SOURCE: "Language," in The Dramatic Art of Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy: A Critical Study, Mouton, 1974, pp. 130-68.

In the following excerpt, Harding examines Raimund's use of language, imagery, imaginative humor, and sound in his dramas.

The Local Element

Exceptional variety of technique and a high degree of skill characterize Raimund's language in all his plays. The poet inherited a tendency to mix formalized stage German with the folk language. One finds the Alexandrine, blank verse, the Knittelvers, and the distich in close proximity to prose passages in Viennese dialect. Stately and somber poetry is followed by the rough but amusing speech of the Austrian peasant. To variety of expression Raimund added vivid imagery and skillfully devised verbal humor.

Why has the speech of his characters delighted countless audiences? Certainly, in part, because it is so varied, swift-moving, and filled with unexpected turns that the listener remains fascinated...