Portfolio Play Analysis Worksheet:

1. the play’s title: Woyzeck
2. the play’s author:

Georg Büchner

3. the country where this play was written and the language in which this play was originally written:
Germany and in German
4. the year this play was written and/or first performed:

First published 1879, premiered 1913.
5. the main character in this play (protagonist):
Woyzeck is the protagonist
6. a simple ​three­sentence​summary of the plot:
*Use one sentence each to summarize the beginning, the middle, and the end of this play. Points will be taken off if you use more than three sentences.
Woyzeck is a play about a solider who has a child out of wedlock with a women who may have cheated on him. He seeks to confront the man who his partner cheated with but after being humiliated, he decides to kill her and gets away with it.

7. the main conflict/problem in this play that involves the main character: *Describe the conflict/problem in your own words.

*Cite the act/scene/page numbers where this conflict/problem is most clearly expressed.

The main conflict is the Woyzeck is growing anxious and slightly crazy about his partner’s betrayal and begins to plot to kill her, which he eventually does.

[SCENE 19]­MARIE and WOYZECK.

MARIE. SO the town is over there­it's dark. WOYZECK. Stay here. Come on, sit down. MARIE. But I have to get back.

WOYZECK. You won't get sore feet.
MARIE. What's gotten into you!
WOYZECK. Do you know how long it's been, Marie? MARIE. Two years since Pentecost. I
WOYZECK. And do you know how long it's going to be?

MARIE. I've got to go, the evening dew is falling.

WOYZECK. Are you freezing, Marie? But you're warm.!­Hot, the hot breath of a whore­and yet I'd give earth to kiss them once more. And when you're cold,'" I don't freeze anymore. T'he morning dew won't make you

MARIE. What are you talking about WOYZECK. Nothing.

MARIE. Look how red the moon is. WOYZECK. Like a bloody blade.

MARIE. What are you up to? Franz, you're so pale.

[He pulls out a knife.] Franz­wait! For God's sake­help!

WOYZECK. Take that and that! Can't you die? There! There! she's still twitching­not yet? Not yet? Still alive? [Stabs] Are you dead? Dead! Dead!

*Describe what other characters are involved in this conflict/problem.

Woyzeck is the main character involved. However, indirect characters are Drum mayor, Marie and Andres.

*Explain WHY you chose this particular conflict/problem.
I chose this as the main problem because this drives Woyzeck to commit murder. Evidence of this in found in Scene 12, as Woyzeck begins to plan her murder.

[SCENE 12]­Open field.

WOYZECK. On and on! On and on! Shh­music. [Stretches out on the ground] Ha­what, what are you saying? Louder, louderstab, stab the bitch to death? Stab, stab the bitch to death. Should I? Must I? Do 1 hear it over there too, is the wind saying it too? Do 1 hear it on and on­stab her to death, to death.

8. Describe the play’s genre to the best of your ability at this early point in the semester​: *Citing evidence from the script, explain whether and WHY this play is a tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, drama, farce, melodrama, or some other genre.

This play can be considered a tragedy, the world the play is set up to be a sad one with clear economical division, there is a constant emphasis on money. Woyzeck himself is work as an assistant to the captain which let’s him know money is related to moral character, considering he is poor he is told he has no morals. He also works as a human expriment.

9. What do you notice about the setting and the characters’ clothes and props (= moveable objects used onstage), as mentioned in the play’s stage directions and dialogue?
*Citing evidence from SEVERAL key places in the script, explain the following:

*Where does the action of the play take place? (Name ALL locations, not just the setting of the opening scene!) A street, A pond, A shop, An Inn, At Night, The Guardroom, The Barracks

*How are characters dressed, and what important props (= moveable objects) do the characters use? A knife

10. What are the qualities of the dialogue spoken by the characters?
*Citing evidence from the script, explain what you notice about the way the characters speak. Examples: Is this play written in verse or prose? Does this play contain long speeches by a single character? Does this play contain short/clipped dialogue? Is the tone of the dialogue formal or informal? Is the audience ever addressed directly by one or more of the characters? These are just some examples! Please write down anything that YOU notice about the way dialogue is structured in your assigned play, giving specific examples from the script to illustrate your points.

The dialogue is verse, meaning single lined dialogue. There is evidence of monologues. I found that at times the dialogue was hard to follow, I find it comedic in the sense that the reader is unsure of what is really going on, creating ambiguity,

WOYZECK. Take that and that! Can't you die? There! There! she's still twitching­not yet? Not yet? Still alive? [Stabs] Are you dead? Dead! Dead!]

Perhaps the biggest evidence of the uniqueness of the structure is found in the Stage Directions. Consider the following example:

[SCENE3.]­Carnival booths. Lights. People.

