helena and homunculus: a critical examination of veit valentin's hypothesis and its last...

Helena and Homunculus: A Critical Examination of Veit Valentin's Hypothesis and its LastDefense. IIAuthor(s): A. GerberSource: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 16, No. 5 (May, 1901), pp. 143-149Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2917166 .

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285 May, I90}. MODEIV LANGUAGE iVOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 5. 286

E dietro le ven a si luni-a tiratta Di gente, ch' i' non avrei mai creduto, Che morte tanta n' avesse disfatta.

Inferno III, 52-57. So Coi,lts:

Let him be girt With all the griesly legions that troop Under the sooty flag of Acheron, Harpies and Hydras.

602-605.

Apropos of this passage, Wartoni cites fi-o P. Fletclher's Locusts the litie:

All Hell run out, and sooty flagges display.

CHARLE-S G. OSGOOD. Yale University.

HELENA AND HOMUNCUL US: A CReITICAL EXAMINA TION OF

VEIT VALENWTIAV'S HYPO- THESIS AND) ITS LAST

DLEFENSE.* II.

The Dram7ga/ic Structure of the Classical Waliu?gi.s-Night aZd the Dramatic

Puitpose of IoJml7lCtn/s.

IN order to clear the way for a brief examination of the dramiatic structure of the Classical Walpurgis-Nighlt aind the dramnatic puLrpose of Homnunculis, it is necessary first to dispose of some precotnceived opinions of Valentin.xo

In the first place hiis contenitioni (AIOD. LANG. NOTES, VOI. XV, I900, col. 401) that it is a 'klIogliclie Ansclhauuingsweise' exen to suppose that Goetlhe ever nmade uise of Fauist to give expressioni to scietntific views of hiis is entirely unfotunded. T'he plan of discussing the Nep- tunistic and Plutonistic thjeories in connection with the appearance of Enceladus-Seismos, for exatnple, is clearly defined in tlle prose sketch of Dec. I7, 1826 (Paralil). 123, I):

"Naturphilosophen die bey dieser Gelegenlheit auich nicht ausbleibeni konnten, Ihales und Aiiaxagoras gerathieni iiber das Pliinomen heftig in Streit, jener deal Wasser wie dem

Feiiclitei aHlles zi-ischreibenld, clieser Ciber-all geschniol-zene, sciniielzende Massen erblick- enid. " I-lad Goethe considered it inla)propriate to express his views oni scientific problems in Fiuzxst, lhe could have exclided inot onily the two philosophers but eveen Enceladus-Seissmos just as well as he actually didl exclude a good miiainy otlher mythologicsl I characters.i"

In the secotid place, VTalentin's claim (ibid., col. 402) that the separate parts of Faustshoul(l niot be considered anid explained by theni- sel ves but wvith referenice to the entire drama, is not justified in view of the coniversation with Eckernia nn of Feb. 13, 1831 (Pniower, 110. 851). Here Goethe says of the fourth act: "Dieser Act bekomnit wieder einen gailz eigenen Cliarakter, sodass er, ivie eine fiir sic/i bestehentde kl'eine Welt, das uibrige nicht beriih-t tiiid niur duirchl einien leisen 8ezzeg zu dern Vorher,gehekeden uezd Fo/genden sich den Ganzeni atiscliliesst" aind fully agrees with hiis younig friend wlhen the latter finds this to be equally truie of the Classical XValpurgis-Niglt, the Helena and a iiniiiiber of otlier parts. It mulst, therefore, be perfectly proper to consider the Classical WVal- ptirgis-Niglht primiarily as ani independent little world of its own, provided the 'leise(r) Bezug' to the preceding and followinig by wlhiclh it is joined to the wlhole be inot lost sight of.

In the tlhird place,Valentin's statement (ibid., col. 476): "Tlatsclicliclh ist aber die klassische Walpur- gisnaclit auisscliliesslicl clazu da, um uns zu zeigeti, wie es midoglicli ist, dass die Helena walirhaft lebeiid auftreten kann cannot have nmore than a pturely subjective value becatise an authenitic utterance of Goethe on the purpose of the Classical Walpurgis- Niglht does not exist. What Goethe says to Eckermann, Dec. i6, I82912 (Pniiower, no. 738), refers only to the bulk of the first act anid the first two scenies of the second, which were then completed, and wlhat he writes to Zelter * Errata in the first part of this article: MOD. LANG.

