Die Ästhetik des Mordens

Ein kunstvoll inszenierter Mord ist die Königsdisziplin des Dandys: unmoralisch, böse, raffiniert. Das Ziel ist der perfekte Mord. Das Unmoralische besteht im Prinzip des l'art pour l'art. Der Mord wird unter rein ästhetischen Gesichtspunkten betrachtet. Diese Methode brachte dem Dandy schon bei gewöhnlichen Kunstwerken Probleme ein. Das machte ihn aber auch zur Avantgarde. Die Ästhetik des Häßlichen, des Schreckens und des Krieges führten zu einer ganz neuen Betrachtungsweise von Kunst. Die Lust am Laster als Individualrecht, die Selbstbestimmung über Körper, Sinneswahrnehmung und Geist markiert den Beginn des Individuums in der Moderne. Der Dandy spielt dabei eine zentrale Rolle: Er ist Vorreiter dieser Bewegung, der sich nicht von dem Urteil der Anderen beeinflussen lässt. Es gibt viel Material über den Dandy und seine Ästhetik, aber vergleichsweise wenig über die Ästhetik des Mordes. Mir fiel ein Artikel aus dem Blackwood Edinburgh Magazine vom Februar 1827 in die Hände. Titel: »On Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts.« Aus diesem soll hier auszugsweise zitiert werden, um etwas Licht ins Dunkel zu bringen.

Darum bemühte sich schon Oscar Wilde. Er stellte die Qualitäten des Dandys und Giftmischers Thomas Griffith Wainewright ins Rampenlicht (»Pen, Pencil, And Poison - A Study in Green). Dieser war »a subtle and secret poisoner almost without rival in this or any age«. Leider kommt Wilde weder auf Einzelheiten zu sprechen, noch darauf, was das Kunstvolle an Wainewrights Art zu töten war. Der Leser erfährt nur, dass es um Geld ging - ein recht niedriges Motiv, gerade für einen Dandy. Wainewright ist trotzdem der berühmteste bekannte Giftmischer. Er wurde 1794 geboren und war vielleicht Mitglied in 'The Society of Connoisseurs in Murder'. Diese war sehr um Geheimhaltung bemüht, was das Nichtwissen um weitere Giftmischer erkären könnte. An Unmoral mangelte es um 1820 nicht. Das Blackwood Edinburgh Magazine spricht im Februar 1827 von einer 'Society for the Promotion of Vice' und einer 'Society for the Suppression of Virtue'. In dieser Ausgabe des Blackwood Edinburgh Magazines ist eine Rede dieser Society abgedruckt. Ihre Mitglieder kritisieren Morde so wie ein Kunstkritiker ein Kunstwerk betrachtet. Der Redner betont eingangs, dass »murder is an improper line of conduct«, aber »it may also be treated aesthetically (...) a transaction, which, morally considered, was shocking, and without a leg to stand upon, when tried by principles of Taste, turns out to be a very meritorious performance. (...) Assassination is a branch of the art which demands a separate notice (...) about two centuries ago, there was a most brilliant constellation of murders in this class. I need hardly to say, that I allude especially to those five splendid works, - the assassinations of William I. of Orange, of Henry IV. of France, of the Duke of Buckingham, (which you will find excellently described in the letters published by Mr Ellis, of the British Museum,) of Gustavus Adolphus, and of Wallenstein. The King of Sweden (...) was murderd; and I consider his murder unique in its excellence; for he was murdered at noon-day, and on the field of battle, - a feature of original conception, which occurs in no other work of art that I remember. (...) The 17th and 18th centuries, together with so much of the 19th as we have yet seen, jointly compose the Augustan age of murder. The finest work of the 17th century is, unquestionably, the murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, which has my entire approbation. (...) however praiseworthy the case of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey may be (and nobody can be more sensible of its merits than I am,) still I cannot consent to place it on a level with that of Mrs Ruscombe of Bristol, either as to originality of design, or boldness and breadth of style. (...) a noon-day murder in the heart of a great city.«

Von Wainewrights Methode, Vergiftung, hält dieses Mitglied der 'Society of Connoisseurs in Murder' jedoch nicht viel: »I consider all these poisoning cases, compared with the legitimate style, as no better than wax-work by the side of sculpture, or a lithographic print by the side of a fine Volpato.« 'The legitimate stlye' bedeutet in diesem Fall die Kehle zu durchschneiden.

Schließlich widmet sich der Sprecher dem, was die Kunst des Mordes ausmacht: »First, then, let us speak of the kind of person who is adapted to the purpose of the murderer; secondly, of the place where; thirdly, of the time when, and other little circumstances. As to the person, I suppose it is evident that he ought to be a good man; (...) I could mention some people (I name no names) who have been murdered by other people in a dark lane; and so far all seemed correct enough; but, on looking farther into the matter, the public have become aware that the murdered party was himself, at the moment, planning to rob his murderer, at the least, and possibly to murder him, if he had been strong enough. Whenever that is the case, or may be thought to be the case, farewell to all the genuine effects of the art. For the final purpose of murder, considered as a fine art, is precisely the same as that of Tragedy, in Aristotle's account of it, viz. "to cleanse the heart by means of pity and terror." Now, terror there may be, but how can there be any pity for one tiger destroyed by another tiger?
It is also evident that the person selected ought not to be a public character.(...) For (...) so few people ever saw him, that there was a fixed belief that he was an abstract idea.« Das bedeutet, dass der Mord unter Umständen nicht glaubwürdig ist. Weiter: »Thirdly, The subject chosen ought to be in good health: for it is absolutely barbarous to murder a sick person, who is usually quite unable to bear it. (...) And, here, in this attention to the comfort of sick people, you will observe the usual effect of a fine art to soften and refine the feelings. The world in general, gentlemen, are very bloody-minded; and all they want in a murder is a copious effusion of blood; gaudy display in this point is enough for them. But the enlightened connoiseur is more refined in his taste; and from our art, as from all the other liberal arts when thoroughly cultivated, the result is - to improve and humanize the heart (...) A philosophic friend, well-known for his philanthropy and general benignity, suggests that the subject chosen ought also to have a family of young children wholly dependent on his exertions, by way of deepening the pathos.«