Foreplay: Hannah Arendt, the Two Adornos, and Walter Benjamin

Scene 6

50 Foreplay to you that, in my opinion, curiosity is not some distance below sex, but rather an indispensable component of it. You virtually undressed me with your powerful eyes and then asked me for the evidence. When I volunteered that it was my personal experience, you suggested that this topic was worth further examination. I came that night . . . figuratively and literally . . . assuming that you would now surely extend to me the courtesy of also discussing my thesis topic with you. But when I made it to the podium some weeks later to arrange an appointment, you didn’t even recognize me. (Beat.) Do you remember now? adorno: I shall have to plead temporary amnesia . . . even if nothing is being taped. x: In that case you leave me no other choice but to continue my demands through Professor Arendt. adorno: You are going to tell her about the correspondence you just claimed to have unearthed? x: Who knows? I may just send her the tape . . . as some sort of foreplay. Or perhaps I shall titillate her with some further excerpts. (She turns and starts to leave. But then she stops and turns around.) She will get whatever is needed to convince both of you that you better sit down to start working on your foreword. Before you know it, you will be facing a deadline. (End of scene 5.) Scene 6 (gretel adorno, dressed in black mourning clothes, and hannah arendt, an unlit cigarette in her hand, face each other.) Scene 6 51 hannah: Please accept my deepest condolences. (gretel looks at her skeptically, but says nothing. She points to a chair.) Such a shock . . . and no warning. (gretel says nothing, but again gestures for her to sit down.) I imagine that your many friends rallying around you must have given you at least some comfort. gretel: You and Teddie were no friends. Your paths hardly ever crossed. hannah: True. But recently, we met on several occasions. gretel: So it seems. hannah: Teddie told you the reason? gretel: Teddie? I’ve never heard him refer to you as Hannah. (Light on hannah fades—as in first scene in teddie/ gretel /walter trialog—while light now focuses on theodor adorno and his wife.) teddie: Gretel, we must talk. gretel: That is more or less the way we start every day. teddie: This is different. gretel: You mean about Walter. teddie: Yes . . . about Walter (Beat.) and about you. gretel (sighs): We would never have gotten to that if you had not insisted on continuing with your interminable dictation. teddie: What I wanted to talk about is your dictation. Specifically , your use of the word “foreplay.” gretel: It’s a common enough word. teddie: True enough. But not a common word in your spoken vocabulary. gretel (dismissive): If you say so. I’ve never noticed. teddie: I’ve always considered you monogamous . . . nearly celibate. gretel: You make it sound as if “monogamous” and “nearly celibate” are synonyms. If I am nearly celibate, it’s not by choice. teddie: Gretel! For heaven’s sake! How can you say that? gretel: You’re focusing on the arithmetic of copulation—the number of mates or matings. What about mental promiscuity or even adultery on the part of a virtual virgin? teddie: There is no such thing as a virtual virgin. gretel: You mean anatomically. I meant mentally. (Beat.) You look dubious. teddie: Not dubious . . . just pensive. gretel: Will you share the grounds for your pensiveness with your spouse? teddie: Why not? I was thinking of our friend Walter. He has often been called a “flâneur.” gretel: I know. I may have done so myself . . . though perhaps not to his face. teddie: Out of embarrassment? gretel: There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s a charming French word . . . a wanderer, a curious one, perhaps even an intellectual one . . . all of them descriptions that suit him. teddie: I know. But he is also another kind of flâneur . . . with an ogler’s wandering eye. gretel: A flâneur can ogle. teddie: Walter is a sexual ogler. (Light fades on theodor adorno while light now focuses on gretel adorno and hannah arendt, who are resuming their earlier conversation.) hannah: Earlier this year we switched to first names. gretel (somewhat taken aback): At Teddie’s initiative? I can’t believe it. My husband was very formal when it came to first names. hannah (sarcastic): With women? I rather doubt...