moon-and the inserted folksongs, often subtly alluding to ANNOUNCER SECOND PERSON
the action, show that Bi.ichner had not quite escaped the atmosphere of OLD MAN COURT CLERK
romanticism of his time which is, however, strongly contradicted by the
CHILD JUDGE
down-to-earth, sometimes coarse references to bodily functions and sexual
JEW
urges. The diction is usually laconic, free from embellishment, repeating
SOLDIERS, STUDENTS, YOUNG MEN, GIRLS, CHILDREN
key words such as "hot" or "cold," or "on and on" and "stab to death" as in
Woyzeck's monologue (12). But key words do not necessarily characterize a
single person. The motif of the "red mouth" is not only Woyzeck's obsession
but occurs in Marie's reflection on the fine ladies looking into their full- [SCENE I]-Open Field. The town In the distance.
length mirrors. Red is the moon like a bloody iron. "Blood," "red," "knife,"
"mouth" are almost clusters of images, symbols which go far beyond ordi-
nary realism and fit with the staccato rhythm of much of the language, the WOYZECK and ANDRES are cutting branches in the bushes.
cry ofthe anguished soul of Woyzeck asking "Should 17 Must 17" (12). In WOYZECK. Yes, Andres-that stripe there across the grass, that's where
these two simple questions the central conflict between morals and deter- heads roll at night; once somebody picked one up, he thought it
minism is again stated powerfully. was a hedgehog. Three days and three nights, and he was lying in
The play is preserved in a fair copy which, however, breaks off after scene a coffin. [Softly.] Andres, it was the Freemasons, that's it, the
17. The rest has to be reconstructed from three earlier drafts which often
Freemasons-shh!
contradict each other and have different orders of scenes. Modern editions
ANDRES. [Sings.]
have used them to change, contaminate, and alter the sequences even of the
clean copy. (The striking opera by Alban Berg rWozzeck, 19211 has Woyzeck I saw two big rabbits
drown in the pond and concludes with a scene showing children running Chewing up the green, green grass.
off to look for Marie's corpse while her own son continues playing "hop, WOYZECK. Shh! something's moving!
hop" on a wooden horse.) The exact sequence of many scenes was never ANDRES. Chewing up the green, green grass
finally determined, but the looseness of the overall structure and the mosaic-
like series of little scenes enhance the sense of the world's chaos and the
hero's bewilderment. 1. A reconstruction (consisting of Buchner's incomplete rcvision [Fourth Draft] and sccnes from
thc First Draft). Reconstructed and translated by Henry J. Schmidt.
In English, there are now several books on Bi.ichner since Herbert Lin-
1994 GEORG BUCHNER WOYZECK 1995

Till it was all gone.2 Rockabye baby, my baby are you,

WOYZECK.Something's moving behind me, under me. [Stamps on Nobody cares what I do.
the ground.] Hollow-you hear that? It's all hollow down there.
The Freemasons!
Johnny, hitch up your six horses fleet,
ANDRES.I'm scared.
Go bring them something to eat.
WOYZECK.It's so strangely quiet. You feel like holding your breath. From oats they will turn,
Andres!
From water they'll turn,
ANDRES.What?
Only cool wine will be fine, hooray!
WOYZECK. Say something! [Stares off into the distance.] Andres! Look Only cool wine will be fine.
how bright it is! There's fire raging around the sky, and a noise is [A knock at the window.]
coming down like trumpets. It's coming closer! Let's go! Don't MARIE.Who's that! Is that you, Franz? Come on in!
look back! [Drags him into the bushes.] WOYZECK.I can't. Have to go to roll call.
ANDRES.[After a pause.] Woyzeck! Do you still hear it? MARIE.What's the matter with you, Franz?
WOYZECK.Quiet, it's all quiet, like the world was dead. WOYZECK.[Mysteriously.] Marie, there was something out thcl('
ANDRES.Listen! They're drumming. We've got to get back.
again-a lot. Isn't it written: "And 10, the smoke of the counlry
went up as the smoke of a furnace"?3
[SCENE2]-Thc town.
MARIKMan alive!
WOYZECK.It followed me until I reached town. What's going to IlaJl
MARIEwith her CHILDat the window. MARGRET. A military patrol
pen?
goes by, the DRUMMAJORleading.
MARIE.Franz!
MARIE.[Rocking the CHILDin her arms.] Hey, boy! Ta-ra-ra-ra! You
WOYZECK.I've got to go. [He leaves.]
hear it? They're coming.
MARIE.That man! He's so upset. He didn't look at his own cllild
MARGRET.What a man, like a tree!
MARIE.He stands on his feet like a lion. (The DRUMMAJORgreets He'll go crazy with those thoughts of his. Why are you so q IIiel,
son? Are you scared? It's getting so dark, you'd think YOII Wl'rc
them.)
blind. Usually there's a light shining in. I can't stand it. I'm frigid
MARGRET.Say, what a friendly look you gave him, neighbor-we're
ened. [Goes o1t.]
not used to that from you.
MARIE.[Sings.]
A soldier is a handsome fellow.
MARGRET.Your eyes are still shining. [SCENE3. ]-Carnival booths. Lights. People. 4
MARIE.SO what? Why don't you take your eyes to the Jew and have
them polished-maybe they'll shine enough to sell as two buttons.
MARGRET. What? Why, Mrs. Virgin, I'm a decent woman, but you- OLDMAN.DANCINGCHILD.
you can stare through seven pairs of leather pants! How long we live, just time will tell,
MARIE.Bitch! [Slams the window shut.] Come, my boy, What do We all have got to die,
they want from us, anyway? You're only the poor child of a whore, We know that very well!
and you make your mother happy with your bastard face. Ta-ta! WOYZECK. Hey! Whee! Poor man, old man! Poor child! YOllng child!
[Sings.] Hey, Marie, shall I carry you? ... Beautiful world!
Maiden, now what's to be done? CARNIVALBARKER.[In front of a booth.] Gentlemen! Ccntlcmen!
You've got no ring, you've a son. [Points to a monkey.] Look at this creature, as God made it: he's
Oh, why worry my head, nothing, nothing at all. Now see the effect of art: hc walks upright,
I'll sing here at your bed:
3. From Revelations 9:2. Woyzeck's hallucinations arc linked with the vision of St. John the
Divine foretelling the end of the world and the Last Judgment. 4. In his revision, Buchner
2. This and the other songs in the play are authentic German songs Buchner knew, and should wrote only this title and left one and a half pages blank. Thc scene has been reconstructed from
be sung to tunes of a popular or folk-like character. earlier drafts. [Translator's note.]
 :111

