HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...

of a drama. Moreover, Hesse employs words such as Streben and Spannung, which
are key terms in German Romanticism:
Drama innerhalb eines Sonatensatzes: Zuerst Streben zur Dominante und
Gewinnung der Dominante, dann Mittelteil: Kampf um das Behaupten der
erreichten Dominante, was aber vergeblich ist und tragische Spannung bringt,
nun suchen und Getriebenwerden durch fremde Tonarten hindurch, bis bei
Beginn des 3. Teiles der Reprise die Haupttonart wieder gewonnen [sic] wird.
(Musik, 161; original emphasis)
The Romantic scheme of conflict and reconciliation of opposite forces, as
expressed in the dynamics of the sonata form, describes the fundamental features in
many of Hesse's novels where, as previously mentioned, two contrasting ideas, two
opposing forces or clashing tendencies, embodied by his main characters (see note 30
above as well as section 2 in Chapter I). 47 It seems as if a complementary antagonism
runs between these characters. Muoth, whose own Streben and passionate drive
would prove fatal to himself, is contrasted with Gertrud, 'eine sicher schreitende
Melodic' (SW 2, 345). Narzifi 'sah Goldmunds Natur, die er trotz des Gegensatzes
innigst verstand; derm sie war die andere, verlorene Ha'lfte seiner eigenen' (SW 4,
293). Each of these characters can be seen as 'an opposite who by his very difference
intensifies the traits of both' (Brown, 122) or as 'zwei untrennbare Half ten einer
lebendigen Einheit' (Glas, SW 5, 40).
The same dynamics emerge at a different level. Not only are couples of
characters linked to the two themes of a sonata form, but also single characters host
their own inner dichotomy. Their psychological development hinges on opposite
facets of their personalities: Siddhartha is both sinner and saint; Haller is torn
between his contempt for mankind and his need for human contact; Veraguth, in
Rofthalde, cannot find a balance between his needs as an artist and his duties as a
husband and a father. 48
47 For other elements of the influence of Romanticism on Hesse, see Weibel (1954), Freedman (1958), and
Ziolkoswki(1965).
48 As expressed by Martin Buber on the occasion of Hesse's eightieth birthday: 'Hermann Hesse hat dem Geiste
gedient, indem er als Erzahler, der er ist, vom Widerspruch zwischen Geist und Leben und vom Streit des
Geistes gegen sich selber erzShlt' (Volker ed., Hermann Hesse. Leben und Werk im Bild, 212).
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