Woyzeck as a symbol for Powerlessness and Suffering Daniel Jerz College

Woyzeck is a very politically charged production with a great deal of room for symbolistic interpretations, however, with the circumstances of Buchner’s political life taken into consideration, it’s clear that they follow a pattern. Buchner’s revolutionary tendencies bleed into the script of Woyzeck in showing the shortcomings of the societal system that he operates in, and how that system leaves its subjects powerless. Woyzeck’s powerlessness in his society ultimately is what leads to his downfall as he’s attacked on all fronts.

To break this down a bit, Woyzeck’s powerlessness is emphasized in several key parts of the script, specifically the scene in which he is shaving his commanding officer and the officer directly belittles him for his position in the world, and the scenes in which he is utilized as a test subject for experimentation, and of course, his partner’s alleged affair with the drum-major.
In the first example, Woyzeck is subjected to a show of power that is admittedly cliche, but effective nonetheless, as he is given the means and the power to easily assert his dominance over his commanding officer with a knife to the throat, and yet, is unable to act on that impulse, as he has neither the choice nor the ability...