ingeniously engages stereotypes by presenting a Jewish figure, who
remains unidentifiable. This work ignited much controversy concerning
the purported implausibility of such a model Jew existing. In response to
these outbursts, Lessing pointed towards Mendelssohn as such a figure
and wrote Nathan der Weise as an example of such an enlightened
Jewish figure.
Lessing creates a unique tension by aligning the fictitious
character of Nathan with the most prominent figure of the Jewish
Enlightenment, which in fact obliterates the text as a work of art. The
lack of any physical description for Nathan only further reinforces this
reading. Lessing's aesthetics promotes the idea that ugliness has no
place within the visual arts, but can be useful for poetry. The use of the
ugly Mendelssohn as the archetype for Nathan and a lack of any physical
description cause the physical characteristics of Mendelssohn to
manifest themselves on the figure of Nathan. Further, reading Nathan
der Weise in conjunction with Lessing's critical works Laokoon and
Hamburgische Dramaturgie creates a new meaning for the play: it is not a
play at all, it is rather a polemic concerning religion.
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