1996 GEORG BOCHNER WOYZECK 1997

III
!,I

wears coat and pants, carries a sword! Ho! Take a bow! Good boy. beastly human being, but still an animal, a bete. ['I71e horse behaves
Give me a kiss! [Monkey trumpets.] The little dummy is musical! improperly.] That's right, put societe to shame! You see, the beast
Ladies and gentlemen, here is to be seen the astronomical horse is still nature, unspoiled nature! Take a lesson from him. Go ask
',1111,

and the little cannery-birds5-they're favorites of all potentates of the doctor, it's very unhealthyJ7 It is written: man, be natural; you
'II'
III! Europe and members of all learned societies. They'll tell you were created from dust, sand, dirt. Do you want to be more than
everything: how old you are, how many children you have, what dust, sand, dirt? Observe his power of reason! He can add, but he
r kind of illnesses. [Points to the money.] He shoots a pistol, stands can't count on his fingers-why is that? He simply can't express
II,III
on one leg. It's all a matter of upbringing; he has merely a beastly himself, explain himself-he's a transformed person! Tell the
reason, or rather a very reasonable beastliness-he's no brutish gentlemen what time it is. Who among the ladies and gentlemen
111'1:

has a watch-a watch?

individual likc a lot of people, present company excepted. Enter!
The presentation will begin. The commencement of the begin- DRUM MAJOR. A watch! [Slowly and grandly he pulls a watch out of
ning will start immediately. his pocket.] There you are, sir.
Observe the progress of civilization. Everything progresses-a MARIE. This I've got to see. [She climbs into the first row. The DRUM
horse, a monkey, a cannery-bird. The monkey is already a sol- MAJOR helps her.]
dier-that's not much, it's the lowest level of the human race!
WOYZECK. Want to?
[SCENE 4]-Room.
MARIE.All right. It ought to be good. Look at his tassels, and the
woman's got pants on!
MARIE sits with her CHILD on her lap, a piece of mirror in her
(SERGEANT. DRUM MAJOR. [MARIE. WOYZECK.])
hand.
SERGEANT. Hold it! Over there. Look at her! What a piece!
MARIE. [Looks at herself in the mirror.] These stones really sparkle!
DRUM MAJOR. Damn! Good enough for the propagation of cavalry
regiments and the breeding of drum majors. What kind are they? What did he say?-Go to sleep, son!
SERGEANT. Look how she holds her head-you'd think that black Shut your eyes tight. [The CHILD covers his eyes with his hands.]
hair would pull her down like a weight. And those eyes, black. .. Tighter-stay quiet or he'll come get you. [Sings.]
DRUM MAJOR. It's like looking down a well or a chimney. Come on,
Close up your shop, fair maid,
after her! A gypsy boy's in the glade.
MARIE. Those lights! He'll lead you by the hand
WOYZECK. Yeah, likc a big black cat with ficry cycs. Hcy, what a Off into gypsyland.
night! [Looks in the mirror again.] It must be gold. The likes of us only
have a little corner in the world and a little piece of mirror, but I
[Inside the booth.] have just as red a mouth as the great ladies with their mirrors from
CARNIVAL ANNOUNCER. [Presenting a horse.] Show your talent! Show top to toe and their handsome lords who kiss their hands. I'm just a
your beastly wisdom! Put human society to shame! Gentlemen, poor woman. [The CHILD sits up.] Shh, son, eyes shut-look, the
this animal that you see here, with a tail on his body, with his sandman! He's running along the wall. [She flashes with the mirror.]
four hooves, is a member of all learned societies, is a professor at Eyes shut, or he'll look into them, and you'll go blind.
our university, with whom the students learn to ride and fight
[WOYZECK enters behind her. She jumps up with her hands over
duels. That was simple comprehension! Now think with double
raison. What do you do when you think with double raison? Is her ears.]
WOYZECK. What's that you got there?
there in the learned societe an ass? [The horse shakes its head.]
MARIE. Nothing.
Now you understand double raison! That is beastiognomy.6 Yes,
WOYZECK. Something's shining under your fingers.
that's no brutish individual, that's a person! A human being, a

