Büchner's turbulent drama Dantons Tod presents problems of characterisation on a different order of magnitude from those of the works which followed, not least because it was Büchner's first play, and a very ambitious one. He poured into it a welter of youthful ideas and emotions, amd there is no such integration of character, mood, idea, and setting as one finds later in the more limited and unified work. James's study approaches Dantons Tod through a study of how Büchner chose to motivate his characters.
This book, originally published in paperback in 1982 under the ISBN 978-0-900547-77-5, was made Open Access in 2024 as part of the MHRA Revivals programme.
This study of Georg Büchner's Dantons Tod began as an analysis of what motivates the characters of Büchner's literary works. It soon became clear that Dantons Tod presented problems of characterization on a different order of magnitude from those of the works which followed, not least because it was Büchner's first play, and a very ambitious one. He poured into it a welter of youthful ideas and emo tions, and there is no such integration of character, mood, idea, and setting as one finds later in the more limited and unified works. Note cues in this introduction refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
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41-57
Chapter III: Danton and Robespierre: Historical Antagonists Dorothy James doi:10.59860/td.c27496f
1. The Confrontation of Virtue and Vice; 2. Robespierre's 'Tugend' and Robespierre's Politics; 3. The Private Agony of Two Revolutionaries; 4. Coherent Antagonists? Note cues in this chapter refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
1. The Politician St Just, and his Speech on Nature and Time; 2. Büchner's Scientific View of Nature. Note cues in this chapter refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
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70-85
Chapter V: Questions of Coherence in Motivation and Characterization Dorothy James doi:10.59860/td.c4931fd
1. The Complications of History; 2. The Complications of Religion; 3. Attempted Resolutions. Note cues in this chapter refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
1. How Many Dantons?; 2. Danton's 'Extreme Pessimism'; 3. Danton and Büchner. Note cues in this chapter refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
At the end of his short life, Büchner is still grappling with his double awareness, responding to individual pain and pleasure with passion, while his intellect looks over his own shoulder, formulating and reformulating questions. This process, which one sees clearly enough as he works towards a final version of Woyzeck, also lies behind the manifold perspectives of the rapidly written Dantons Tod. Note cues in this chapter refer to endnotes in the end matter of the book.
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