Previous
Scene 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Woyzeck, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Human Nature
Secrecy, Paranoia, and Betrayal
Poverty and Suffering
Character vs. Circumstance
Summary
Analysis
Marie and Woyzeck stand beside a pond. Marie remarks on the dismal-looking town in the distance. Woyzeck tells her to sit down. Marie says she has to go home to make supper. Woyzeck ignores her, remarking on how warm she is. “Hot whore’s breath,” he says, though he’d give anything to kiss her lips again. Marie notes the red moon in the sky. Woyzeck likens it to “blood on iron.” Then he takes his knife and stabs Marie as she screams for help. Satisfied that she has died, Woyzeck drops his knife and runs away.
Woyzeck’s conflicted thoughts in this scene—he describes Marie’s “Hot whore’s breath” and yet desires to kiss her, nonetheless—may indicate that he is not in his right mind. His stabbing her is perhaps more a consequence of his lost grip on reality than a reflection of his real desire. Though Woyzeck is of course responsible for his actions, and though his murder of Marie is indefensible, it is worth noting the external circumstances that may have led him to commit this violent act: for instance, the doctor’s experiments on Woyzeck may have contributed to Woyzeck’s deteriorated mental and physical state.
Themes