NOTES, VOI. XVi, COI. 099, 1. 20 f., read 'in the nature of a slight a y'lif:lcation aind careftul filing.' Col. 202, 1. , read '177' instead of 'z7.' Col. 209, 1. 15 ff. (deprints Col. 208, I. Io ff. from below), read 'when Homunculus was transformed from a chemical dwarf into a spirit and the entire second act was written, Goethe's conception of the revivification of Heleiia, etc.'

Io Valentin's treatise on the Classical Walpurgis-Night, which was to appear this spritng, has not yet come to hand as this article goes to press.

xI Says Goethe to Eckermann, Feb. 21, I83I (Pniower, No. 855): "Das Schwierige indesseni war, sich bei so grosser FJ.l1e m;ssig zu halten und solche Figuren abzulehnen, die nicht durchaus zu meiner Intention passten."

12 After Eckermann has observed that Helena gains the real 'Fundament' through Faust's dream of Leda, Goethe remarks: "So auch .... werden Sie finden, dass schon immer in diesen fr-hern Acten das Classische tind Romantische an- klingt und zur Sprache gebracht wird, damit es, wie aufeinem steigenden Terraini, zur Ihelena hinaufgehe," etc.

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287 May, I9OI. MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xvi, IVo. 5. 288

oln the same dayI3 anid Jail. 24, I82814 (Pniower, nos. 737 and 623), about the manner in which the first and second acts are to join or to pre- pare the third, is general in clharacter, does not refer to the person of Helena but to the Helena drama, and likewise belongs to the time before the Classical Walpurgis-Night had passed from the stage of a prose sketclh to its final form.

Proceeding niow to the dramatic analysis of the Classical Walpurgis-Night, the first tlhing with which we are struck is the wonderful dif- ference between the prose sketch of Dec. I7,

I826, and the finislhed work of 1830. The scene with Erichtho and Erichtlhoiiius, the attempt of the Pompejans and Caesareans to possess tlhemselves of the plhosphorescent atomls col- lected by Homunculus, and the descent to Hades togetlher with Llhe scenie in Hades itself, have been omitted. The conversation with the Sphinx, the Griffin and the Ant as well as the temptationis of the Lamiae have been transferred from Faust to Mephistopheles. The festival by the sea is no longer merely hinted at but actually represented from its beginning to its culniinatiotn. Independent from the experiences and doings of Faust and Mephistopheles a center of dramatic interest has been establTished by contrastinig the land and the sea anid opposinlg to Seismos, who em- bodied the principle defended byAnaxagoras, Homunculus in a tranisformation that fits him to exemnlifv the main nart of the nersuasion

of Thales. In short, a most carefuLlly planined but ratlher uinexpected dramlatic struLctuire lhas taken the place of a more or less disconnected and castual array of incidents.'s

The first scene is devoted to the expositionj. Erichtho speaks her prologue and disappears. Honiuncutlus sets out to find new wonderful thinigs. Fatust, who, as Homunculus lhad pre- dicted, regains conciousness uipon touchinig Greek soil, is directed to Chiron as the one wlho may give lhim infor-mation conicerninig Helena. Meplhistoplheles, wlho feels tlhorotuglhly out of place in the Classical atmosphere, discovers the Lamire, wlho lhad been leld out to himl as a bait, anid starts in their pursuiit. The Sphinxes, Griffiins and Ants, the principal clharacters of the land existing at that time, reveal their niatures anid are contrasted witl the Sirenis, the clhoruis of the sea.

In the remiiainider of the work the workl of the lanicl witlh its wonder,i6the actioin of Seismiios, and the revelation of stupreme lhomieliniess in the Phorkyads, is placed over against the world of sea with its woncder, the beginniinlg by HomuinciluIs of corporeal existenice or the evolutioin of animal life, atnd the manifestation of higlhest beauty in the person of Galatea, wlhile Fauist nmeets Chiiron aind Manito, and Mephistopheles, mocke(d anid delu(led by the Lanmile, joinls the Pllorkyads.17 The actioIn of Seismos commiences with a trenmble yet scarcely strong enough to disturb Peneuis in his dreams, is retarded by the episode witlh Clhiron and AManto, interrupted by the episode witlh the Lamiie, anid only loosely connected witlh the scene of the Phorlk.yacls. The measures leadinLg towards the beginntilng by Honmunculus

