Spring Awakening: Play Analysis

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Sheltered Adolescents Enter the Real World The central theme of the play is naiveté versus maturity. This contrast is shown by the two main characters: Wendla and Melchior. Wendla exudes innocence from the debut of the musical, with her mother dressing her in a long white gown. As Wendla sings “Mother Who Bore Me”, she questions her mother on the creation of babies, and Wendla finally realizes that it is not possible for storks to bring children to new mothers. However, her mother just tells her that a baby is born when two people truly love each other and Wendla does not know any better, and therefore believed her mother. This is completely opposite to Melchior, as he is very advanced for his age and for the time period. Melchior is extremely …show more content…
I empathize with Wendla, as my parents have tried to shelter me as well but I try to break free. I became emotional whenever Wendla was treated as a child because I personally despise when others treat me as a child, and believe that it is necessary to educate children so they will be intelligent and mindful young adults. That being said, I cried when Wendla’s mother forced Wendla to have an abortion. It was only the fault of the mother for not having explained earlier how a baby is made, and there is much dark irony in that Wendla conceived when she did not understand how to conceive. However, I would never make my child have an abortion, and her mother knew that the procedure was dangerous (especially in the 1890s). I could never forgive myself if I was Wendla’s mother, and would feel that I killed my daughter because that is basically what happened. I was emotionally moved many times throughout the play, but the part of the play that is forever stuck in my brain was near the end after Wendla and Moritz had both died. Melchior had gone to the graveyard to meet Wendla expecting her to be with child, but finds her tombstone instead. The dramatic irony that the audience knew that Melchior would sometime see the tombstone, but we did not …show more content…
Whenever the characters acted innocent and ignorant, they would be in an everyday setting with bright lighting. For example, when the girls and boys went to school, the lighting was harsh and they were all proper students who did not think about the outside world, but rather only about passing Greek class. The same goes with each of their homes; when Wendla is home and surrounded by her parents, she acts like a child trapped in an adolescent’s body. Whereas, the scenes in which sex is discussed or in which the characters have sexual relations, the characters are in a secluded place (such as the forest) and the lighting is dim. The costumes are also pertinent to the central theme, as Wendla dresses like a child in a long frilly gown whereas Melchior wears a tight fitting outfit more for a man than for a child. Sound is also crucial, especially since Spring Awakening was a musical rather than a play. It is obvious that the musical starts out innocent with the first song “Mama Who Bore Me”, but then the characters become more and more mature and sing songs such as “Touch Me” and “The Word of Your
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