5. The Barker says Canai/levogel instead of Kanarienvogel, which means "canaries." Canaille 6. Viehsionomik: a pun on "heast" and "physiognomy." [Translator's note.] 7. I.e., unhealthy
to hold it in.
means "scoundrel."[Translator's note.]

I,ll
 1998 GEORG BUCHNER WOYZECK 1999

MARIE.An earring-I found it. word. You have a child without thc blessing of the church, as our
WOYZECK.I've never found anything like that. Two at once. Reverend Chaplain says, without the blessing of thc church-j
MARIE.What am I-a whore? didn't say it.
WOYZECK.It's all right, Marie.-Look, the boy's asleep. Lift him up WOYZECK.Cap'll, thc good Lord isn't going to look at a poor little
under his arms, the chair's hurting him. There are shiny drops on kid only because amen was said over it before it was created. The
his forehead; everything under the sun is work-sweat, even in Lord said: "Suffer little children to come unto me. "8
our sleep. Us poor people! Here's some more money, Marie, my CAPTAIN.What's that you're saying? What kind of a crazy answer is
pay and some from my captain. that? You're gctting me all confused with your answer. When I
MARIE.Bless you, Franz. say you, I mean you-you!
WOYZECK.I have to go. See you tonight, Marie. Bye. WOYZECK.US poor people. You see, Cap'n-money, money. If you
MARIE.[Alone, after apause.] Whata bitch I am. I could stab myself.- don't have money. Just try to raise your own kind on morality in
Oh, what a world! Everything goes to hell anyhow, man and woman this world. After all, we're flesh and blood. The likes of us are
alike. wretched in this world and in the next; I guess if we ever got to
Heaven, we'd have to help with the thunder.
[SCENE5]-Tne CAPTAIN.WOYZECK.
CAPTAIN.Woyzeck, you have no virtue, you're not a virtuous person.
Flesh and blood? When I'm lying at the window after it has rained,
The CAPTAINin a chair, WOYZECK
shaves him. and I watch the white stockings as they go tripping down the street-
CAPTAIN.Take it easy, Woyzeck, take it easy. One thing at a time; damn it, Woyzeck, then love comes all over me. I've got flesh and
you're making me quite dizzy. You're going to finish early today- blood, too. But Woyzeck, virtue, virtue! How else could I make
what am I supposed to do with the extra ten minutes? Woyzeck, time go by? I always say to myself: you're a virtuous man, [Senti-
just think, you've still got a good thirty years to live, thirty years! mentally] a good man, a good man.
That's 360 months, and days, hours, minutes! What are you going WOYZECK.Yes, Cap'n, virtuc! I haven't figured it out yet. You see,
to do with that ungodly amount of time? Get organized, Woy- us common people, wc don't have virtuc, we act like nature tells
zeck. us-but if I was a gentleman, and had a hat and a watch and an
WOYZECK.Yes, Cap'n. overcoat and could talk refined, then I'd be virtuous, too. Virtue
CAPTAIN.I fear for the world when I think about eteruity. Activity, must be nice, Cap'n. But I'm just a poor guy.
Woyzeck, activity! Eternal, that's eternal, that's eternal-you real- CAPTAIN.That's fine, Woyzeck, You're a good man, a good man.
ize that, of course. But then again it's not eternal, it's only a But you think too much, that's unhealthy-you always look so
moment, yes, a moment.-Woyzeck, it frightens me to think that upset. This discussion has really worn me out. You can go now-
the earth rotates in one day-what a waste of time, what will come and don't run likc that! Slow, nice and slow down the street.
of that? Woyzeck, I can't look at a mill wheel anymore or I get [SCENE6 I-MARIE. DRUMMAJOR.
melancholy.
WOYZECK.Yes, Cap'n. DRUMMAJOR.Marie!
CAPTAIN.Woyzeck, you always look so upset. A good man doesn't MARIE. [Looking at him expressively] Go march up and down for
act like that, a good man with a good conscience. Say something, me.-A chest like a bull and a beard like a lion. Nobody else is
Woyzeck. What's the weather like today? like that.-No woman is prouder than me.
WOYZECK.It's bad, Cap'n, bad-wind. DRUMMAJOR.Sundays when I have my plumed helmet and my white
CAPTAIN.I can feel it, there's something rapid out there. A wind like gloves-goddamn, Marie! The prince always says: man, you're
that reminds me of a mouse. [Cunningly] I believe it's coming quite a guy!
from the south-north. MARIE.[Mockingly.] Aw, go on! [Goes up to him.] What a man!
WOYZECK.Yes, Cap'n. DRUMMAJOR.What a woman! Hell, let's breed a race of drum majors,
CAPTAIN.Hal Ha! Hal South-north! Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, are you stupid, hey! [He embraces her.]
terribly stupid. [Sentimentally] Woyzeck, you're a good man, a MARIE.[Moody.] Leave me alone!
good man-[With dignity.] but Woyzeck, you've got no morality.
8. Mark 10:14.
Morality-that's when you are moral, you understand. It's a good
 2000 GEORG BOCHNER 2001
WOYZECK