13 " Meine einzige Sorge und Bemilhung ist nun: die zwey ersten Acte fertig zu bringen, damit sie sich an den dritten . . . ki glich uind weislich anschliessein moigen." 14 " ich maichte gar zu gern die zwey ersten Acte fertig

bringen, damit Helena als dritter Act ganz ungezwungen sich anschl sse tund, genuigsam vorbereitet, nicht mehr phan- tasmagorisch und eingeschoben, sondern in aesthetisch-ver- uuuftgemiisser Folge sich erweisen kunnte." When Valentin (MOD. LANG. NOTES, vol. XV, 1900, col. 476) paraphrases this passage by sayiing: " Helena soll sich 'als dritter Akt ganz ungezwungeni' an- sehliessen tund sich 'genugsam vorbereitet.nicht mehr phantas- magorisch,' also als volle, reale Wirklichkeit, ferner nicht mehr 'eingeschoben,' also als im engsten Zusammenhang der organischen Entwickelting der H andlung auftretend erweisen,"

he reads something into it which it does not contain. For as Goethe does not contrast 'phantasniagorisch,' but 'phan- tasinagorisch unid eingeschobein' (cf. 'phaiitasmagorisches Zwischenspiel,' Paralip. 123, i, at the close) as a iuniit, with 'in aesthetisch-verntunftgemgsser Folge,' Valentiin's 'also als volle, reale Wirklichkeit' is a gratuitous insertion and all in- fereinces drawn from it with regard to the natture of Helena and her maids in the coinpleted Faust are false and futile.

15 For a fuller explanation of the evolution of the Classical Walpuirgis-Night and a more detailed exposition of its dramatic structuire without special reference to Valentin and the dramatic purpose of Homtuiculus, see my article on 'The Evolution of the Classical Walpurgis-Night and the Scene in Hades' in Ae,ericaaia Ge?mgaxica, vol. iii, I899, No. z, with the supplementary remarks ibidl., No. s.

i6 'J'he Sirens sing with regard to the tupheaval of Seismos, 1. 7508:

" Niemand dem das Wunder frommt" and exclaim with regard to the beginniing by Honiuinculus of corporeal existeiice, 1. 8474:

"Welch feuriges YWunder verkl.irt uns die Wellen." 17 The purely episodical character of the scenes with

Chiroii and Alanto and with the Lanlial, anid to some extent also of that with the Phorkyads is explained in Aotericana Germeanica, 1. c., pp. 14 ff.

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289 May, I9OI. MODEARV LANGUAGE iVO TES. Vol. xvi, No. 5. 290

of cor-poreal existeince, otn the otlher lhaind, are from the ouitset closely initertwinied witlh the preparationis for the arrival of Galatea anid botlh actions proceedl witlhotut any outward re- tardation or initerruiptioni to the samle grand climax at the close.

Furtlhermore laind and sea are both connected anid contrasted in mianlifold vays. 'ITlhe Sirenis witniess the first ouitbreak of the disturbance of Seismos and tlheni inl disniay flee to the sea, conl- trasting the hiorrors of thie earthl witlh the charms of their owni elenment. Tlales as- sists at the conisummllationi anid )artial frustra- tioin of the volcantic feat by the fall of the rock from the mooni and tlhen witlh calm disdain betakes hiimself likewise to the chleerful scenie of the sea. Hoiniuniculuis dloes not veniture to satisfy his craving for corporeal existenice on thle land, buit has a pleasing sensation of the growth-promlotitng quialities of the sea, as sooni as he breathes iLs air. Proteus sees oni the lanid notlhing hut worry aind toil wlhile lhe coImi- mlends the waves as imiore congenial lo life. Eveni the wonders of the lanid arnd of the sea tlhenselves are brouighlt inito immediate conitact anid contrast by the claimii of Anaxagoras:

Dtirch Feuerdunst ist dieser Fels zu Handen

anid lrhales' quick retort: Im Fetichten ist Lebendiges erstanden.I8

An essential differenice nalturally exists in the extent to whiclh the two wonders could be i epresenited to our eyes. Wlhile the wond(ler of Seisnmos could be unfolded before us tlhrough all its vicissituides fromii first to last, the wonider of Homunicullus coulcl imierely be represented in its beginininig, anid even this could onily be done in suclh a manniier that sonme lhave doubted whetlher it is represented at all anid that only last year, in ani article in the Goethe-Jahrbuck of i)oo.z9 Ililills Goebel declare(d that all those

wlho tlhink that it is represenited had lost their minds. 'rThe fuirtlher progress of the wondler, hiowever, was enitirely uinrepresenitable on1 the stage and, therefore, could only be intimated in advanice. This is done tlhroughi Nereus, Thales and Proteus, wlho, being as strictly in- dividualized as all the otlher characters of the Classical Walpurgis-Night, differ in their knowledge of ev oluition also.

