The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
*The Man Without Qualities* is a novel by the Austrian author Robert Musil, set against the backdrop of the Austro-Hungarian Empire just before World War I. The story centers on Ulrich, a mathematician who, feeling disenchanted with the monotony of life, embarks on a yearlong sabbatical to seek deeper meaning and emotional intensity. Ulrich grapples with the perceived dichotomy between mathematics and spirituality, questioning whether scientific rigor alone can yield true understanding of the human experience. He finds himself entangled with various characters, including his cousin Diotima and a day laborer named Moosbrugger, who explores themes of morality and mental health through his violent actions.
As Ulrich interacts with a diverse group of individuals—from diplomats to artists—he becomes increasingly aware of the superficiality in their pursuits of meaning. The novel delves into complex relationships, particularly between Ulrich and his sister Agathe, as they explore a profound, albeit taboo, connection that allows them to transcend societal norms. Overall, *The Man Without Qualities* challenges readers to consider the interplay between intellect, emotion, and the quest for personal significance within a rapidly changing world.
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The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
First published:Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften, 1930-1943, 3 volumes (English translation, 1953-1960, 3 volumes; 1995, 2 volumes)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Philosophical
Time of plot: 1913
Locale: Vienna
Principal characters
Ulrich , a mathematicianWalter andClarisse , Ulrich’s childhood friendsMoosbrugger , a simple carpenterAgathe , Ulrich’s sisterDiotima , Ulrich’s cousin
The Story:
In August, 1913—just one year before the assassination of Austrian archduke Francis Ferdinand, which prompts the beginning of World War I—thirty-two-year-old Ulrich, exhausted by the seeming meaningless that underlies most of his life, chooses to take a yearlong sabbatical from his everyday life. He wants to search for the emotional intensity and spiritual depth that he knows must lie beneath the quotidian. As a mathematician, he has sought much of the order of life in rigorous formulas that defy easy reduction to the vagaries of spirituality and mysticism.
Ulrich has been reflecting for some time on society’s negative view of mathematics and science. He observes that many people continue to testify that the soul has been destroyed by mathematics. However, he believes that mathematics and science can change people’s lives for the better, that mathematics can turn the world around. His youthful ardor for science remains with him even as he trudges through his military and political careers. Still, Ulrich is ultimately uncertain that mathematics and science represent the only way to discover deep meaning in the world. The stability that other people demonstrate because of their deeply held political or religious positions eludes Ulrich, for his lack of qualities makes him uncertain about holding any position dogmatically.
Ulrich’s father as well as his cousin Diotima suggest another method for finding meaning and order in life; they recommend that Ulrich become the secretary of Parallel Action, a group of intelligent and patriotic minds, which is charged with planning and organizing the celebration, in December, 1918, of the seventieth anniversary of the reign of Austrian emperor Francis Joseph I. (Such efforts become futile, however, because the emperor dies in 1916 and the Habsburg Empire collapses in 1918.) Diotima’s salon becomes the gathering place for supporters of the Parallel Campaign, and at the salon Ulrich encounters everyone from diplomats and generals to novelists, poets, and scientists who support this campaign. The Parallel Action, however, embodies just the sort of empty, sterile, and superficial approach to life that Ulrich finds lacking in meaning and spiritual intensity.
In a separate series of events, a day laborer-carpenter named Moosbrugger kills a prostitute, and Ulrich follows his trial, as do many of Ulrich’s friends, with curiosity and horrified fascination. Taught as a child that women want nothing but sex, Moosbrugger pathologically avoids them, thinking that any contact with them will taint his soul. When a young prostitute begins to follow him, mainly for protection, he viciously kills her. A number of questions arise. Is Moosbrugger guilty of murder, or is he insane? Should he be executed if he is convicted? Can Moosbrugger, in his madness, grasp the precision of the soul for which Ulrich is searching? In one of his delirious states, Moosbrugger senses the oneness of the external world and the internal world; he becomes one with all the objects around him. This state of madness is a manifestation of the order that Moosbrugger tries to impose on reality.
