Although Jung pinpoints Lessing's concept of ugliness, what can be
understood from his assertion of its "privativen Charakter"? The privative
character of ugliness remains vital for the representation of Nathan.
Lessing contends that the ugly body presents a challenge for the writer.
Lessing returns to the idea of body parts: "Die HaSlichkeit," he begins,
"erfordert mehrere unschickliche Teile, die wir ebenfalls auf einmal
miissen iibersehen konnen, wenn wir dabei das Gegenteil von dem
empfinden sollen, was uns die Schonheit empfinden laJSt" (Lessing 1964).
In describing ugliness in such a manner, Lessing emphasizes the
difference between the visual and written arts. In the visual arts, an
object is presented in its totality, whereas writing can only exist through
a succession of words that develops a concept of or description of a body.
Ugliness presents a greater challenge to the writer because it ceases to
be ugly through the writing process. Wellbery attributes Lessing's idea
about the disappearance of an ugly object as a feature inherent to
language (Wellbery 1984). Lessing suggests that the ability of ugliness to
vanish stems from the manner in which poetry conveys ugliness:
In der Poesie, wie ich angemerket, verlieret die HaSlichkeit
der Form, durch die Veranderung ihrer koexistierenden Teile
in suksessive, ihre widrige Wirkung fast ganzlich; sie horet
von dieser Seite gleichsam auf, HaSlichkeit zu sein, und
kann sich daher mit anderen Erscheinungen desto inniger
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