Nereuis, the patriarch deity of the sea, knlows that loniiniicuilus las not simply to originiate but also to evolve ('entstelhn uincl sichl ver- wandeln') and that Proteus is the authority on evoluitioni, yet he is not familiar with the de- tails himnself. Thaliles, the mortal, on the other hand, is ac(luainited witlh the tlheory of evolutioni, but lie nieitlher realizes of his own accord that Honiunculus will be obliged to take that road, iior does lhe kiiow that Proteus is the aultlhoriLy to wholm to go, iior las lhe conifidenice eniouLgh in Proteuis and inisiglht eniouigh in his metlhod not to be concerned abiout Homunculus' fate at the moment when lie enids his uiicor- poreal existence in order to eniter upoii his corporeal onie. Proteus, lhowever, beiiig the aancienlt god of transforniationi, is the real aiid logical authority on niodlerni evolutioni. He does niot oiily explain to Homnulculus his futuire career, first and niost fuilly. lbut le also attenid_

x8 The contrast between Nepttunism and Plutonism which Goethe had in mind when he wrote the sketch of Dec. rU, x826 (see above col. 285) has not enitirely disappeared either, I)nit crops out in the lines of Thales (8438-8442) as against the claim of Seismos in 11. 7554-7557.

19 Vol. XXi, pp. 208-223. Declaring all the efforts of his predecessors to explain Homuncultis to be 'zwecklose Muth- massereien (p. 213), Goebel himself advanices the view that Goethe regarded Honiinncultis as a demon in his own peculiar sense of the word, althotigh in the passage with Eckermann tupoII which he rests hiis argtiment Goethe only says (Pniower, No. 738): "solche geistige Wesen wie der lHomunculus . . . zgilhlte man [that is, 7wereo counited in the past] zu den

DOmonen." Page 220 we are told that it is Homuinculus who brings about Faust's turni to the classic, althotugh the drama itself anid every paralipomenoii teaches us that it was the sight of Helena: "Ganz ii Eijklang mit Goethes Vorstellung, dass das D;i- monische die entscheidenden Wendtingen im Menschenleben hervorbringe, ist es der D. mon Honmunculnis, der dlurch seine Fixft. stei-ung (!) den Umschwunig in Fatists Leben herbei- fiihrt," etc. On the next page we are infornied that Homunculus is not only not one of the principal characters in the Classical WValpurgis-Night, but that he is in reality superfluous there : " Nachdem Homunctilus als D..mon seinen Zweck im Leben Fausts und damit in der Oekoniomie des Sttlckes erf tllt hat, wird er eigenitlich iiberflttssig (I) und dies ist der Grund, warttm ihm Goethe im weiteren Verlatif der Walpurgisnacht keine bedeutendere Stellung zugewiesen hat." Page 222 finally we learn that Homunctilus does not commence corporeal existence in the sea, btht that he meets there with an unitimely end: " Die Geschichte voni der inystischen Vermiahlung des Ho- muisctilus mit dein Meere war tind ist also blatier metaphy- sischer Dunst, der dem Kleineni das Lebeni und den Coin- inenitatoren deil Verstanid kostete." However interesting and valuable Goebel's exposition of Goethe's idea of the demoniac may be, not many probably will share his expectation (page 223) that he has done justice to the 'higlhest task of the interpreter' in his explanationi of liomutnculltlS.

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291 May, I9OI. MODEARV LANGUAGE iVOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 5. 292

to the practical executioii of its beginninig. He himself takes him out into the sea in order to wed him to the ocean, and wheni Homun- culus, in the full enijoynment of the new atmosphere and at the siglht of Galatea and her train, declares that everything he is illuminat- ing in the gracious moisture is clhartmingly beautiful, it is he who remlinds him that that moisture is a moistuire of life anid thus induces him to take the decisive step and to unite witlh the waves.20

This crowninig climax of Homutnculus' career appears in the richest setting. Even before he leaves the charge of Proteuis, Thales, 'thrilled with the beautiful, the true,' has pro- claimed his:

