The Bottomless Pit — страница 2

poor can?t possibly do anything but obey nature?s call, much like the horse displayed at the fair: Man in his unidealized state. Woyzeck: ?Oh, self-control. I?m not very strong on that, sir. You see, the likes of us just don?t have any self-control. I mean, we obey nature?s call. But if I were a gentleman and had a hat and a watch and a topcoat and could talk proper, then I?d have self-control all right. Must be a fine thing, self-control. But I?m a poor man.? (Pp.108) Marie is the victim of a lust she cannot control. She loves her husband but she is plagued by her passions for the Drum Major and the perks that come with it, like gold earrings and a red necklace. When the Drum Major approaches Marie, at first she resists, but then she just gives into her appetites because in her

mind nothing can make life worse than it is at present. Drum Major: ?And you?re what I call a woman. Christ, we?ll set up a stud for drum majors. Marie: Let me go Drum Major: Wildcat Marie [violently]: Don?t touch me! Drum Major: The very devil?s in your eyes. Marie: Oh, what does it matter? It?s all one. Marie knows she will be punished for her sins. She cries out to God for help, to absolve her of her indiscretions like Jesus did with the biblical adulteress. The only problem is she cannot truly repent of her affair as she enjoyed it too much. Marie: [turning pages of bible]? ?Nor was guile found in his mouth.? Dear God, don?t look at me. ?And the scribes and the Pharisees brought him a woman taken in adultery and set her in the midst?And Jesus said unto her: Neither do I

condemn thee. Go, and sin no more.? Dear God, I can?t. Almighty God, at least give me the strength to pray??And stood at his feet weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.? Everything is dead. O Christ my savior, if only I could anoint thy feet.? (Pp.126-127) Marie?s prayer does her no good, as soon after this passage Woyzeck brutally murders her and leaves her body by the pond outside town. Here again, Buchner offers nothing but a dystopic and brutal end for this woman, a victim of her own birth into poverty and the society that broke her spirit. There is no freedom from her suffering, there is no way out. Marie?s despair is most profound in the play, and the pity for her

character is strong, as with Woyzeck. Marie says: ?I?m a bad bitch. I could kill myself. ? Oh, what?s the use? We?re all going to the devil, all of us.? (Pp.114) Marie too, like Woyzeck had accepted her fate. She has allowed herself to acquiesce to society around her. She is no longer responsible for he own actions as she accepts she will be going to Hell. She does not care any more because nothing has given her hope to do so. Woyzeck and Marie have fallen as far as they are going too, their lives and personas are Woyzeck says: ??bottomless pits: you get dizzy when you look down?(pp.120) Marie and Woyzeck?s child is another innocent victim caught in the middle of everything. Woyzeck seems to not really know his son as he is always out and doing things. Marie too, displays a

torrid relationship with her child, and she spouts out language such as: ?You?re only a whore?s brat but I love your bastard?s face.? (Pp.110), and she frightens him with stories of child-thieving gypsy?s and bogeyman?s to make him ?sleep?. The young child unfortunately will also be caught in the cycle, and probably grow up to become another Woyzeck, orphaned and stuck under the boots of everyone else. This child?s destiny and end are shown as the conclusion for the in the operatic adapt ion of this play, Wozzeck by Alan Berg. Woyzeck falls into insanity over Marie. When he is told of her dalliances with the Drum Major he replies, Woyzeck: ?I?m a poor man Captain. She?s all I?ve got in the world. If you?re joking Captain?? Captain: Joking? I joke with you? Doctor: Your pulse

Woyzeck. Your pulse. Short, violent, skipping, and irregular. Woyzeck: Captain, the earth?s as hot as hell. But I?m icy cold. Hell is cold, I?d bet on that. It can?t be true. The bitch. It can?t be? A fine day Captain, Look. A nice solid gray sky. Makes you want to knock a nail in and hand yourself. All because of one little train of thought.?(Pp118-119) The other two men, besides Woyzeck are heartless and cruel to him. The Doctor rambles on about his medical condition, totally disregarding his feelings, and the captain teases him about his wife?s lover. As in this passage, one can find many examples of apocalyptic language about hell and heaven, and the world ending. On Page 109, Woyzeck comments that the sky is on fire, and believes voices are speaking to him out of the ground.