Copenhagen: Analysis of Major Characters
"Copenhagen: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex relationships among three pivotal figures from the realm of physics during a tumultuous historical period. The play imagines a posthumous conversation between Niels Bohr, a revered Nobel Prize-winning physicist and a father figure to Werner Heisenberg, and Bohr's wife, Margrethe. Set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Copenhagen in 1941, the dialogue explores themes of morality, loyalty, and the burden of scientific knowledge.
Niels Bohr, depicted as a humble elder statesman, is respected worldwide for his contributions to modern physics, while also grappling with his Jewish identity in a dangerous era. In contrast, Werner Heisenberg, also a Nobel laureate, is portrayed as a young man caught between scientific ambition and the grim realities of the Nazi regime, reflecting an internal struggle that raises moral questions about his actions in Germany. Margrethe Bohr serves as an astute observer and protector of her husband, providing critical insights into the dynamics between the two men. The play invites audiences to reflect on the personal and ethical dilemmas faced by scientists during wartime, leaving viewers to ponder the implications of their choices amidst the chaos of history.
Copenhagen: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Michael Frayn
First published: 1998
Genre: Play
Locale: Copenhagen, Denmark
Plot: Historical drama
Time: After 1987 (with scenes from 1924 and 1941)
Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize–winning physicist. Bohr was one of the most extraordinary scientists in history. In this play, he is a father figure to Werner Heisenberg, whom he loved dearly. The play is an imagined conversation between the two (along with Bohr's wife, Margrethe), posthumously discussing their real-life visit with each other in 1941, in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen. Bohr is a humble, elder statesman of physics, revered by scientists around the world. Within the dialogue he is referred to as the “Pope” of modern physics, with Einstein being God. He is half Jewish.
Werner Heisenberg, Nobel Prize–winning physicist. A brilliant scientist and protégé of Niels Bohr, Heisenberg is presented as a young and naive man, not grasping the brutality and terror fomented by the Nazi regime. (At one point, he asks Bohr if he has done any skiing. Given that Bohr is a half-Jew in Nazi-occupied Denmark, the notion is absurd.) Heisenberg was widely criticized because he stayed in Germany and was a leader in the German atomic bomb project. He held the chair for theoretical physics at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. Heisenberg comes off as the bad guy. He is the one to request the meeting with Bohr, leading to speculation that he wanted to find out what the Americans knew, and what Bohr knew, about nuclear-weapons development. It is implied that he might have had something to do with Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, a German attaché who warned the Jewish community about an impending Nazi action against Denmark's Jews. Bohr escaped Denmark due to Duckwitz's action.
Margrethe Bohr, Niels Bohr's wife. An observer of the relationship between Niels and Werner, Margrethe is a witness, a sort of interlocutor. She supports, and feels a bit protective toward her husband, and is suspicious of Bohr. She speaks of Heisenberg as though he is a naughty, recalcitrant son.