Alles ist aus dem Wasser entsprungen I I

the only line in Faust wlhich is distinguiished by a double exclamation poinit and that by Goethe's own hand. As he is abouit to reach the slhell of Galatea, Nereus perceives hiis flame and wonders wlhat a 'neues Geheimniss' is about to reveal itself. Wlhen lhe lhas actually slhattered his glass and the 'feurige(s) Wunder' is glorifying the waves, the Sirens call upon Eros, who has begun everything, to preside over this new beginning too, and praise water and fire and the 'seltne(n) Abentheuer' till all present join in and end with a fervent tribute to air and earth anid all the elements. The triumph of the sea anid its wonder is as- sured and the Classical Walpurgis-Night has not led up directly to the entranice of Helena, but, as the poet expresses it in the letter to Eckermann of Aug. 9, 1830 (Pniiower, 110. 831), has run out into the infinite ([ist] 'ins Grainzen- lose ausgelaufen ').

Although two scientific theories are set forth in Seismos and Homutnculus, this is done in the broadest and most poetic anid artistic way. The contrast between tlhose tlheories is en- large(l to one between ill will, war, futile vio- lence, and homeliness on the one hand, anid love, peace, organic development, anid beauty on the other. In spite of the introduction of the modern idea of evolution, the whole at-

mosplhere and most of the characters remain tlhorouglhly and genuiinely classical. Every- thing is combined and conducted witlh suIclh consummate art that the work, both from <a dranmatic and a purely poetic stanidpoint, takes rank amonig Goetlhe's hiiglhest anid most per- fect creations. Notwithstanidinig its indepeni- dence, lhowever, the 'leise(ii) Bezug' to the preceding and following, by wlhiclh it is joinied to the whole, is not lackinig. Honmunculuis makes good his promise to restore Faust to consciousness anid himilself succeeds in origi- nating. Fauist is seen elnterinig upoIn the road to Hades in the companiy andl with the good cheer of Manto, and tlhereby prepares Helenia's entrance in the next act. Meplhistoplheles find(s his witcles anid dons the classic mask of wlhich he lhas need before the anicient castle of Sparta. In addition to this, Helena gains a stronger 'Fundament' by the day-dream of Faust and hiis conversation witlh Chiron, and the contrast between the classic and romantic is brouiglht out more forcibly than ever by the preseince of Meplhistoplheles in classic surrouindinigs.

Just as the Classical Walpurgis-Night, then, is, on the onie hanid, a little inidependent world of its own, and on the otlher, is conlniected witlh the wlhole of Fizast, the dramliatic pturpose of Homntncuclus, finally, also hias a dotuble aspect. In the econonmy of the whole dranma it is to take Faust andl MIeplhistopheles to the Classical Walpuirgis-Niglht in order tlhat Fatust mnay be in his new elenment; withini the Classical Wal- puirgis-Night it is to form the counterpart of Seismos, and to exemplify the principle of the origin and evolution of animal life in the moist. Tlhus Valentin's hypothesis proves imiipossible onice more. For eveni if the slhades of Helenia and lher maids, anid of Alenelauis anid hiis followers, instead of being still in Hades, were presenit wlhen Homutiniculus unites with the sea, Honiunculus would be uinavailable for them because lhe is startinig to evolve 'nach ewigen Normeni, Dturch tauLsend, abertausencl Formiietn' and for that reason cannot suddenly reaclh the highest stage by ani absoluitely inor-ganiic and arbitrary muitiltifariotus utnion witlh a hlost of slhades.

The poin1ts in whiclh Valentin's interpreta- tionis differ especially fi-om those given above are the passages which speak of the evoluition

2o For the general idea of the union of a spirit with elements compare the union of the maids of Helena, in which Goethe, as Eckermann (Jan. 29, 1827; Pniower, no. 506) tells us, took special pride: " Auf den Gedanken, dass der Chor * . . . sich den Elemeniten zuwirft, thue ich mir wirklich etwas zu gute."