11. Make a list of up to 10 (ten) unfamiliar words used in this play that you had to look up AND list the definitions of these words.

Hyperoxidic: ​A stomach becomes ​hyperacidic​if, for some reason or another, the secretion of gastric acid is higher than norma

Confidingly:​Wiith trust ​confidingly​­ with trust; in a trusting manner

Aberratio mentalis partialis: Mentally Disturbed

Apoplexia cerebralis: brain hemorrhage, stroke

Rummages:​search unsystematically and untidily through a mass or receptacle.

Cunningly: ​skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guil

Exalted: ​(of a person or their rank or status) placed at a high or powerful level; held in high regard.

Sentimentally:​expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia: a sentimental song

Beastiognomy: ​the face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character/the outward appearance of anything, taken as offering some insight into its character:

Raison: ​RAISON D'ÊTRE reason or justification for existence

12. What symbols and/or themes do you find in this play?
*Citing evidence from the script, explain what objects, particular words, and/or ideas seem important. *Keeping in mind the story told by the play and the main conflict/problem you identified, explain WHY you believe these objects, particular words, and/or ideas are important.

A theme that I believe is crucial is the poverty that exist in this world of play. Even buying a weapon for the murder comes to prove that money moves a lot of people and situations.

[SCENE 15]­WOYZECK. The JEW. WOYZECK. The pistol costs too much. JEW. Well, do you want it or don't you?

WOYZECK. How much is the knife?

JEW. It's good and straight. You want to cut your throat with it? Well, how about it? I'll give it to you as cheap as anybody else; your death'll be cheap, but not for nothing. How about it? You'll have an economical death.

WOYZECK. That can cut more than just bread.

JEW. Two cents.
WOYZECK. There! [Goes off.]
13. Select a 2­to­4­page passage from the play that contains an important moment in the plot. *Write down the act/scene/page numbers and the names of the characters who appear in this passage.*Explain what happens, and explain WHY this is an important moment in the play. (Your chosen passage may or may not contain the main problem/conflict you identified earlier.)

The moment I am choosing is Scene 11­ Scene 15. In these scenes three major things happen, Woyzeck confront the Drum major and gets humiliated, he concludes that he has to kill Marie and finally he purchases his murder weapon. It really builds up to the death of Marie. These scenes include Apprentices, Marie, Woyzeck, Andres, Drum major, Jew.

*SCAN your selected passage using one of the book scanners at the Lehman library. Upload a PDF of just that passage to Blackboard as part of your assignment upload AND add the PDF to your ePortfolio, using the "Insert Media" function in the text box tool bar. Points will be taken off if you use the "Insert File" function instead. Points will be taken off if you post a JPEG instead of a PDF. Your file must be a scan, not a photograph, and must only be of your chosen scene.

14. What larger historical/political/social/cultural/artistic/critical concepts or events does this play bring to mind?​*Explain your choices based on evidence from the script.

This play brings up issues involving social classes and soci­ economic circumstances. As mentioned previously money is an emphasis. However, I was intrigued by the connection between being moral and the social class an individual belongs too. Below is a an excerpt from Scene 5­ As a spectator I am curious to discover if this has any contribution to Woyzeck breakdown.

CAPTAIN.What's that you're saying? What kind of a crazy answer is that? You're getting me all confused with your answer. When I say you, I mean you­you!

WOYZECK.US poor people. You see, Cap'n­money, money. If you don't have money. Just try to raise your own kind on morality in this world. After all, we're flesh and blood. The likes of us are wretched in this world and in the next; I guess if we ever got to Heaven, we'd have to help with the thunder.

CAPTAIN.Woyzeck, you have no virtue, you're not a virtuous person. Flesh and blood? When I'm lying at the window after it has rained, and I watch the white stockings as they go tripping down the street damn it, Woyzeck, then love comes all over me. I've got flesh and blood, too.

But Woyzeck, virtue, virtue! How else could I make time go by? I always say to myself: you're a virtuous man, [Sentimentally] a good man, a good man.

WOYZECK.Yes, Cap'n, virtue! I haven't figured it out yet. You see, us common people, wc don't have virtuc, we act like nature tells us­but if I was a gentleman, and had a hat and a watch and an overcoat and could talk refined, then I'd be virtuous, too. Virtue must be nice, Cap'n. But I'm just a poor guy.

15. What parts of this play do you still have questions about after reading it? Be specific.

I’m just curious to know if Woyzeck killed himself, he’s at a pond and then its not clear if he jumps, or gets away with it.

*Points will be taken off if you write that you don't have any questions about the play.