DRUM MAJOR. You wildcat! was just holding my nose out the window, letting the sun's rays
MARIE. [Violently.] Just try to touch me! hit it, so as to examine the process of sneezing. [Starts kicking
DRUM MAJOR. Is thc dcvil in your eyes?
him.] No, Woyzeck, I'm not getting angry; anger is unhealthy,
MARIE. For all I care. What does it matter?
unscientific. I am calm, perfectly calm-my pulse is beating at its
[SCENE 7]-MARIE, WOYZECK. usual sixty, and I'm telling you this in all cold-bloodedness! Who
on earth would get excited about a human being, a human being!
WOYZECK. [Stares at her, shakes his head.] Hm! I don't see anything, Now if it were a Proteus lizard that were dying! But you shouldn't
I don't see anything. Oh, I should be able to see it; I should be have pissed on the wall. . .
able to grab it with my fists. WOYZECK. You see, Doctor, sometimes you've got a certain charac-
MARIE. [Tntimidated.] What's the matter, Franz? You're out of your ter, a certain structure.-But with nature, that's something else,
mind, Franz.
you see, with nature-[He cracks his knuckles.] that's like-how
WOYZECK. A sin so fat and so wide-it stinks enough to smoke the should I put it-for example ...
angels out of Heaven. You've got a red mouth, Marie. No blister DOCTOR. Woyzeck, you're philosophizing again.
on it? Good-bye, Marie, you're as beautiful as sin.-Can mortal WOYZECK. [Confidingly.] Doctor, have you evcr seen anything of
sin be so beautiful?
double nature? When the sun's standing high at noon and the
MARIE. Franz, you're delirious.
world seems to be going up in flames, I've heard a terrible voice
WOYZECK. Damn it!-Was he standing here like this, like this? talking to me!
MARIE. As the day is long and the world is old, lots of people can DOCTOR. Woyzeck, you've got an aberratio!
stand on one spot, one after another. WOYZECK. [Puts his finger to his nosc.] The toadstools, Doctor.
WOYZECK. I saw him.
There-that's where it is. Have you seen how they grow in pat-
MARIE. You can see all sorts of things if you've got two cyes and aren't terns? If only someone could read that.
blind, and the sun is shining. DOCTOR. Woyzeck, you've got a marvelous aberratio mentalis par-
WOYZECK. [With my own eyes!]
tialis,l second species, beautifully developed. Woyzeck, you're
MARIE. [Fresh.] So what!
getting a raise. Second species: obsession with a generally rational
[SCENE 8]-WOYZECK. The DOCTOR. condition. You're doing everything as usual-shaving your cap-
tain?
DOCTOR. What's this I saw, Woyzeck? A man of his word! WOYZECK. Yes, sir.
WOYZECK. What is it, Doctor? DOCTOR. Eating your peas?
DOCTOR. I saw it, Woyzeck-you pissed on the street, you pissed on WOYZECK. Same as ever, Doctor. My wife gets the money for the
the wall like a dog. And even though you get two cents a day. household.
Woyzeck, that's bad. The world's getting bad, very bad. DOCTOR. Going on duty?
WOYZECK. But Doctor, the call of nature ...
WOYZECK. Yes, sir.
DOCTOR. The call of nature, the call of nature! Nature! Haven't I
DOCTOR. You're an interesting case. Subject Woyzeck, you're getting
proved that the musculus constrictor vesicae9 is subject to the will? a raise. Now behave yourself. Show me your pulse! Yes.
Nature! Woyzeck, man is free; in man alone is individuality exalted
to freedom. Couldn't hold it in! [Shakes his head, puts his hands [SCENE 9]---CAPTAIN. DOCTOR.

