Kleist Importance Of Consciousness

Kleist and Consciousness A few short years before his death in 1811, Henrich Von Kleist finished writing some of his last great works including The Prince of Homburg. Although The Prince of Homburg was not the only play Kleist had written, it emphasizes an idea that he carries throughout the play in addition to The Chilean Earthquake, and The Puppet Theater, two of his short selected writings. The way that Kleist writes is sophisticated, eloquent, and philosophical. He is able to maneuver his words to bring together the idea of consciousness.
Consciousness is defined as “1.) A sense of one’s personal or collective identity. 2.) Special awareness of or sensitivity to a particular issue or situation” (The American Heritage Dictionary). Kleist’s
Sub-consciousness and unconsciousness work together and must have unity. Since Kleist was born in an era when Freudian concepts were just then coming together, dream analysis and meaning of our actions were new and being observed through scientific investigation. Kleist looks into the information that we synthesize and process as our surroundings by our five senses and makes the connection with our perception. In his writings, Kleist manages to subtly explain the reasoning for our conscious and actions. In Kleist’s The Puppet Theater, two men are talking about the marionettes in the puppet show and they lead into a deep discussion about the grace and elegance of the marionettes as they dance and question why people do certain things. While the two gentlemen continue to talk about self-consciousness one mentions the story of a boy pulling a thorn out of his foot and how he couldn’t repeat the movement he once did and how it slowly changed his character over time. The awareness of this consciousness leads into the concept of affectation, when adults lose their innocence and spontaneity such that children
Kleist craft fully is able to touch on all aspects of consciousness in such depth throughout his works The Prince of Homburg, The Puppet Theater, and The Chilean Earthquake. Kleist’s ability to give the reader a look into the mind of how and why we do things is unmatched in his creativity to describe reasoning. Although Kleist took his own life, he certainly was influenced by his times and the world around him. Kleist was able to see and understand this reasoning and perfectly describe these ideas in his writings that many today still enjoy to learn and