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Poverty and Suffering
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Woyzeck, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Whether a person’s behavior is a reflection of their inner character or a consequence of their external circumstances is a recurring question throughout Woyzeck as characters consider the forces that motivate their actions and shape the course of their lives. In an early scene, the captain whom Woyzeck serves remarks that although Woyzeck is “a decent man,” he has “no morals,” referencing Woyzeck’s illegitimate child with Marie. In response, Woyzeck argues that it’s unfair to judge a poor person like himself “on just morals,” as “a man is flesh and blood as well.” Woyzeck’s rebuttal implies a distinction between abstract values and lived experience. The captain judges Woyzeck according to an arbitrary moral framework that fails to consider how the circumstances of Woyzeck’s actual, lived experience (his “flesh and blood”) influence—and quite often limit—his behavior. Woyzeck’s illegitimate child (and the sin of premarital sex that created him) may fall outside the bounds of moral behavior according to the Church. But for Woyzeck, whose poverty prevents him from indulging in many of life’s pleasures, physical intimacy—which is natural and free—is one of the few ways he can enjoy himself and escape from the suffering that otherwise fills his days. And given that his poverty effectively ensures that his quality of life will be lacking regardless of whether he acts in a way others deem “moral,” there’s no real incentive to do things according to society’s arbitrary rules. What’s more, Woyzeck (at least initially) is a good and responsible provider for Marie and their child, using all his meager pay to support them.
On the other hand, characters whose circumstances are more favorable, such as the captain or the doctor, can distract themselves from their immoral urges by indulging in pleasures that allow them to maintain their virtue. The captain, for instance, can lie back in his chair and enjoy a relaxing shave from Woyzeck. In this way, then, Woyzeck suggests that a person’s actions reflect their circumstances, not their character. People adapt their behavior to survive the conditions in which they live—they do not end up in those conditions based on their innate sense of morality.
Related Themes from Other Texts
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Character vs. Circumstance ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Character vs. Circumstance appears in each scene of Woyzeck. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Character vs. Circumstance Quotes in Woyzeck
Below you will find the important quotes in Woyzeck related to the theme of Character vs. Circumstance .
Scene 1
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Yes, Andres, the place is cursed.
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Scene 2
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What a man. He’s possessed. He didn’t even look at his child. He’ll go mad with thinking.
Scene 3
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When the fools talk sense then they fool us all.
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Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Observe this creature God has created. A nothing, a mere nothing at all. But see what he has achieved; he walks upright, has a coat and trousers, carries a sword. The monkey is a soldier. Though that’s not saying much, the lowest form of humanity.
DRUM MAJOR. Hold it. Did you see her? What a woman.
SERGEANT. By the devil, you could foal a cavalry regiment out of her.
DRUM MAJOR. And breed Drum Majors.
Scene 4
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That’s it. Put society to shame. You see, the animal is still in a state of nature, unidealised nature. Take a lesson from the animal, ask the doctor, it can be dangerous to keep it in. Man be natural, he says. You are created of dust, sand and filth. Do you want to be more than dust, sand and filth? See what reasoning!
Scene 5
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Our kind have only this one corner in the whole world and a little bit of broken mirror, and yet my lips are as red as any madam’s with her mirrors from floor to ceiling and fine gentlemen to kiss her hand. And I’m just a poor girl.
Aren’t I a bad girl? I could stab myself. What a world. We’re all going to Hell, man and woman.
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Scene 6
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Slowly, Woyzeck, slowly, one thing at a time. You’re making me dizzy. What am I going to do with the extra ten minutes you save? Imagine, Woyzeck, you’ve got a good thirty years yet to live, thirty years! That’s 360 months. And days, hours, minutes. What are you going to do with all that time? Pace yourself, Woyzeck.
We poor folk – you see, Captain, it’s money, money, when you’ve got none. You can’t set a fellow like me in the world on just morals, a man is flesh and blood as well. The likes of us are unblessed in this world and in the next. I expect when we get to Heaven we’ll have to help out with the thunder.
Scene 9
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No, Woyzeck, I’m not getting angry. Angry is unhealthy. It’s unscientific. I’m calm, quite calm. My pulse is its usual 60 and I tell you with the utmost coolness . . . God forbid that we should get angry over a mere human being, a human being.
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Scene 10
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He runs through the world like an open razor, you could cut yourself on him.
Scene 13
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Eh? What do you say? Louder, louder! Stab? Stab the she wolf dead. Stab, stab the she wolf dead. Shall I? Must I? Do I hear it up there too? Is the wind saying it? I can hear it on and on, on and on. Stab her dead, dead!
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Scene 15
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WOYZECK. I’ve got the shakes, Doctor.
DOCTOR (pleased). Ah, ah, wonderful, Woyzeck!
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Scene 16
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One thing after another.
Scene 19
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Everything is dead. Saviour, saviour! If only I could anoint your feet!
Scene 23
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What the Hell do you want? What’s it got to do with you? Out of my way! Or I’ll . . . You think I’ve killed someone. Am I a murderer, eh? What are you staring at? Stare at yourselves. Out of the way!
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Scene 24
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WOYZECK. The knife, where’s the knife? I put it down somewhere. It will betray me. Closer and closer. What kind of a place is this? What’s that? Something moved. Quiet. Somewhere just here. Marie. Ha. Marie. Still, completely still. Why are you so pale, Marie? Why have you got a red ribbon round your neck? Who have you earned that from with your sins? You were black with sin, black. Was it me made you so pale? What’s your hair so wild for? Haven’t you got it in plaits today? . . . The knife, the knife. Have I got it? Here!
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He wades further out.
