Contemporary Literary Criticism | Sachs, Nelly (Vol. 98) - Ehrhard Bahr (essay date May 1972)

Ehrhard Bahr (essay date May 1972)

SOURCE: "Shoemaking as a Mystic Symbol in Nelly Sachs's Mystery Play Eli," in German Quarterly, Vol. XLV, No. 3, May, 1972, pp. 480-83.

[In the following essay, Bahr explains the elements of Jewish mysticism in Eli.]

Nelly Sachs' Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels, one of her Szenische Dichtungen, as she has called her verse plays, has received much attention by the critics. Nevertheless, some important features of the play, such as the figure of the protagonist Michael, the motif of his trade as a shoemaker, and the central image of the joining of the upper leather to the sole of a shoe, have so far remained unexplained. This omission may be due to the fact that any meaningful interpretation of Nelly Sachs' lyric and scenic poetry cannot ignore certain basic concepts of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalism and Hasidism), especially with reference to religious promise and fulfilment....

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