Musarion

by Christoph Martin Wieland

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Genres: German Literature, Philosophy, Literature, Germany, Poetry

79 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1768

About the author

Christoph Martin Wieland (1733 – 1813) was a German poet and writer.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christoph Martin Wieland's 1768 and in my humble opinion absolutely humble brilliant Musarion (and which is also one of my all time favourite German language verse narratives, period) deftly and successfully, and yes, almost carelessly combines witty humour, delightful sensuousness und cultivated philosophical discourses to demonstrate and with intensive clarity, with strength of conviction the author's concept of aesthetic development and education, his so-called philosophy of grace. And truth be told, Wieland himself actually and repeatedly stated during his lifetime that especially Musarion portrayed his spirit, his very essence of being, his philosophy and Weltanschauung, his worldview (namely, a delightfully centrist ideal, moderation and temperance, and the strict rejection of any and all extremism and fundamentalism, both philosophical and emotional, as well as ethical and moral, something that we should really ALL be taking to heart, as extremism is in many ways and continuously rearing its ugly ugly head politically, socially and religiously, and not only in countries that we would generally and traditionally consider as being all that prone to and in danger of this, either).

Now while this work, while Christoph Martin Wieland's Musarion is thus in and of itself, and of course even by simple necessity, somewhat didactic in nature, this didacticism is still NEVER ever heavy-handed, but presented in pleasurable, often deliciously humorous dosages, as the main protagonist, the Musarion of the title and the embodiment of poetry, charm and grace, of moderation in all things, guides her disappointed lover to the latter end, to the middle, the centrist path, and away from extremist and fanatical ideals that are always strongly but nonetheless also never vehemently or violently, viciously criticised as delusional, even potentially dangerous. And therefore Musarion reflects and represents an Enlightenment that first and foremost abhors and categorically rejects radicalism of ANY AND ALL kind, renouncing both the ultra-rationalism of Leibniz, Wolff and Voltaire and equally so the overwrought emotionality of the Sturm und Drang, the Storm and Stress period, as embodied by, for example, Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werther and Schiller's Die Räuber.

And finally, although as already mentioned basically a verse narrative, Musarion is in fact structured by Christoph Martin Wieland much like a three act comedy of manners and Musarion's disappointed lover Phanias must pass through multiple stages of both ironic criticism and increasing levels of enlightenment before he is finally able and willing to see the light, so to speak, and pun definitely intended, before his erstwhile lover Musarion is finally successful at opening his eyes, making him realise and appreciate the virtues of not renouncing the world with cynicism and stubbornness, but embracing the same in a moderate neither too materialistic nor too ethereal fashion. A wonderful little gem is Musarion, and highly recommended (although fluency in German is an absolute must, and I am also not sure if an English language translation of Musarion even exists, as I have definitely not been successful locating one).

[Francesco Iorianni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phanias soll eine Harmonie zwischen sinnlicher und seelischer Liebe finden, "gleich fern von Dürftigkeit und stolzem Überfluß." Erst dann wird sich Musarion ihrem Liebenden geben. Die Philosophie der Grazien lehrt dem Verliebten das goldene Maß der Mitte, worin er sich weder als wahrhaft libidinöser Faun, noch als asketischer Schwärmer geben soll. Versöhnung, Harmonisierung und Humanität sind Stichworte, die uns dieses Lehrgedicht literarisch näher bringen will.

[Jana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Philosophie zeug hat mich eingeschläfert.