The Mirror and The Tower: Masculinity and Specularity in Klinger's Die Zwillinge and Gerstenberg's Ugolino

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of hypersexualized male subjectivity in two dramas of the Sturm und Drang period in German literature: F. M. Klinger's Die Zwillinge ([The Twins]) and H. W. Gerstenberg's Ugolino. Both plays detail struggles with self-reflection, and as such they can and should be included in the "specular moment" in German literature, a term coined by David Wellbery that currently only applies to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's early lyric poetry. Their inclusion in the specular moment, however, necessitates the "other" definition of "speculum": the medical instrument that makes the female anatomy less mysterious. In examining Klinger's play, the author focuses on Guelfo's obsession with his reflections (literal and otherwise) and with reliving his own birth. The author then moves to Gerstenberg's reimagining of Dante's work, examining how the characters of Ugolino—all of whom are in one way or another "reflections" of each other—express violence toward women and desperation with male impotence.