Análisis de datos.

A rela ted social Issue Is the co n tra st between urban and ru ra l life . H ein rich does n o t re fle c t on th is Issue d ire c tly , b u t It Is clear

th a t there is a co ntra st fro m the way th a t H e in rich ’s life in tow n and life in the villa g e are juxtaposed d u rin g the account o f his e a rly years, as w ell as in the way th a t the values he associates w ith ru ra l life are conspicuously lacking in the tw o u rb an environm ents w hich feature in the novel. It has been seen in the preceding discussion th a t H einrich values the ideas o f integrated, organic ways o f life , and the sense o f com m unity, and th a t he fears th a t these are u nd er th re a t fro m m odem developm ents, even th ough he is, on the o th e r hand, id e o lo g ica lly com m itted to the idea o f progress in a lib e ra l sense.

H einrich describes life in the villa g e a t tim es as a k in d o f id y ll, som ething la rg e ly absent fro m his d escriptio ns o f urban life , and he a t some p oints achieves a ly ric a l in te n s ity w hich is unusual fo r the book as a w hole. T his is especially s trik in g in h is d e scrip tio n o f his firs t n ig h t in the villa g e , a t the end o f C hapter 17, Book 1, and th a t o f his w aking up the next m orning, a t the beginning o f C hapter 18. A fte r a festive rece ptio n by the fa m ily he goes to bed late by the open w indow o f his room and describes the scene; ‘das Wasser rauschte d ic h t u n te r dem selben [the w indow ], jenseits klapperte eine M ühle, e in m ajestatisches G ew itter zog d u rch das Tal, der Regen klang w ie M usik u nd der W ind in den Forsten d er nahen Berge w ie Gesang; u nd d ie kühle erfrischende L u ft atm end sch lie f ich so zu sagen an d e r B rust der gew altigen N a tu r e in .’(p .l6 3 ) In the m orning he is w oken by a crow d o f his young rela tive s and various anim als, follow ed by his uncle and his uncle’s daughters, a ll

d isp layin g jo y and harm ony w ith each o th e r, ju s t as H einrich has experienced a fe e lin g o f harm ony w ith n atu re the n ig h t before. The k in d o f harm ony expressed in the tw o passages is one w hich

and hum an, in a coherent whole, so th a t n a tu re and c iv iliz a tio n are here seen as in cooperation ra th e r than alienated fro m each o th e r. In his q u a lific a to ry ‘so zu sagen', how ever, H e in rich reveals his in a b ility fu lly to endorse his feelings o f the m om ent, suggesting e ith e r th a t there is som ething illu s o ry a bout the scene, o r th a t he personally does n o t have the s im p lic ity o f character to accept it a t face value as others m ight.

A n o the r expression o f the organic u n ity o f the villa g e life occurs a t the beginning o f C hapter 1, Book 3 w hen, on the day a fte r the W ilhelm T e ll fe s tiv itie s , H einrich describes the v illa g e rs' e ffo rts to p ro te ct the villa g e fro m the spring floods. W hen H ein rich gets up he discovers th a t a ll the men in the household are already o u t

w orking on the dams and defences, even though th e ir own house is in no danger. H e in rich goes o u t and observes th a t the m en are w orking ju s t as co m m itte d ly as they had been ce le b rating the day before. Those w ho are n o t engaged on w o rkin g on the w ater

defences are busy w ith o th e r tasks. T his tim e H e in rich cannot take p a rt in the organic life o f the villa g e w hich he is a d m irin g , and fin d s h im se lf superfluous (‘Ich konnte n ic h t v ie l h e lfe n u nd w ar den

Leuten eher im Wege' p.385), so m uch so th a t he decides to re tu rn to the tow n im m ediately.

In co ntra st to the sense o f com m unity in th e villa g e , w hich H ein rich does n o t manage fu lly to p a rtic ip a te in , b u t w hich is available to him , the descriptions o f urban environm ents focus on H e in rich 's iso la tio n and a nonym ity in these environm ents, w hich are presented as places where various in d iv id u a ls and separate groups subsist w ith o u t any necessary connection to an in clu sive com m unity, and w ith o u t, fo r the m ost p a rt, a sense o f com m on purpose, such as

th a t seen in the villa g e when n a tu ra l disasters threaten. W hereas in h is villa ge H ein rich is know n to the p o p u la tio n a t large, and spends h is tim e in the com pany o f m any frie n d s and re la tio n s, his urban

existence is co m p ara tively anonym ous, and his constant c irc le o f com m unity in each c ity is extrem ely lim ite d , consisting la rg e ly o f h is two frie n d s, Lys and Erikson, in the German c ity , and o f his m o th e r in the Swiss c ity . The fa ct th a t it is in a co m p ara tively tra d itio n a l, ru ra l environm ent th a t H e in rich 's sense o f the id e a l is closest to being realized corresponds p o o rly w ith his co n victio n th a t it is m a te ria l progress th a t w ill lead to u to p ia , and w hat emerges again is a tension between H e in rich 's lon g in g fo r a life o f co m m un ity and n a tu ra l

harm ony, and the processes o f m odernization to w hich he is id e o lo g ica lly com m itted. The Swiss and German citie s in w hich H einrich lives, w h ile b o th contrasted w ith the co untryside, are

nevertheless p o rtra ye d d iffe re n tly . The Swiss c ity , w h ile being the one in w hich H e in rich is to a greater extent know n, since he has grow n up there, and h is fa th e r has had a re p u ta tio n there, o ffe rs h im little

chance o f an a rtis tic career, o r even a rtis tic education, dedicated, as it is, la rg e ly to trade. In fa ct, the sensible business-like m e n ta lity,

