How Not to Become Tolerant: Habitus and Affects in Lessing’s Nathan the Wise

Abstract The coincidences and phantasms that open Lessing’s play Nathan the Wise reappear throughout the entire drama and even bring about its happy ending. While the usual interpretation of the plot maintains that the illusions held by the protagonists of the play – such as their superstitions, unrestrained affects, and prejudices – are overcome via a learning process and transformed into tolerance, I propose a different view. In this article I argue, firstly, that these previous illusions are already slightly enlightened, rather than completely dim and dull, and, secondly, that this process only ostensibly leads to tolerance. As a consequence, my analysis focuses on the negotiation between tolerance and intolerance. Finally, I arrive at the conclusion that the maid Daja actually represents tolerance in a better way than the protagonists because she is the only one from whom tolerant endurance is demanded. The analysis of the affective patterns of the play demonstrate that Nathan the Wise can not only be read as a parable of tolerance, but also as a parable of the formation of a privileged habitus within the realm of the family.