Wieland and Wezel: Idealism, realism and the polarities of satiric temperaments

As satirists, both Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann Karl Wezel hoped that by focusing on the discrepancies between the real and the ideal, their works would contribute to the betterment of mankind. Possessing different temperaments and world views, they diverged in their representation of reality, and their brief friendship was destined to end. This dissertation examines their ideological and aesthetic differences as well as their place in the pedagogical tradition of eighteenth-century German prose satire. The relationship between Wieland and Wezel is traced as it is documented in their correspondence and reviews. Wieland's criticism of Swift, Voltaire and Rousseau is examined as a key to his concept of satire and a foreshadowing of his rejection of Wezel's extreme caricatures and so-called misanthropy. Wieland's Sokrates Mainomenos and Wezel's Belphegor are analyzed as representative examples of their author's satiric practices. The sharp social criticism in Sokrates Mainomenos anticipates his later works on the French Revolution. The bitter social satire Belphegor and its underlying materialistic philosophy are examined as neglected trends of the period.;These novels and the relationship between their authors shed some light on the different intellectual movements within eighteenth-century German Literature. With his optimism, faith in the Enlightenment's progress and belief in the sympathetic bond of humanity, Wieland emerges as an idealist, whereas Wezel, with his rejection of the dominant Leibnizean world view, possesses a more realistic outlook. In their political criticism, both Wieland and Wezel attack the aristocracy's luxury and capriciousness but reject revolutions and retreats into Rousseauistic idylls as answers to social and political problems. They hope that absolute rulers, guided by reason and wise advisers, would initiate reforms. Wieland's gentle irony is more in the tradition of Horace, and Wezel's aggressive criticism is that of Juvenal. Whereas Wieland's moderate, conciliatory and playful satires exhibit the golden mean of German Classicism, the more pessimistic Wezel resorted to black humor and caricature because he saw more flaws and vices in mankind than Wieland did.