Spring's Awakening

“I don’t hold my parents responsible. All the same they must have been prepared for the worst. They were old enough to know what they were doing. I was an infant when I came into the world, or no doubt I'd have been smart enough to become someone else. —Why should I suffer because everyone else was already there?”

3.5 stars that turned into 4! It's like when a rather ordinary caterpillar transforms into this gorgeous butterfly...or let's say moth, because moths are beautiful too, but in a rather dark, complex and at first glace hidden and unappreciated way. And so multi-facetted!

After finishing, I was kind of underwhelmed by the book, thinking "Okay. I've read it, what now?" While still feeling somewhat similar, the Wikipedia summary actually helped me a lot in understanding and appreciating all the satiric nuances and socio-critical themes depected in the play (yup, not even ashamed to admit that) Such a short book, really - and yet it has so much to offer! It's essentially about the contradiction between the 19th century's bourgeois sex morality (and the taboo of speaking about it) and the pressure of young adults in their season of sexual awakening who are strongly in need of a proper education in this matter. Similarly, it's describing the more general intolerance and closing-up of adults when confronted with the youth's (justified) curious questions and mental instability (the latter, after all, resulting from this very societal negligence and academic pressure) Here I especially loved the discrepancy between the adolescents having to study an immense load of quixotical subjects (arguably completely remote from real life and any pratical appliances) and them barely knowing anything about procreation-related matters other than it not being the stork who "brings the children" (note Wendla's mother still trying to sell that story to her 14-year-old daughter though...sweet summer child, erm, mother!) The novel has much more to it than there seems to be at first sight (read, actually) and I appreciate that immensely. It's ironically tragic, but in the most humorous way and by the most hypobolical means possible. Sadly I feel that most of it goes rather unnoticed at first and that it needs some proper reflection to be able to find and cherish all the brilliant facettes and details the book has to offer. It's really about so much more than "just" sexual discovery!

The last scene reminded me a lof of the ending of "The secret History" - my probably favourite ending of all time, and therefore another reason I really enjoyed "Frühlings Erwachen" as well. I just wish that there hadn't been such a hard juxtaposition or cut between scenes. A more fluent transition by adding more scenes would have done wonders for a more immediate appreciation of the book.

Still, an iconic read and I can't thank the tv show "How to sell drugs online" enough for helping me discover it! And of course the Wikipedia page for assisting me in its understanding and appreciation :)

PS1: I think it's fascinating to think about the parallels between Ilse and the masked man and how they (not) succeeded in convincing the other person of thr beauty/necessity of living.

PS2: Something probably weird about me - from time to time I tend to read up on catastrophes such as terrorist attacks and mass shootings. It's a rather concerning rabbit hole, but I think most people are morbid one way or another, and it helps me in viewing the world as not the innocent and idealistic place I always pretend it to be (just INFP things) ANYWAY, I was reading a lot about the Parkland shooting over the last couple of days. And now I've just read in the Wiki that there were actually posters for the theatre group's performance of "Spring Awakening" (the book's english title" in the shot-up class rooms. Coincidences are so weird sometimes.

Ein wichtiges Theaterstück heutzutage wie seinerzeit! Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, wie sogar das heutige Publikum eine getreue Aufführung des Stückes als skandalös bezeichnen würde.

war der typ auf crack?

I haven't read a lot of plays but I don't think any that I have read have struck me as powerfully as this one did. I also come from a place of bias, since Spring Awakening is one of my favorite musicals, but the play held so many differences and actually was more impacting, in my opinion.

There are so many little details I want to talk about, but mostly, the narratives of loss of innocence, extreme repression, total moral ambiguity was crafted beautifully. The story of every single character was tragic in its own way and their interactions were full of naivety and desire, for things they could not even imagine due to their circumstances.

I definitely need to go back and reread this play immediately for some close analysis and I highly recommend everyone to read it as well.

ahead of it’s time in numerous ways, although i felt as if a lot of the story was lacking. perhaps many of these plot holes wouldn’t be as noticeable or even explained when performed on stage. i suppose this is a play that isn’t meant to be read but demands to be seen in an auditorium.

It doesn't feel right to rate a play that is most definitely more suited to the stage than paper. But, if Wedekind can write about the dispairs of the 19th-century teenager and most of it is still very much relatable in the 21st-century, then what is the world doing with itself?

Ik heb de geweldige vertaling van Jonathan Franzen gelezen. Jammer dat hij in de introductie zo liep te zeiken over de Broadway musical uit 2006, alsof die de bedoeling van dit toneelstuk compleet verkeerd interpreteerde. Maar die musical is wel mooi de beste die er is én de reden dat ik het originele stuk wilde lezen. Introductie aside, dit toneelstuk is geweldig. Heerlijke personages, het is grappig en zielig en melancholisch en bizar. En ik zie gewoon nog Lea Michele voor me als Wendla en Jonathan Groff als Melchior, lekker puh.

(vier sterren ipv vijf omdat het einde nogal vreemd is. niet helemaal lekker afgesloten en onduidelijk.)