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

Scene 3

that he refused to discuss with anyone. Rather untypical of Walter. arendt: And? adorno: Well . . . as you, of course, can appreciate, in the present phase of active Benjaminomania, where every scrap of paper of Walter’s is being studied, people have become intrigued with what he was then working on. Stefan was recently asked and he suddenly recalled that his father had left one suitcase . . . a locked one . . . behind which he could not take back to Paris. He asked his ex-wife to hold it for him. arendt (impatiently): And? adorno: Other than a few days . . . I should know, because I met him there myself on New Year’s day of 1939 . . . Walter never returned to San Remo and shortly thereafter, Dora Sophie moved to London, never to return herself. arendt (excited ): And the suitcase? adorno: Stefan thought it was left behind in San Remo. So I went to snoop around. arendt: Much too late, it seems. (Beat.) And you asked whether there were any facts behind the blackmail. Well? You just provided one: the missing suitcase. adorno: Go on. arendt: Apparently it isn’t missing. adorno: You mean you found it? arendt: If I had, there wouldn’t be any blackmail. (Beat.) But the suitcase is only the foreplay. (End of scene 2.) Scene 3 (Same setting as scene 1. teddie adorno is sleeping restlessly on the “Freudian” sofa. He is tossing and turning.) Scene 3 25 teddie (suddenly crying out ): No . . . no . . . no! How dare you? Stop! gretel (rushing toward him): What happened? (teddie sits up.) Anything wrong? teddie: What a dream! gretel: You want me to write it down? teddie: Not this nightmare. (Beat.) Struggling with the first paragraph of a work about the dialectics of agalmatophilia . . . a word I searched and searched but couldn’t find in my dictionary. gretel: Ah . . . the hazards of taking down dictation . . . a feeling I’m only too familiar with. But what’s nightmarish about it? Dildos are not exactly a prohibited word in your vocabulary. teddie: There are dildos . . . and then there are dildos. Your detachable ones give me the creeps. gretel (sitting next to him and stroking his hair): I’m beginning to think your dreams do count. I am learning truly surprising things about my husband. (Holds him gently by the chin.) What’s the real objection to agalmatophilia? teddie: You were referring to public sculptures . . . right? gretel: I suppose that at least some are. teddie: With detachable penises? gretel: So they claim. teddie: Just think how many people might have handled them— gretel: But an object only turns into a dildo when it is used as such— teddie: Exactly! Just consider the hygienic aspects— gretel (suddenly starts laughing): I’m sure the Madam of your dream bordello would have solved this problem with her penis washing machine. (Beat.) But Teddie, dear . . . this is comical . . . not nightmarish. teddie: Not the way this one started. With Walter reading to you from the Kamasutra. 26 Foreplay gretel: Ridiculous. (gretel rises, walks across the room, and sits down on a chair.) teddie: You think so? (Lights dim on teddie, who remains for the rest of the scene on the couch in the shadow, and shine on walter and gretel. He is excited as he reads.) walter (reading from the Kamasutra): “When the girl is possessed using an accessory properly in place and wedged into her vagina, her eyes start vacillating under the unrush of pleasure, and the pupils of her eyes start moving.” (Looks up from book.) Are yours moving? gretel: Yes. walter (resumes reading): “The partner must then agitate the accessory in a violent manner and, by making her suffer, rapidly increases her excitement.” (Looks up from book.) Do you wish me to continue? teddie: No! gretel: You can’t stop now! walter (resumes reading): “Some use objects with the shape of the virile member to satisfy their fantasies: carrots, turnips, and fruit such as bananas or aubergines; roots like that of the sweet potato . . . or cucumbers. Having cleaned the fruit, they grasp it and insert it in the organ, so as to cause a pleasurable feeling.” (Looks up from book.) Any favorites? gretel: Asparagus— teddie (outraged ): Gretel! Green . . . thin . . . asparagus? gretel: Thick . . . preferably white. walter (resumes reading): “The state of mind of girls who can be possessed is of three kinds: accessible, cooperating, or hostile.” (Looks up from book.) What is yours? teddie: Gretel! You are not...