10 - Conclusions

Summary

In the present study, I have examined each play separately on the ground that Kleist's characters can be properly understood only in their respective social contexts. Nowhere is this more true than in Penthesilea, where to judge the queen's behaviour in isolation from the Amazon state is to run the risk of seeing it through the uncomprehending eyes of the (boorish) Greeks. It is a central component of Kleist's basic thesis that all individuals are, to a greater or lesser extent, products of their societies. If for a moment we step back to consider the plays as a whole, we can discern essentially three distinct levels of conditioning. In the first place there are the older and more experienced members of these societies, usually the leaders, who have been so steeped in its conventions that there is little hope of their redemption. In the second place, there are the more youthful (but usually high-born) individuals whose indoctrination, although at a relatively advanced stage, is not yet complete. Finally, there are those who inhabit the margins of these societies and have, to varying degrees, escaped the stranglehold of convention. As we shall see, the members of this last group are often very different from one another; nevertheless, in the essentially aristocratic male-oriented worlds in which the plays are set, Kleist suggests that women, the young and those of humble origins are more likely to see through the prevailing conventions than adult, high-ranking males.