behind his back, and paces back and forth.] Did you eat your peas CAPTAIN. Doctor, I'm afraid for the horses when I think that the poor
already, Woyzeck?-I'm revolutionizing science, I'll blow it sky- beasts havc to go everywhere on foot. Don't run like that! Don't
high. Urea ten per cent, ammonium chloride, hyperoxidic. wave your cane around in the air like that! You'll run yourself to
Woyzeck, don't you have to piss again? Go in there and try. death that way. A good man with a good conscience doesn't go so
WOYZECK. I can't, Doctor.
fast. A good man. [He catches the DOCTOR by the coat.] Doctor,
DOCTOR. [With emotion.] But pissing on the wall! I have it in writ- allow me to save a human life. You're racing .... Doctor, I'm so
ing, here's the contract. I saw it all, saw it with my own eyes-I melancholy, I get so emotional, I always start crying when I see

9. The spinder muscle of the bladder. 1. "Partial mental aberration."

I" !!
 2002 GEORG BOCHNER WOYZECK 2003

my coat hanging on the wall-there it is. ANDRES.With that whore.

I!
DOCTOR. Hm! Bloated, fat, thick neck, apoplectic constitution. Yes, WOYZECK. I've got to get out. It's so hot in here.
I.
I..!
Captain, you might be stricken by an apoplexia cerebralis.2 But [SCENE Il]-Inn.
I'

'.1
you might get it just on one side and be half paralyzed, or-best
of all-you might become mentally affected and just vegetate from The windows are open, a dance. Benches in front of the house.
IIII APPRENTICES.
!',! then on: those are approximately your prospects for the next four
FIRST APPRENTICE.
weeks. Moreover, I can assure you that you will be a most inter-
esting case, and if, God willing, your tongue is partially paralyzed, This shirt I've got, I don't know whose,
,II
II!I
Ii
we'll make immortal experiments. My soul it stinks like booze ...
CAPTAIN. Doctor, don't frighten me! People have been known to die SECOND APPRENTICE. Brother, shall I in friendship bore a hole in
of fright, of pure, sheer fright.-I can see them now, with their your nature? Dammit, I want to bore a hole in your nature. I'm
hats in their hands-but they'll say, he was a good man, a good quite a guy, too, you know-I'm going to kill all the fleas on his
man.-You damn coffin nail! body.
DOCTOR. [(Holds out his hat.)] What's this, Captain? That's brain- FIRST APPRENTICE. My soul, my soul it stinks like booze.-Even money
less! eventually decays. Forget-me-not! Oh, how beautiful this world is.
CAPTAIN. [Makes a crease.) What's this, Doctor? That's in-crease! Brother, I could cry a rain barrel full of tears. I wish our noses were
DOCTOR. I take my leave, most honorable Dr. Drillprick. two bottles and we could pour them down each other's throats.
CAPTAIN. Likewise, dearest Mr. Coffin Nail. OTHERS. [In chorus.]
A hunter from the west
[SCENE lOJ-The guardroom. Once went riding through the woods.
WOYZECK. ANDRES. Hip-hip, hooray! A hunter has a merry life,
ANDRES. (Sings.) 0' er meadow and o'er stream,
Our hostess has a pretty maid, Oh, hunting is my dream!
She's in her garden night and day, [WOYZECK stands at the window. MARIE and the DRUM MAJOR

