Discipline and Theatricality: Tableaux Vivants and the Vicissitudes of Movement in Goethe's Die Wahlverwandtschaften

Abstract:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1809 novel Die Wahlverwandtschaften depicts two tableaux vivants scenes featuring contrasting female characters: Luciane and Ottilie. As the relationship of these scenes to the rest of the novel has proved enigmatic, I read them in conjunction with Goethe's Regeln für Schauspieler (Rules for Actors) as well as the aesthetic categories of absorption and theatricality from Michael Fried's work of the same name. Since tableaux vivants present a unique theatrical mode that maintains absolute stillness, I claim that it is the theme of movement that attests to their significance. Luciane's tableaux vivants scene is revealed to be an augmented form of actor discipline to restrain her disorderly and unpredictable personality. For Ottilie, the tableaux vivants scene demonstrates how restraining movement is implicated in the established societal norms for behavior.