Creation: The Dilemma Of The Poet-Puppet Within Rilke's Fourth "Duino" Elegy And "Puppet Theatre," Or "Marionettentheater"

In Rainer Maria Rilke's Fourth "Duino" Elegy, as translated by Stephen Mitchell in The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, the speaker relates to the reader a scene where he sits before "his heart's curtain" (Mitchell 169) in anticipation of what seems to be a metaphorical review of his life. In the unveiling of the curtain, one may ascertain that life itself is a play, and that the life of the artist-poet is analogous to that of a puppet, where one is subject to external influences, and seldom able to maintain complete sovereignty over one's self. In Rilke's other piece, "Puppet Theatre," or "Marionettentheater," translated by W.L. Graff in Rainer Maria Rilke, Creative Anguish of a Modern Poet, puppets are personified and given human-like characteristics. As in the "Fourth Elegy," here they are also used to portray the idea that puppets are perfect in that they are able to fulfill the one ideal that is required of them. The puppets in both pieces symbolize a completeness that humans are unable to attain and are blatant criticisms of the controlling forces that influence and shape our lives, whether they come in the form of the self, one's environment, or that of a higher being.

In "The Fourth Elegy," the speaker wishes that he has been relegated to the inferior role of the puppet, we witness that he is turning into a bystander in the play that is his life, influenced by the actions of those around him as he submissively sits and waits for what is coming to reveal itself. The puppet, as simple as it is, at least has its one set purpose in life, to fulfill whatever mask that was chosen for it to the fullest extent. The speaker, however, states that even if someone tells him:

"That's all"; even if emptiness floats toward me in a gray draft from the stage; even if not one of my silent ancestors stays seated with me, not one woman, not the boy with the immovable brown eyeÐ'-- I'll sit here anyway. (Mitchell 169)

His unwillingness to yield to a being outside of himself is an adamant refusal to submit to the influence of another. He desires autonomy but is blind to the fact that there is no such thing. Anything that remotely resembles autonomy is a faÐ"§ade, not unlike the dancer who the speaker denies as, "However lightly he moves, / he's costumed, made upÐ'--an ordinary man / who hurries home and walks in through the kitchen" (Mitchell 169), like the speaker himself. Instead of being someone who changes masks, desires to be a puppet instead, stating that, "It at least is full" (Mitchell 169). He recognizes the futility of the faces that he portrayed to his father and the women that he had loved, for he feels as though no matter what side of him he displayed to them, it was enough. He refuses to play the game any longer. Despite his refusal to submit to these forces, he is compelled to see them through, as he eventually cedes to them by insisting on staying seated, and continues to "wait before the puppet stage" (Mitchell 171). He seeks for some type of affirmation that his life has not been a waste, feels that he is due some sort of retribution for his efforts, and is desirous to know that the pain that he has experienced in the past will result in the fruition of something, as his greatest fear is that his life has been lived in vain. This can be seen in the questioning of his father, as well as the women in his past that he had loved, when he repeatedly asks, "Am I not right?" (Mitchell 171). The speaker continues to stubbornly wait at the stage, in hopes of witnessing an angel's arrival, wherein the angels may finally infuse the puppets with life. Graff believes that the elegy is Rilke's attempt at self-vindication, and that the questioning of "Am I not right?" is related to his desire to win the approval and confirmation of his family and early acquaintances at home (Graff 308).

In "The Puppet Theatre," the puppets are likened to bestial things that have a voice that is not theirs as well as a face that is "not like ours," (Graff 312) with their movements comprising of violent actions that include their arms flailing about wildly. They have no sense of consciousness and are ideal in the sense that they are capable of displaying one constant face, unlike their human counterparts who are capable of displaying many faces, or exhibiting many masks. Since "Ð'...their voice is not theirs," it is implied that they are under the direct influence of an unknown presence or being, only doing what they are bidden to do. It is revealed in the last stanza of the poem that the puppets are manipulated by the, "ever hidden, uncovered / ugly hands in redÐ'..." (Graff 312) The apparent unconsciousness of themselves can be seen as their role in the play, that of the actor where the actions are contrived and false. The speaker notes that the audience watching the play derives a morbid joy when they:

see how the puppets hurt and frighten each other and die in bundles from the effect of their farces. (Graff 312)

Interestingly enough, the puppets are insulted when someone doesn't laugh at the antics in their "only" play, choosing to respond to apathetic audiences by enacting "their Last Judgment," and would "rush out through all doors / and climb over the walls / and strike the hands dead" (Graff 312). The puppets as objects manipulated by the omnipresent red hands are no longer controlled, and as a result of the anger arising from the insulting revelation that they are not serving their purpose by keeping the audience amused, they choose to rise against their creator instead of finding fault within themselves.

The relationship between the angel and the puppet in "The Fourth Elegy" portray two characters, both of whom have their own distinct purposes in life. The angel is the one that brings the puppet to life and is the creator, the angel is the only one that "plays" (Mitchell 171). The puppet on the other hand, has no purpose until the angel blows life into it, or rather, "startles" (Mitchell 171) it to life. The puppet does not have a role in the play nor does it have any meaning without the angel. The puppet itself has no value, only when it is put on the same plane in relation to the angel are we then able to differentiate their roles. After this, are