She sits inside her garden. dance past without seeing him.]
WOYZECK. Andres! MARIE. [Dancing by.] On! and on, on and on!
ANDRES. Huh? WOYZECK. [Chokes.] On and on-on and on! [jumps up violently
WOYZECK. Nice weather. and sinks back on the bench.] On and on, on and on. [Beats his
ANDRES. Sunday weather. There's music outside town. All the broads hands together. J Spin around, roll around. Why doesn't God blow
are out there already, everybody's sweating-it's really moving along. out the sun so that everything can roll around in lust, man and
WOYZECK. [Restlessly.] A dance, Andres, they're dancing.
woman, man and beast. Do it in broad daylight, do it on our
ANDRES. Yeah, at the Horse and at the Star. hands, like f1ies.-Woman!-That woman is hot, hot! On and
WOYZECK. Dancing, dancing.
on, on and on. Uumps up.] The bastard! Look how he's grabbing
ANDRES. Big deal. [Sings.] her, grabbing her body! He-he's got her now, like I used to have
her. 3
She sits inside her garden,
Until the bells have all struck twelve, FIRST APPRENTICE. [Preaches on the table.] Yet when a wanderer
And stares at all the soo-ooldiers. stands leaning against the stream of time or gives answer for the
WOYZECK. Andres, I can't keep still. wisdom of God, asking himself: Why does man exist? Why does
ANDRES. Fool! man exist?-But verily I say unto you: how could thc farmer, the
WOYZECK. I've got to get out of here. Everything's spinning before cooper, the shoemaker, the doctor exist if God hadn't created man?
my eyes. How hot their hands are. Damn it, Andres! How could the tailor exist if God hadn't given man a feeling of
ANDRES. What do you want? shame? How could the soldier exist, if men didn't feel the neces-
WOYZECK. I've got to go. sity of killing one another? Therefore, do not ye despair, yes, yes,

2. A stroke. 3. Or: "like it always is at the beginning!" [Translator's note.]

2004 GEORG BUCHNER WOYZECK 2005

it is good and pleasant, yet all that is earthly is passing, even money WOYZECK. How much is the knife?
eventually decays.-In conclusion, my dear friends, let us piss JEW. It's good and straight. You want to cut your throat with it?
crosswise so that a Jew will die. Well, how about it? I'll give it to you as cheap as anybody else;
[SCENE 12]-Open field. your death'll be cheap, but not for nothing. How about it? You'll
have an economical death.
WOYZECK. On and on! On and on! Shh-music. [Stretches out on WOYZECK. That can cut more than just bread.
the ground] Ha-what, what are you saying? Louder, louder- JEW. Two cents.
stab, stab the bitch to death? Stab, stab the bitch to death. Should WOYZECK. There! [Goes off.]
I? Must I? Do 1 hear it over there too, is the wind saying it too? JEW. There! Like it was nothing. But it's money! The dog.
Do 1 hear it on and on-stab her to death, to death.
[SCENE 16]-MARIE. KARL, the idiot. CHILD.
[SCENE l3]-Night.
MARIE. [LeafS through the Bible.] "And no guile is found in his
ANDRES and WOYZECK in a bed. mouth"4 .... My God, my God! Don't look at me. [Pages fur-
WOYZECK. (Shakes ANDRES.) Andres! Andres! 1 can't sleep--when I ther.] "And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman
close my eyes, everything starts spinning, and I hear fiddles, on taken in adultery, and set her in the midst. ... And Jesus said
and on, on and on. And then there's a voice from the wall--don't unto her, 'Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.' "5
you hear anything? [Clasps her hands together.] My God! My God! I can't. God, just
ANDRES. Oh, yeah-let them dance! God bless us, amen. [Falls asleep give me enough strength to pray. [The CHILD snuggles up to her.]
again.] The boy is like a knife in my heart. [Karl! He's sunning himself!]
WOYZECK. And it floats between my eyes like a knife. KARL. (Lies on the ground and tells himself fairy tales on his fingers.)
ANDRES. Drink some brandy with a painkiller in it. That'll bring your This one has a golden crown-he's a king. Tomorrow I'll go get
fever down. the Queen's child. Blood sausage says, come, liver sausage! [He
[SCENE 14]-lnn. takes the CHILD and is quiet.]
[MARIK] Franz hasn't come, not yesterday, not today. It's getting hot
DRUM MAJOR. WOYZECK. PEOPLE. in here. [She opens the window.] "And stood at his feet weeping,
DRUM MAJOR. I'm a man! [Pounds his chest.] A man, I say. Who and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the
wants to start something? If you're not drunk as a lord, stay away hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with
from me. I'll shove your nose up your ass. I'll ... [To WOYZECK.] ointment."6 [Beats her breast.] It's all dead! Savior, Savior, I wish
Man, have a drink. A man gotta drink. I wish the world was booze, 1 could anoint your feet.
booze.
WOYZECK. [Whistles.] [SCENE 1 7]- The barracks.
DRUM MAJOR. You bastard, you want me to pull your tongue out of ANDRES. WOYZECK rummages through his things.
your throat and wrap it around you? (They wrestle, WOYZECK loses.) WOYZECK. This jacket isn't part of the uniform, Andres; you can use
Shall I leave you as much breath as an old woman's fart? Shall I? it, Andres. The crucifix is my sister's, and the little ring. I've got
(WOYZECK sits on the bench, exhausted and trembling. ) an icon, too--two hearts and nice gold. It was in my mother's
DRUM MAJOR. He can whistle till he's blue in the face. Hal Bible, and it says:
Oh, brandy, that's my life, May pain be my reward,
Oh, brandy give me courage! Through pain I love my Lord.
A PERSON. He sure got what was coming to him. Lord, like Thy body, red and sore,
ANOTHER. He's bleeding. So be my heart forevermore.
WOYZECK. One thing after another. My mother can only feel the sun shining on her hands now. That
doesn't matter.
[SCENE 15]-wOYZECK. The JEW.
ANDRES. [Blankly, answers to everything.] Yeah.
WOYZECK. The pistol costs too much.
JEW. Well, do you want it or don't you? 4. Isaiah 53:9. 5. John 8:3,4,11. 6. Luke 7:38. Jesus forgave the woman her sins.
 I 2006 GEORG BOCHNER WOYZECK 2011/
III