ch aracteristic o f his Swiss hom e tow n, and w hich he praises d u rin g much o f the novel, is, fro m an a rtis tic p o in t o f view , lim itin g , and his own awareness o f th is is a llu d e d to in the firs t ve rsio n (‘Das nüchtem e praktische T reiben seiner eigenen Landsleute h ie lt e r fu r E rkaltung und A usartung des Stam m es'p.38). So H e in rich is forced to move to the German c ity because it harbours a rtis tic a c tiv ity to an extent th a t the Swiss c ity does n ot, and when he a rrives in the German c ity his d e scrip tio n o f w hat he sees (pp.495-496), in c lu d in g its flam boyant a rch ite ctu ra l v a rie ty , and its m ixtu re o f v a rio u sly costum ed a rtists, students, kn ig h ts, courtesans, o ld ladies, priests, burghers and

hunters, p o rtra ys a place o f obvious p o te n tia l fo r the a rtis t, b o th in the presence o f a rtists, and in the presence o f varied m a te ria l to engage the a rtis t's a tte n tio n . A t the same tim e, however, it is a scene red ole nt o f an o ld e r, ra th e r than new er, age, and there are a n um be r o f elem ents in the scene, such as the num erous priests and elaborate church services, the knights and courtesans, w hich H ein rich w o u ld feel, a t least fro m an ideological p o in t o f view , were relics o f a past order, and ought to be e lim in a te d in the interests o f progress. So, it appears th a t H einrich, in spite o f h im se lf, fin d s the German c ity m ore in tere stin g , despite its lack o f lib e ra l credentials in com parison w ith his hom e tow n. This how ever is despite the fa ct th a t m uch o f

H einrich's experience o f the p o te n tia l iso la tio n and a lie n a tio n o f urban life takes place in the Germ an c ity , none o f the co n stitu e n t com m unities o f w hich H e in rich belongs to in a solid way.

It is also w o rth p o in tin g o u t th a t H ein rich 's Swiss ru ra l id y ll has its co u n te rp a rt in the co un t's estate. Despite the h ig h ly

h ie ra rch ica l tra d itio n a l o rg a n izatio n on the count's estate, in contrast to the m ore level social p ro file o f the Swiss villa g e , the

count's estate o ffe rs H ein rich an id y llic re tre a t from the u rb an w o rld in the same w ay th a t the Swiss villa g e does. In both cases these are id y lls th a t H e in rich leaves o f h is own w ill, and w ith reg re t, ra th e r than being rejected, as his circum stances, educational in

S w itzerland, fin a n c ia l in Germ any, eject h im fro m b oth citie s. In sum m ary, it can be said th a t the m ore archaic and variegated social arrangem ents in G erm any stim ulate H e in rich a rtis tic a lly , whereas the ru ra l e nviron m e n t prom otes his fe e lin g o f com m unal in clu sio n and social confidence. A com bination o f the two, com ing together in the fo rm o f old-fashioned patronage, produces an environm ent o f s tim u la tio n and su pp ort in w hich

H einrich is able to produce a rtis tic a lly w ith th a t degree o f success o f w hich he is capable, even i f on a lim ite d scale. H e in rich 's home

environm ent, and th a t w hich best im plem ents his ideals o f

dem ocracy and the s triv in g fo r m a te ria l progress, th a t is, his Swiss home tow n, is th a t e n viro n m e n t w hich is also m ost deadening fo r h im as an a rtis t and as a social person, and his fa ilu re to f it his p e rso n a lity and tem peram ent to his hom e e nvironm ent is a m a jo r elem ent o f the tragedy o f the novel.

A rt

A rt plays a ce n tra l ro le in D er Grixne H einrich in a num ber o f ways. The novel is the s to ry o f H e in rich 's a tte m p t to become

educated as an a rtis t, and a lth o u g h h is a tte m p t is a fa ilu re in as m uch as he does n ot become a p a in te r, it m ig h t be term ed a success to the extent th a t he has, it is im p lie d , become the w rite r o f h is own sto ry. 25 Thus the developm ent o f H e in rich 's character as a w hole is closely connected w ith his developm ent as an a rtis t, and, th ro u g h th is, w ith the problem atics o f a rt in the m odem age generally. On the o th e r hand, in presenting a rt in the m odem era as being in crisis, and contrasting th is sense o f crisis w ith the idea o f a lo st sense o f u n ity in the a rt o f the past, K e lle r makes a rt re fle c t his social concem s, and trea ts the state o f a rt as a k in d o f in d ic a to r o f the harm ony, o r iack th e re o f, in society.

A rt thus m ediates conceptua lly between society and the in d iv id u a l, as its problem atics are to be fo u n d operating in both spheres. The problem atics o f the o ld and the new, w ith the sense o f a lie n a tio n involved in the new, and the longings fo r a lo st u n ity

associated w ith the o id , are ce n tra l to the discussions o f a rt in D er G riine Heinrichy as they are to the discussions o f social issues, w ith , however, a difference o f em phasis, in th a t the sense o f progressive optim ism , w hich is p a rt o f the social presentation, is h a rd e r to detect in the a rtis tic area, whereas the sense o f loss and

d iso rie n ta tio n is a ll the clearer. In discussing a rt in D er Grüne

H einrich I shall sta rt w ith the to p ic o f a rt th e o ry, and then move on to a rt and com m unity, and a rt and econom ics, b o th o f these

conjunctions being b ro u g h t up in key passages o f th e novel. H einrich's views on the th e o ry o f a rt fin d expression in a num ber o f descriptions o f h is own attem pts to p a in t. A lth o ug h