The Man Outside

The Man Outside (German: Draußen vor der Tür, literally Outside, at the Door) is a play by Wolfgang Borchert, written in a few days in the late autumn of 1946. It made its debut on German radio on 13 February 1947.
The Man Outside describes the hopelessness of a post-war soldier called Beckmann who returns from Russia to find that he has lost his wife and his home, as well as his illusions andbeliefs. He finds every door he comes to closed. Even the Elbe River rejects his suicide, washing him up on shore. The play ends with what can be assumed to be Beckmann's death.
Due to its release during the sensitive immediate postwar period, Borchert subtitled his play "A play that no theatre wants to perform and no audience wants to see." Despite this, the first radio broadcast (February 1947)was very successful. The first theatrical production of The Man Outside (at theHamburger Kammerspiele) opened on the day after Borchert's death, 21 November 1947.
The play consists of five scenes in one act. It makes use of expressionist forms and Brechtian techniques, such as the Verfremdungseffekt(defamiliarization effect) to disorient and engage its audience.
Contents  [hide]  *1 Characters * 2 Plot synopsis * 2.1 Prologue * 2.2 Dream * 2.3 Scene one * 2.4 Scene two * 2.5 Scene three * 2.6 Scene four * 2.7 Scene five * 3 Production history * 4 References |
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[edit]Characters
The list of characters, translated from the original text of the play:
* Beckmann, one of many
* His Wife, whoforgot him
* Her Friend, who loves her
* A Woman, whose husband came home with one leg
* Her Husband, who dreamed of her for a thousand nights
* A Colonel, who is very merry
* His Wife, feeling so cold in her warm parlour
* The Daughter, just over for dinner
* Her Courageous Husband
* A Cabaret Director, with daring goals, but less stamina
* Frau Kramer, who isjust Frau Kramer, which is horrible
* The Old Man, in whom no one believes anymore
* The Undertaker with a case of the hiccups
* A Street Sweeper, who actually does not have that profession
* The Other, whom everyone knows
* The Elbe
Following the character list, there is a short introduction (two paragraphs) to the play (similar to the original dramatic use of a prologue):"A man" (Beckmann) returns to his German home town, but there is nobody to go to. At first, he feels distanced from his life, thinking it is a film. But slowly he realizes that it is an "all-day film".
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[edit]Plot synopsis
[edit]Prologue
The play begins with an overfed undertaker (apparently Death) with gas(belching) examining a body by the riverElbe, not the first one. The body does not appear to belong to a soldier, although he is wearing soldier's clothes. The undertaker makes the nihilistic claim that this death changes nothing. The Old Man (apparently God) enters, crying and explaining: His children are killing each other. Since no one believes in him anymore, he can do nothing to stop them. Disinterested, the undertaker agrees thatthis is very tragic indeed.
God says that Death is the new God; people believe only in death. However, God remembers a skinny, sickly death. Death explains that he has grown fat during the last century, due to all the "business" from the war, and that is the cause of his belching. The scene ends with Death telling God to take a rest for emotional rehabilitation.
[edit]Dream
Beckmann awakes(after his suicide attempt) to find himself floating in the Elbe. The river turns out to be a rather resolute motherly figure. Once she discovers that Beckmann is bent on suicide, she lashes out, patronizing him. She calls him faint-hearted and explains that she will not let him kill himself. The dream ends with him washing up on the sand.
[edit]Scene one
The Other introduces himself to...