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of Homiunculus, anld the statemlenit in thie letter to Eckermanin that the Classical WValpurgis- Night 'ins Graiizenl1ose ausgelaufeni ist.' As for the former, hie contends that they cani have no weight becauise Proteuis and Thales speak from an imperfect kniowledge of affairs (Main book, p. I9I f.): " Den Proteus wie deen Thales lasst der Dichl- ter hier in treflender Weise atis ilhrer Latge, auis ihrer Kenntnis der Veriiiltnisse hieraus- sprechen: sie wisseni niclht, dass .... er [tlhat is, Homunculuis] also diese Stufen . keineswegs Schritt fiir Sclhritt zul erklimimen braucht. " However limited the knowledge of Thlales, the mortal, may he, the knowledge of Proteuis, the god of transformation, munst he reliable because it is venerable Nereuis, the hliglhest deity present, who designates hiim as an autlhority. TIo maintain that whlat Proteus says concerning the fuiture couirse of Homuniculuis is niot reliable wouild be equal to maintaininig that the poet had purposely misled uis regarding hiis own ideas about the fate of Homutnculuis, an assumption too siniguilar to require a refutation. Conscious or uinconlsciouls of the weakness of thlis first argumnenit, Valentini soon afterwards (GoethAe-Jalhrbuch, vol. xvi, I895, p. 14I) tried to strengtheni it by givinlg to linie 8329 'Beliebig regest dui dich hier' the meaninig that Honiiiii- culus miglht m-nove in whatever shape lie pleases and, therefore, need niot commence at the beginning. This, however, was refuted in MOD. LANG. NOTES, vol. xii, I897, col. 74, where I showed that that line does niot mean that Ho- municulus may move 'in wlhatever shape he pleases,' but 'as he pleases'; anid Valenitin never objected to that interpretation.

As for the statemenit in the letter to Ecker- manin that the Classical Walpurgis-Night 'ins Graiizenlose ausgelauifeni ist,' Valentin in the first place macle an attenmpt to initerpret 'griin- zenlos' in suclh a m;-anner that the passage should not conflict with lhis idea that the close of the Classical Walpurgis-Niglit leads up directly to the entr-anice of Helenia. In doitng So (MOD. LANG. NOTES, vol. xiii, i898, cols. 442 f.) he was, however, so singularly unfor- tunate as not to notice that Goetlhe uses the word 'grdnzenlos,' anid to assuLme that lhe says 'Iunendlich.' He, conisequLently, favored the readers of the AIOD. LANG. NOTES witlh a

learnied disquisition on Goethe's uise of 'uil- endlichl ' which, valtuable as it was in itself, was of no avail wlhatever as far as the point in question was concernied.

Besides, Valentin triedl to offset the testi- moiiy of this letter, and to gaini evidenice for his idea of the immnecliate conniection between thie close of the Classical Walpuirgis-Nighlt and the enitrance of Helena, by givilng to a letter of Eckermann to Goethe, wvritten in Geneva, Sept. 14, i830, before tlhe letter tinder discuis- sion had yet reaclhed him, a critical import which it does not possess. The letter (Pniower, no. 832) reads: "Zu neiner grossen Freude habe icIh aus einem Ilhrer letzten Briefe in Geniia erselen, dass die Liucken und das Ende der " Classi- schen Walpuirgisiacht'" glficklich erobert wor- den. Die drei ersten Acte wairen also vollkom- nien fertig,die Helena verbunden,und demnnach das Schlwierigste gethan" etc. In I898 (MOD. LANG. NOTES, Vol. xiii, cOl. 464) Valentin wenL so far as to clainm oni the strength of this letter that: " Goethe, der es doch sclhliesslich am besten wisseni miusste, bekanntlich behauiptet lhat, die grosse Lucke [zwischen der klassischeni Wal- purgisnacht und dem Helenadrania] sei auis- gefiillt " that is, he simply substituted Goethe for Ecker- mann and 'die grosse Liicke' for ' die Liicken und das Ende.'2I In I900 (NIOD. LANG. NOTES, vol. xv, col. 476), to be sure, hie had become somewhat more conservative. He no longer put Goethe in thie place of Eckermann, but he still claimed that Eckermann wrote: ' ais seinier Kenntniss der Dichtuniig und ihres Zn- sammenlhanigs herauis' and asked: ' wie soll denn aber durch den Abschlluss des zweiten Aktes, der klassischen Walpur-

gisnacht, die Helena 'verbuinden' sein, wenn der zweite Akt und sein Schluss nichts mit ihr zL thuni hat ? "

If he had investigated the matter a little more deeply, he would have found that, owing to an absence of nearly five months, Ecker- mann's knowledge of the state of the ' Dicli- tung,' uponi the reliability of wlhich lhe built his conclusion, was quite imperfect. It rested only upon a manuscript of tlle Classical Wal- pugrzis-Nipht havinr r I-iirk.el'I sndlll^7t

2I The same error is repeated by Goebel, 1. c. p. 222: " SO sehr er [that is Goethe] auch glauben mochte, dass die Lticke ausgefullt sei."