r WOYZECK. [Pulls out a piece of paper. Friedrich Johann Franz Woy-

J earth was an overturned pot and was all alone and it sat down and
zeck, enlisted infantryman in the second regiment, second battal- cried and there it sits to this day, all alone.
ion, fourth company, born ... Today7 I'm thirty years, seven WOYZECK. Marie!
I months, and twelve days old. MARIE. [Startled.] What is it?
ANDRES. Franz, you better go to the infirmary. You poor guy--drink WOYZECK. Marie, we have to go. It's time.
brandy with a painkiller in it. That'll kill the fever. MARIE. Where to?
WOYZECK. You know, Andres, when the carpenter nails those boards WOYZECK. How do I know?
together, nobody knows who'll be laying his head on them.8
[SCENE 19]-MARIE and WOYZECK.
[SCENE 18]-Street.
MARIE. SO the town is over there-it's dark.
MARIEwith girls in front of the house door. [GRANDMOTHER. WOYZECK. Stay here. Come on, sit down.
Then WOYZECK.] MARIE. But I have to get back.
GIRLS. How bright the sun on Candlemas Day,9 WOYZECK. You won't get sore feet.
ill II
On Fields of golden grain. MARIE. What's gotten into you!
As two by two they marched along WOYZECK. Do you know how long it's been, Marie?
Down the country lane. MARIE. Two years since Pentecost. I
The pipers up in front, WOYZECK. And do you know how long it's going to be?
II
The fiddlers in a chain. MARIE. I've got to go, the evening dew is falling.
Their red socks ... WOYZECK. Are you freezing, Marie? But you're warm. How hol VIII II

FIRST CHILD. That's nice.

Ii

!
, lips are!-Hot, the hot breath of a whore-and yet I'd give 11<.1\, II
SECOND CHILD. What do you want, anyway? and earth to kiss them once more. And when you're cold, \'" I
[OTHERS.] Why'd you start it? don't freeze anymore. T'he morning dew won't make you 1,(", ,
,I Yeah, why? MARIE. What are you talking about?
I can't.
1111,!li

,Ii"

!I' WOYZECK. Nothing. [Silence. J

Because! MARIE. Look how red the moon is.

Who's going to sing? WOYZECK. Like a bloody blade.
Why because? MARIE. What are you up to? Franz, you're so pale. [He pulls III tI II"
Marie, you sing to us. knife.] Franz-wait! For God's sake-help!
MARIE. Come, you little shrimps. WOYZECK. Take that and that! Can't you die? There! Thcwl\l,
[Children's games: "Ring-around-a-rosy" and "King Herod.'l she's still twitching-not yet? Not yet? Still alive? [Stabs 01lCC .1.':/111 I
Grandmother, tell a story. Are you dead? Dead! Dead! [People approach, he nms oil 1

GRANDMOTHER. Once upon a time there was a poor child with no

father and no mother, everything was dead, and no one was left [SCENE 20J-Two people.
in the whole world. Everything was dead, and it went and searched FIRST PERSON. Wait!
day and night. And since nobody was left on the earth, it wanted SECOND PERSON. You hear it? Shh! Over there.
to go up to the heavens, and the moon was looking at it so friendly, FIRST PERSON. Ooh! There! What a sound.
and when it finally got to the moon, the moon was a piece of SECOND PERSON. That's the water, it's calling. Nobody ILl', .1111\\'" ,I
rotten wood and then it went to the sun and when it got there, the for a long time. Let's go-it's bad to hear things like 11,.11
sun was a wilted sunflower and when it got to the stars, they were FIRST PERSON. Ooh! There it is again. Like someone <11'111:'.
little golden flies stuck up there like the shrike sticks 'em on the SECOND PERSON. It's weird. It's so fragrant-some gray 1"1'... 11,,1 III<"

blackthorn and when it wanted to go back down to the earth, the beetles humming like broken bells. Let's get out oi 11<"1<,1

FIRST PERSON. No-it's too clear, too loud. Up this wav (:Olli(' OIl.
7. Buchner illscrted here: "on the Feast of the Annunciation, the 20th of July" (actually Mareh
25). [Translator's notel 8. Buchner's revision ends here, The remaining scenes are from his
first draft. 9. February 2. 1. Church holiday seven Sundays after Easter.
 HENRIK IBSEN 2009
2008 GEORG BUCHNER

SECOND CHILD. Where?

