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Peas
In Woyzeck, eyes symbolize a person’s true self: the flawed, instinct-driven being they must suppress in order to adhere to—or to accept—the rigid, often unjust norms that govern their society. One of the play’s main sources of tension arises from the divide between a person’s natural state and how they must behave in order to adhere to the norms of their society. The play repeatedly portrays characters’ eyes as a gateway to their inner, natural state. When the sergeant and the drum major ogle Marie at the fair, for instance, the sergeant notes “her eyes…” implying that Marie’s eyes betray some secret, lustful urge within her. Later, Marie urges her child to “close [his] eyes hard,” as though doing so will bring him some peace, creating a barrier between her child’s innocent soul and the relentlessly brutal world in which he lives. The play suggests that a person’s inner and outer states are at odds with each other: that social norms, often constructed from religious or other moral frameworks, unjustly condemn human nature as obscene and immoral. Moreover, such norms are at odds with a person’s basic right to a dignified existence devoid of unjust suffering. In order to exist in such a world, Woyzeck cynically suggests, a person must close their eyes to the miseries they suffer—or those which they inflict upon others.
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Eyes Symbol Timeline in Woyzeck
The timeline below shows where the symbol Eyes appears in Woyzeck. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 2
...of checking him out. Marie doesn’t deny it and tells Margret to go get her eyes polished and sell them for some buttons. Margret accuses Marie of being promiscuous, then she...
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Scene 3
...cavalry regiment out of her,” he notes. The men praise Marie’s beautiful dark hair and eyes: “Like looking down a well,” notes the drum major. He urges the sergeant to hurry...
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Scene 5
...warning him that the sandman will come and blind him if he doesn’t close his eyes.
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Scene 7
...him to let her go. He holds tight, calling her a “Wild animal” with lustful eyes. Finally, Marie relents.
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Scene 14
...him to wake up. He tells Andres he can’t sleep: every time he closes his eyes, he hears music and sees Marie and the drum major dancing. And then a voice...
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Scene 15
...he feels shaky. The doctor excitedly invites his students to observe Woyzeck’s irregular pulse and eyes, both the result of his eating nothing but peas for the past three months. As...
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