Jenseits der Mauer: a Tragic Untragedy

Abstract

This paper will utilize Nietzsche’s views on the relationship
between tragedy and the Apollonian and Dionysian drives to
evaluate the character of Jutta von Hadersloh in Elisabeth
Heinroth’s novel Jenseits der Mauer. Nietzsche first presented his
idea of Apollonian and Dionysian forces in the book The Birth of
Tragedy. His theory developed as a response to contemporary
analyses of Greek art and literature (Sweet 347). Nietzsche
argued that two major forces existed in art and in life itself,
which he dubbed the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The
Apollonian side represents individuality, logic, reason, and form,
the “edle Einfalt und Stille Grösse” apparent in many pieces of
Greek art (Sweet 347). The Dionysian side represents
collectiveness, nature, formlessness, rage, passion, and raw
emotions.