[SCENE 2l]-The inn.
FIRST CHILD. To the left through the trench, near the red cross.
[WOYZECK. KATEY. KARL. INNKEEPER. People.] SECOND CHILD. Let's go, so we can still see something. Otherwise
WOYZECK. Dance, all of you, on and on, sweat and stink-he'll get they'll carry her away.
you all in the end. [Sings.]
[SCENE 23]-WOYZEC<: alone.
Our hostess has a pretty maid,
She's in her garden night and day, WOYZECK. The knife? Where's the knife? Here's where I left it. It'll
She sits inside her garden, give me away! Closer, still closer! What kind of a place is this?
Until the bells have all struck twelve, What's that I hear? Something's moving. Shh! Over there. Marie?
And stares at all the soldiers. Ah-Marie! Quiet. Everything's quiet! Why are you so pale, Marie?
[He dances.] Come on, Katey! Sit down! I'm hot! Hot. [He takes Why is that red thread around your neck? Who helped you earn
off his jacket.] That's the way it is: the devil takes one and lets the that necklace, with your sins? They made you black, black! Now
other go. Katey, you're hot! Why? Katey, you'll be cold someday, I've made you white. Why does your black hair hang so wild?
too. Be reasonable. Can't you sing something? Didn't you do your braids today? Something's lying over there!
KATEY. For Swabian2 hills I do not yearn, Cold, wet, still. Got to get away from here. The knife, the knife-
And flowing gowns I always spurn, is that it? There! People-over there. [He runs off]
For flowing gowns and pointed shoes
[SCENE 24]-WOYZECK at a pond.
A servant girl should never choose.
WOYZECK. No, no shoes-you can go to hell without shoes, too. WOYZECK. Down it goes! [He throws the knife in.] It sinks into the
KATEY. For shame, my love, I'm not your own, dark water like a stone! The moon is like a bloody blade! Is the
Just keep your money and sleep alone. whole world going to give me away? No, it's too far in front-
WOYZECK. Yes, that's right, I don't want to make myself bloody. when people go swimming-[He goes into the pond and throws it
KATEY. But what's that on your hand? far out.] All right, now-but in the summer, when they go diving
WOYZECK. Who? Me? for shells-bah, it'll rust. Who'll recognize it? I wish I'd smashed
KATEY. Red! Blood! [people gather around.] it! Am I still bloody? I've got to wash myself. There's a spot-and
WOYZECK. Blood? Blood? there's another.
INNKEEPER. Ooh, blood.
[SCENE 25]--cOURT CLERK. BARBER. DOCTOR. JUDGE.
WOYZECK. I guess I must have cut myself, there on my right hand.
INNKEEPER. But how'd it get on your elbow? [CLERK.] A good murder, a real murder, a beautiful murder-as good
WOYZECK. I wiped it off. a murder as you'd ever want to see. We haven't had one like this
INNKEEPER. What, with your right hand on your right elbow? You're for a long time.
talented.
KARL. And then the giant said: I smell, I smell, I smell human flesh. 3
Phew! That stinks already.
WOYZECK. Damn it, what do you want? What's it got to do with you?
HENRIK IBSEN
Get away, or the first one who----damn it! You think I killed some-
one? Am I a murderer? What are you staring at? Look at your- 1828-1906
selves! Out of my way! [He runs out.]
Henrik Ibsen was the foremost playwright of his time, treating social themes
[SCENE 22]-C'hildren. and ideas (the subjection of women, hereditary disease, man's illusions and
self-delusions) and often satirizing the nineteenth-century bourgeoisie-not
FIRST CHILD. Come on! Marie!
only in Norway, his native land. His plays may be viewed historically as the
SECOND CHILD. What is it?
culmination point of the bourgeois drama which has flourished fitfully, in
FIRST CHILD. Don't you know? Everybody's gone out there already. France and Germany particularly, since the eighteenth century, when Diderot
Someone's lying there! advocated and wrote plays about the middle classes, their "conditions" and
problems. But they may also be seen as the fountainhead of much modern
2. Region of southwest Germany. 3. Alludes to the Grimm fairy tale "The Seven Ravens'"