1'47



295 Alay, I90o. MVO DERNV LANGUAGL' NO TES. Vo. xvi, ATo. 5. 296

'das Ende,' that is, almost certainly upon the manuscript that bears the title 'Classische Walfpitrgisnacht erstes Mundum' (ii, H. 74), which Goetlhe had given hiim to read a few days before hiis departure for Italy, and upon the notice in Goetlhe's letter to his son, dated June 25, and bearing the postmarks Weimar, June 28, and AMilan, July IO, and thence for- warded to Genoa (Pniower, no. 827): "W Wenn Eckermann, bey soviel Lockungen und Verfihrulngen, noclh bevsammeni und ein riickwirts blickender Menischi geb)lieben ist, so sag ihm: Die Walpurgisnacht sey vollig ab- geschlossen, und wegen des fernerhin und weiter N!ithigen sey die beste Hoffunug." Not knowing, tlherefore, that the scenie in Hades had not beeni writteni, bIut reserved for a prologue to the tlhird act, and niot under- standing the reference to this wlhich may be contained in the words I have italicized, he drew the coniclusion that not only ' die Liicken und das Ende' of the Classical Walpurgis- Night had been conquered, but that also the Helena was 'verbunden.' Yet, however par- donable Eckermann's conclusioni may seem under the circumstances, it is none the less ani error, and thence can in Ino way impair the weight of Goethe's own testimony that the Classical Walpuirgis-Night ' itns Granzenlose ausgelaufen ist.' Valentin's efforts, thlerefore, do not containi anything that would tend to disprove the conception of the dramatic structure of the Classical Walpurgis-Night, and the dramatic purpose of Honlunculus, whiclh hias been set forth above. 7he Sketch of the Prologue to the Third Act

of June z8, 1830 (Paralip. 157).

The evidence of the impossibility of Val- entin's hypothesis wlhich has been derived from our study of the revivification of Helena and the dramatic puirpose of Homuncuilus, is fuilly borne out by a closer examination of the sketch of the prologue to the third act of June i8, I830, Paralipomenon I57, to which we have had occasion to refer a few times before. Ac- cording to this, Goetlhe itntended at the time of the completion of the Classical Walpurgis- Night, just as much as at any other timie during the preceding fouir years, that Fauist and Man- to's descent to Hades togetlher with the scene in Hades itself were inmmediately to l)recede

the entrance of Heletna anid. hler attendants in Sparta. Helena and her ma.ids were not only not supposed to be present wheni Homunculus shatters his glass anid flows out into the sea, as Valentin constanitly maintained, but the very request for their release fronm Hades was not to be made till after that time. The union of Homuinculuis with the sea and the revivification of Helena for a renewed existence on eartlh, were conisidered so completely foreign to one anotlher that they were separated by the interval between two acts.

If, however, it is well established that Goethe catnnot possilbly have intend(led a combination of Homuinculuis ivith the shades of Helena and hler miiaids aind Alenelaus anld his followers, up to the nmoment wlheni lhe either had just finiislhed or was just about to finish,the Classical Walpturgis-Night, it miay be asserted withl equal certainty that lie canniot lhave sud(lenily pylanniied such a conmbination as a kindcl of after- tlhouight wlhe lie abandoned the poetical execution of the prologuie, allowed the entrance of Helenia to follow immediately uipon the unioin of Homuniculus with the sea, anid left it to the reader to suipply a transition for hiimself. For certaitnly no one wlio seriouisly reflects upotn the nmatter for a moment, will venture to maintain that with the omissioni of the prologue Goethe slhouild suiddenely hiave reliniquiishied hiis long-standinig idea of the revivification of Helena according to Greek WVelaiieschauung-z in order to replace it by such ani artificial and ratiotnalistic planl als was suggested by Valentin. Still less will anybody consider it possible that the mere onmission of the prologuLe should suddenily have uipset the entire most carefully lplanned draimatic fabric of the Classical Wal- purgis-Night anid depriived Homuncul is of hiis purpose withlinl in order to assign himi to onie without. Inideed the mere fact of the organiic growth of Goethe's creations alotne wouild forbid any suich assumption eveni if we lhad not Goetlhe's owIn testimony that the presenit Afo- tiviering of the enitranice of Helenia is not so close as lhe lhad hoped to make it.22 Yet, for- tunately for the altogether inicredUlous amiionig the Faust interpreters, there is eveni suiclh testimony, anid Valeintini, too, knlew it anid quioted it. only tlhat. as in so nianu ntllhr npc h% riM

22 See notes 13 and 14 above.

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297 May, i9oi. MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xvi, No. 5. 298

inot uniderstanid its full import. This testimoniy is Goetlhe's commiiunicationi to Zelter of Jan. 4, I831 (Pniower, no. 846): "Die zwey ersten Acte von Faust sind fertig. Die Exclamiiation des Car(dinals von Este, womit er den Ariost zu elhren glaubte, mdchte wohl lbier anm Orte seyn. Genutg! Helena tritt zu Anfang des dritten Acts nicht als Zwvi- schenspielerin sonderni als Heroine ohuie lVei- teres auf."