Ulrich’s childhood friends, Walter and Clarisse, also follow Moosbrugger’s trial with fascination. These friends, now married, possess their own manner of establishing meaning in life. An accomplished pianist, Walter finds that he is suddenly blocked creatively, and that he lacks the inspiration to compose as he did before he married Clarisse. Clarisse, who believes fervently in Walter’s artistic genius, decides to withhold sex from him until he regains his artistic vision and composes his masterpiece. An artist herself, Clarisse calls Walter her prince of light who brings her a new gospel of the power of art. Clarisse’s fantasies of Walter’s artistic powers, and her fantasies about her own attempts to will genius into her life through her own art, bear a strong resemblance to Ulrich’s desires for a mystical union with the world. The two characters who are most able to discover some measure of spiritual intensity are Moosbrugger and Clarisse, and Ulrich uncomfortably recognizes these individuals’ abilities to transcend their respective cultures to find the spiritual order that lies beyond those cultures.
After his father’s death, Ulrich withdraws from the world almost completely. During this period, he meets his sister, Agathe, as if for the first time, as they are settling their father’s estate. Their spiritual and physical attraction to each other is so great that she divorces her husband, and the two siblings withdraw from society and live together. The two achieve a kind of mystical union that allows them to understand the secret of living in this world differently. It appears that Ulrich finally has found a way to balance scientific rigor with spiritual intensity and has discovered meaning and order in the world. As with Ulrich’s other attempts to find spiritual meaning, however, no one knows if this mystical union with his sister will succeed as hoped.
Bibliography
Bartram, Graham, and Philip Payne. “Apocalypse and Utopia in the Austrian Novel of the 1930’s: Hermann Broch and Robert Musil.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Modern German Novel, edited by Graham Bartram. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. An excellent exploration of the themes of inner harmony and social utopia in a world coming to its end. Part of a collection of essays on the modern German novel, with many references to Musil’s writings.
Bernstein, Michael André. “Robert Musil: Precision and Soul.” In Five Portraits: Modernity and the Imagination in Twentieth-Century German Writing. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2000. Essay expresses great admiration for the novelist’s narrative abilities. Part of a larger examination of the work of five modernist German writers—Musil, poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Paul Celan, philosopher Martin Heidegger, and literary and cultural theorist Walter Benjamin. Also examines Musil’s concept of “essayismus,” or the essayistic writing style.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Robert Musil’s “The Man Without Qualities.” Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2005. An uneven collection of critical essays on the novel that explores topics as diverse as chance and narrative in Musil, Austrian history, and experimental utopias.
Jonsson, Stefan. Subject Without Nation: Robert Musil and the History of Modern Identity. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2000. Analyzes The Man Without Qualities, demonstrating how Musil’s novel expresses a new concept of identity in Western culture. Maintains that the novel’s protagonist is a “new human being” who refuses to become part of Austria’s imperialism, nationalism, and fascism.
McBride, Patrizia C. The Void of Ethics: Robert Musil and the Experience of Modernity. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2006. McBride examines Musil’s fiction, essays, plays, and notebooks as she explores the manner in which Musil searches for an ethics in a pluralistic society that lacks absolute standards of judgment.
Payne, Philip. Robert Musil’s “The Man Without Qualities”: A Critical Study. 1988. Reprint. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. A thorough and helpful critical introduction to the content, structure, and themes of Musil’s novel.
Payne, Philip, Graham Bartram, and Galin Tihanov, eds. A Companion to the Works of Robert Musil. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2007. Collection of essays includes several on The Man Without Qualities. Others examine Musil’s life, his position as an intellectual, and his politics. Includes a biographical chronology, a bibliography, and an index.
Rogowski, Christian. Distinguished Outsider: Robert Musil and His Critics. Columbia, S.C.: Camden House, 1994. Chronicles the scholarly reception of Musil’s works, describing how critics both during and after his lifetime viewed Musil’s writings from a multitude of different perspectives. Includes a bibliography and an index.