Goethe’s plays are written to be read, rather than to be performed. They are lyrical and meditative, rather than dramatic.’ Discuss with reference to two or more plays. ‘

Goethe’s plays are written to be read, rather than to be performed. They are lyrical and meditative, rather than dramatic.’ Discuss with reference to two or more plays. ‘

Goethe’s plays are written to be read, rather than to be performed. They are lyrical and meditative, rather than dramatic.’ Discuss with reference to two or more plays. ‘    
  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a highly active dramatist. During the course of his literary life, he kept on writing dramas; and he not only wrote them but also put them on stage as theatre manager and actor. Until today, his dramatic works are very popular, still dramatically relevant for the theatre world, and succesfully put on stage. However, one might argue that some of his plays can hardly be meant to be performed. They seem to be too static for the stage, and some people believe that hence they should rather be read than performed. The following essay will deal with this question on the basis of two plays which probably could be called relatively static: ‘Iphigenie auf Tauris’ und ‘Torquato Tasso’.
    However, why could these plays be called static? Firstly, it can be observed that in both plays inner action seems to be more dominant than outer action. This becomes already evident once a look is taken on the scenery, suggested by the plays. During the five acts and altogether twenty-four scenes of ‘Torquato Tasso’, the scenery changes only three times between ‘Garten’, ‘Saal’ and ‘Zimmer’. The outer action seems to step back behind the development of Tasso’s inner conflict, that is primarily depicted verbally than through action. There can be found an exception, when Tasso raises his sword against Antonio in act II, scene 4; but   mostly we find the characters rather reflecting about their actions than actually acting.
    In ‘Iphigenie auf Tauris’ this tendency becomes even more extreme, as we find only one scenery, namely ‘Hain vor Dianens Tempel’, where all five acts take place. The audiance never sees Orestes’ and Pylade’s landing, or the battle between Thoas’ troupes and Orestes’ men: “Verweilet nicht! Die letzten Kräfte...