Economics and Psychology: The Negation of Masculinity in Keller’s “Die drei gerechten Kammacher”

Concepts of masculinity are arguably as broad and indistinct as the manifestations of distinguishable ethnicities and generations, and fictional representations of them have shown no less depth and diversity. Yet it is possible to speak of certain ideals, characteristics, and behaviours that have been valued for men at a given time and location. Gottfried Keller (1819–1890) was writing at a time when Germany and Switzerland were stimulated by the ideals of new sciences that, according to George L. Mosse, sought to “analyze men as groups rather than individuals” (6). Mosse cites religious leaders such as Friedrich Ehrenberg, author of Der Charakter und die Bestimmung des Mannes (1834), who cautioned men to adhere to the ideal of the “true man, [...] without the least hesitation, opposed as it was to immoral, weak and servile men” (6) or philosophers such as Johann Gottfried von Herder, who emphasized man’s goal to become a “harmonious, autonomous individual, exemplifying both the quest for knowledge and the moral imperative” (8). According to Mosse, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a new stereotype based upon definite concepts of proper appearance, behaviour and comportment came into being for men. The ideal man boasted the disciplined body of the athlete depicted in Greek sculpture and praised by Wilhelm von Humboldt and Johann Joachim Winckelmann (Mosse 29). This body combined both physical strength and the strength of will demanded to achieve that lithe physique. It denoted industry and radiated nobility. It was neither awkward, nor hampered by a weakness of nerves or ill health (Mosse 41). The “whole man” of the nineteenth century, as described by Martina Kessel, was to exceed the boundaries of common virtue to possess the merits of attractiveness and charisma. He was to be at once knowledgeable, considerate, vigorous, and compassionate. He was to seek the ideal combination of “scientist, artist and warrior, [existing] in the balance between practical rationality and emotionality and [fusing] the opposition between the public sphere and the private family” (Kessel 2–3).

It is this ideal of the “whole man” and the ability and preparedness of men to attain it that prove to be a common theme in the works of Keller. On occasion the progression to full male adulthood is marked by extraordinary effort, but nonetheless proves to be a surmountable task. Other examples prove, however, the destructive possibility of this same progression. Keller’s novella “Das Fähnlein der sieben Aufrechten” (1861), for example, provides a clear illustration of a successful transition, as it addresses primarily different attitudes between the young and the old towards democracy and love of fatherland against the background of a Swiss national festival. The Aargau festival, which provides the opportunity for the respective guilds to display their glory by means of a banner, a speech, and the awarding of a cup to the best marksman, is the setting for young Karl Hediger’s display of oratory skill, economy, and expert marksmanship. The story demonstrates the development of one young man from a selfish borrower (“Das Fähnlein” 262) and scamp (267) into an equal member of the “Upright Seven” (321) and worthy husband-material (333), in short, into a real man. The ideals of the paternal generation must give way to those of one requiring greater personal adaptation. Rather than engaging in a devastating dispute concerning the concept of masculinity, it must accept greater flexibility of personal and societal classification. This is exemplified both by the speech that Karl delivers instead of that “bittere und geschraubte Kriegserklärung” that the carpenter Frymann had planned (310) and by the eventual acceptance of the traditionally impolitic wedding of Karl and Hermine, that of a less solvent man with a more affluent wife (332).

Other works link less successful attempts at the transition to masculinity to the presentation of extremes. The challenges to masculinity are many and affect both the personal and professional identity that are so distinctively combined in the ideal man. One example is the scene in the second version of Keller’s Der Grüne Heinrich (1879/80) in which Heinrich Lee is...