You've got to give credit where credit is due:

Benn, Maurice B. The Drama of Revolt: A Critical Study of Georg Büchner. Cambridge. Cambridge UP, 1976.

Büchner, Georg. Woyzeck. Stages of Drama. Ed. Miriam Gilbert, Carl H. Klaus and Bradford S. Field, Jr. New York: St. Martin’s, 2003. 532-541.

McCarthy, John A. “Some Aspects of Imagery in Büchner’s Woyzeck.” MLN 91.3 (1976): 543-551.

Reeve, William C. George Büchner. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1979.

Richards, David G. George Büchner and the Birth of the Modern Drama. Albany: State U of New York, 1977.

Schmidt, Henry J. How Dramas End. Ann Harbor: U of Michigan, 1992.

Schmidt, Henry J. Satire, Caricature and Perspectivism in the Works of Georg Büchner. Paris:Mouton, 1970.

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Woyzeck's story as an omen

Although unfinished, Büchner closes the play with Woyzeck attempting to pacify his bastard child, not, as stated by William Reeve, with “the conclusion arbitrarily added” by the first editor of his plays, wherein the protagonist commits suicide (138). Arguably, Büchner means to covey Woyzeck’s compassion for his child to offset the reader’s assumed perception of the psychotic murderer. Perhaps this last attempt to develop a loving relationship with his son acts both as a sympathy eliciting device and to portray Woyzeck’s insane, yet compassionate, mind. Overlooked by his best friend, humiliated by his captain, tormented by his doctor, embarrassed by a stronger man, and given the cold shoulder by his ladylove, Woyzeck’s thoughts overtake his sense of morality. He consequently commits a heinous crime, ridding the world of his child’s mother. Because issues such as poverty, social degradation, calloused authority figures and unfaithful partners permeate the play, readers may focus on these as Büchner’s thematic statement; however, the author emphasizes Woyzeck’s mental unhealthiness, brought about by over-thinking, as the source of his character’s demise. If not intended as a warning, readers can certainly gather the underlying meaning of Büchner’s Woyzeck: one’s own thoughts, if allowed to run rampant, can create a maddening world.

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Love hurts

Lastly, during the first bizarre exchange between Woyzeck and his love interest Marie, the disturbed Woyzeck voices his restlessness and concerns about destruction, an indication of volatility. Scene 2 captures Marie’s truthful foreboding, as she declares to herself after Woyzeck’s departure, “he’ll go crazy with those thoughts of his” (533). Despite Marie knowing that Woyzeck is unwell, she treats him with disinterest. Marie’s behavior suggests that although she and Woyzeck have a child together, she has previously refused to marry him, and thereby chosen to entertain her time with a muscular soldier of higher rank. Marie neither admits nor denies her relationship with the Drum Major; rather she responds to both Woyzeck’s advances and accusations nonchalantly. Because Woyzeck gives Marie monetary compensation for their child, the mother privately feels guilty for treating her former lover in such a cold manner, but publicly acts of her own free will. Marie’s behavior infuriates Woyzeck and he confronts her about cheating, only to be snubbed. As she dances by in the street with the Drum Major, demonstrating her barefaced adultery and careless behavior amongst townspeople, a mortified Woyzeck becomes enraged. “From this point on [Woyzeck] is tortured by jealousy and despair, obsessed by visions and dreams of a knife, and commanded by ubiquitous voices to kill his unfaithful paramour” (Richards, 153). In a fit of rage, Woyzeck succumbs to the demands of the voices and murders the beautiful, red-lipped mother of his child, stabbing her several times. When questioned by townspeople at the inn about his blood soaked hands, Woyzeck further displays his lunacy in a disjointed rant, screaming, “Damn it, what do you want? What do you care? ... You think I killed someone? Am I a murderer? What are you staring at?” (541). Returning to the crime scene to look for the murder weapon, he talks to the murdered mother of his child and insists that her indiscretions made her black like sin, but by killing her, he has redeemed her soul. Büchner employs escalating thoughts of murder and degrading events to create a crazed protagonist who spins into a frantic oblivion. Woyzeck remains tormented by the discombobulated thoughts in his head until the closing of the play.

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Ah, the other man

Furthermore, adding insult to injury, during a brief encounter between Woyzeck and Marie’s lover, a wrestling match ensues and the ultra masculine Drum Major defeats the lowly soldier. As onlookers comment on his poor performance, Woyzeck says to himself sullenly, “one thing after another,” signifying his public humiliation (538). This utterance represents a depletion of self-worth and illustrates the heap of anguish he remains buried under. The thoughts, brought about by suffering obvious humiliation, one of Büchner’s reoccurring motifs, overpower Woyzecks mind, and he surrenders to psychotic behavior. After his failed confrontation with the other man in Marie’s life, Woyzeck is once again left alone with only his thoughts to ponder.