Helena is no loniger a 'Zwischenspielerin' but has become a 'Heroine,' yet slhe still enters olhne Weiteres,' that is, witlhout a close

lifo/ivierung of lher entrance stclh as there would have been if the prologuie lhad not been abandoned. 'I'he nion-execution of the prologue, therefore, simply increased by one mlore the number of the tranisitionis whicl 'the in- telligent reader' las to supply,23 and did not affect the dramatic strtucture or presuippositions of the comlpleted second and tlhird acts in the sliglhtest degree. It is impossible that Goetlhe intended for the slhades of Helenia and lher maids, and Menelauis and hiis followers, to be present when Homiunculuis unites with the sea. Hence Valentini's hypothesis stands disproved for the tlhird tinme.

Since of the three reasons for the imiipossi- bility of Valentin's hl pothesis which have been given the first and the thirdc may claim objective matlhematical certainty, while the second may be considered scarcely less reliable, it will neither be necessary to accumulate anly more evidence against the hypothesis itself, nor to enter further upoIn any otlher de- ductionis anid assertionis in Valenitini's last article. Valentin lhad the misfortuine of found- ing his tlheory regardinig Homunliculus and Helena upoIn subjective asthetic presupposi- tionis inistead of objective plhilological investi- gations, and after lhe had onlce established it and fouind wide approbation for it anmong other scholars, lhe became so strongly prejudiced in favor of it that it was no longer possible for hiinm to recogniize its weakness and to give the statements of the poet or the argumenits of hiis

opponent an objective anid dispassionate ex- aminationi. His ferveent self-assuranice and hlis brillianit style and dialectics cast a spell not only UpOnl others buit also uponi himself so that he continiued to the last to battle for a conniection between Homrnunctltis and Helena, and a coniception of an artistic unity of the wvlole of Faust that couldi not exist withouit it. It does not seem any longer aclvisable to attempt aestlhetic explaniations of the whole or of parts of Faust, except upon the basis of a thorough philological examiination of the text and all the otlher critical nmaterial.

A. GERBER. Ear/htam College.

SPANISH GRA 1/MAR.

An Elementary Grammar of thze Spanish Langnage, by L. A. LOISEAUX, Instructor in the Romanice Languages aind Literatures in Coluimbia University. New York: Silver, Burdett, atnd Companiy, I9oo. 8vo, viii + 192 pp.

THERE are maniy text-books of moderni Span- ishl grammar, but there are few good ones. Mr. Loiseaux's Elfementary Gramznar of the Spaniish Lanzguage has the merit of being short, concise, and practical, and it will therefore be welcomed by teachers of Spanish. The general arrangemenit of the book is good, btut it is to be regretted that the conijugation of verbs is not introduced earlier. In a beginner's text-book it does not seem wise to treat fully nouns anid adjectives,-including augmenta- tives and diminutives, numerals, etc.,-before takinig up the conjuigation of the regtular and common irregular verbs. And, then, much valuable space is given up to lists of adverbs, prepositionis, conjunctions anid inlterj ections, which might better be left to the lexicon. In the following review of the Grammar the criticisnms anid suggestions are arranged in the order of the paragraphs to which they refer.

? 2. The meanitng of the senitenice " the sounid of the Spanish vowels never changes " is not clear. If the author meanis that each of the Spanish letters a, e, i, o, u, always repre- sents one sotund, and one only, lhe contradicts himself in ?4. The statement that " the con-

23 Compare Goethe's letter to Wilhelm von Humboldt of Dec. I, 1831 (Pniower, 1no. 912):

" Nun hat der Verstand an dem zweiten Theile mehr Forde- rung als an dem ersten, und in diesem Sinne muasste dem vern nftigen Leser mehr entgegengearbeitet werden, wenn ihm auch an Ueberftfiien Zs suh##iren Penue aibrizblieb."

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helena and homunculus: a critical examination of veit valentin's hypothesis and its last...

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