THE DEATH OF DIONYSOS - ETD - Vanderbilt University

We have already answered the last question. Rather than tell their charges that
they are wrong, the Abbé and his shadow faculty facilitate the realization of their pupils
wishes, so that the latter might learn from experience their error, even drink it to the bitter
dregs (495). 28 Wilhelm learns more from Natalie, a graduate of the Tower school, about
the pedagogical theory of the Abbé, who, rather than the youthful Wilhelm–in an
unromantic reversal of Wordsworth–plays “Nature’s Priest” in the novel. 29 She recalls his
fundamental precepts, “‘daß die Erziehung sich nur an die Neigung anschließen müsse’”
[“‘that all education should build on inclination’”]; and that man was meant to be active:
“‘das Erste und Letzte am Menschen sei Tätigkeit, und man könne nichts tun, ohne die
Anlage dazu zu haben, ohne den Instinkt, der uns dazu treibe’” (520). [“‘the most
important thing (for a human) is to be active, but one cannot engage in any activity
without the necessary predisposition or the instinct impelling us in that direction’” (EAB
319).] She adds that the Abbé was critical of ambiguity and confusion that prevailed in
childhood education: “‘sie erregt Wünsche, statt Triebe zu beleben, und anstatt den
wirklichen Anlagen aufzuhelfen, richtet sie das Streben nach Gegenständen, die so oft mit
der Natur, die sich nach ihnen bemüht, nicht übereinstimmen’” (Ibid.). [“‘it arouses
desires rather than active impulses, and instead of helping to develop predispositions, it
directs our activity toward objects, which are often out of line with the minds that are so
taken up with them’” (Ibid.).]
“Trieb” or instinct here is contrasted with desire, which can obscure or be mistaken
for an individual’s real capacities and potential. Paired with its verb form treiben, Trieb
suggests that authentic activity is determined less by its results than by the instinct or drive
that motivates it. The necessary assumption, of course, is that a child will be inclined by
28 Some time after his initiation ceremony, when Wilhelm reflects on the Abbé’s intervention in his
own life, he comments to Natalie on the peculiar way that “‘dieser merkwürdige Mann’” [“‘that
remarkable man’”] exercised influence: “‘und mich, wo nicht geleitet, doch wenigstens eine
Zeitlang in meinen Irrtümern gestärkt hat’” (521). [“‘and if he has not precisely guided me
according to his fashion, he has at least encouraged me for a time in my mistakes’” (EAB 319, my
italics).]
29 “The Youth, who daily farther from the east / Must travel, still is Nature’s Priest”. See William
Wordsworth, “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”, in: The
Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, vol. IV (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1947), pp. 279-85 (l.
72-73).
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