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What kind of doctor is this?

This image was taken from deeperintomovies.com.


Moreover, the relationship between the Doctor and Woyzeck falls short of the common affiliation assumed goodwill and trust, and instead furthers the demise of Woyzeck’s mental health. Under the advice of his physician, Woyzeck has eaten only peas for a quarter of a year “to prove… the supposed superiority of man over beast” (Reeve 122). The Doctor, an absurd character, treats his patient as the object of an experiment, and nothing more. After enduring a sleepless night filled with inescapable voices, Woyzeck finally resolves to tell the Doctor about his symptoms of schizophrenia, hoping to elicit some medical attention or helpful advice. The Doctor, instead, concerns himself with trivial things like showing his students how Woyzeck can wiggle his ears and the unevenness of the patient’s pulse. This uncomfortable inspection additionally mortifies the fragile young soldier. Akin to the other characters’ unease concerning Woyzeck’s extensive thinking, the Doctor declares, “Woyzeck, you’re philosophizing again,” highlighting the incessant reflection constant in Woyzeck’s impetuous behavior (536). The Doctor’s poor treatment of his patient, wherein he uses him for self-fulfillment, propagates Woyzeck’s downfall. Whereas Schmidt characterizes both the Doctor and the Captain as harmless clowns, Büchner arguably suggests that these relationships are essential in the eventual ruin of Woyzeck (136). Büchner utilizes the illogical relationship between a doctor and his frustrated patient, to forward Woyzeck’s feelings of inadequacy and degradation.

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I hope your superiors don't treat you this way

This photo was taken from Santa Barbara Independent Website.


Additionally, the Captain, a grotesque authority figure, habitually criticizes Woyzeck for his misgivings. The Captain tells Woyceck he has no morality or virtue, further diminishing the soldier’s vulnerable self-esteem. His Captain, a man demanding considerable respect, should encourage his soldier by instilling in him a sense of self-worth and purpose, but instead debases Woyzeck and fuels his already blazing and confused mind. During a seemingly routine conversation wherein Woyzeck shaves the Captain’s face, the Captain insists that Woyzeck thinks “too much” and that this sort of over-analysis is “unhealthy” (535). Also, the Captain additionally acts as an instrument in advancing Woyzeck’s thoughts of Marie’s imprudence. Using the metaphor of finding a hair in a soup bowl as a comparison for discovering a stranger in the bed of the woman Woyzeck loves, the Captain fertilizes the already present suspicions of Marie’s infidelity. This should-be respectable man pushes his vulnerable soldier to his breaking point. Henry Schmidt suggests that the Captain maliciously entices Woyzeck’s imagination in hopes of torturing and incapacitating his inferior (86). Undoubtedly embarrassed by the Captain’s knowledge of his failed relationship, Woyzeck runs off, vowing he will have “to think about” the Captain’s comments (537). Woyzeck brings pain upon himself by constantly examining the disappointment in his life. The disappointment is likewise reiterated by the comments of individuals with which Woyzeck has constant contact. Woyzeck’s relationship with his captain, supposed to be comprised of respect and camaraderie, fails to satisfy the typical formula of a superior/inferior relationship and acts to further deteriorate the susceptible young man’s mental state, pushing him one step closer to murderous madness.

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Some kind of friend

From the outset of the play, Büchner surrounds Woyzeck with uncaring characters. Even Woyzeck’s only friend Andres seems unconcerned with his comrade’s ailments. Despite Woyzeck’s pleas for silence as the two men cut branches, Andres fails to consider his friend’s paranoid feelings and sings in the open field, unabashedly. In bed one night, after seeing visions of severed heads rolling around on the ground during the day, a sign of blatant psychological instability, Woyzeck alerts his friend to his abnormal and startling thoughts:

WOYZECK. (Shakes him.) Andres! Andres! I can’t sleep. When I close my eyes,
everything starts turning, and I hear the fiddles, on and on, on and on, and
then there’s a voice from the wall. Don’t you hear anything?

ANDRES. Oh, yeah. Let them dance! God bless us, amen. (Falls asleep again.)

WOYZECK. It keeps saying: stab, stab! And it floats between my eyes like a knife.

ANDRES. Drink some brandy with a painkiller in it. That’ll cut your fever. (538).

Although his friend is unwell, Andres remains unmoved. As readers understand from Büchner’s stage directions, Andres blankly answers questions and absent mindedly comments on the chaotic conditions of Woyzeck’s existence, causing the tortured man to feel alone and unimportant. Although Andres appears detached and unconcerned for the well-being of Woyzeck, he finally expresses miniscule concern, stating, “Franz, you better go to the hospital. You poor guy” (539). Highlighted by the ironic friendship between Woyzeck and a blasé Andres, Büchner chooses to envelop his protagonist in an group of indifferent characters, furthering the tragedy of Woyzeck’s innermost thoughts.

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