The Social Significance of the Modern Drama

CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF The Joseph Whitmore Barry- Dramatic Library The Gift of Two Friends of Cornell University 1934 Social sfanlflcance of the modern drama 3 1924 026 071 179 Cornell University Library The original of tinis book is in tfie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026071179 POET LORE PLAYS Leonid Andreyev '^ To the Stars. 2.50 net. !<King Hunger. 1.50 net. Roberto Bracco ^ Hidden Spring. 1.50 net. ^Phantasms. 1.5G net. Bjornstjerne Bjornson ^When the New Wine Blooms. 1.50 net. August Strindberg XThe Stronger. 10.00 net. ''The Creditor. 1.50 net. ''^Simoom, Debit and Credit, The Outcast. 1.50 net. (Three plays in one volume) <Julie. 1.50 net. Herman Sudermann <St. John's Fires. 5.00 net. XThree Heron's Feathers. 10.00 net. <Johannes. 10.00 net. Gerhart Hauptmann !<^And Pippa Dances. 5.00 net. Assumption of Hanelle. 1.50 net. < Before Dawn. 10.00 net. ''The Reconciliation. 1.50 net. The Sunken Bell. 10.00 n&t. <.Elga. 10.00 net. Anton Tchekkof KThe Sea Gull. 1.50 net. Wiegand and Scharrelman KThe Wages of War. 1 .50 net. Jose Echegaray li. The Madman Divine. 5.00 net. < Madman or Saint. 1.50 net. Indridi Einarsson ;< Sword and Crorier. 1.50 net. Perez Galdos x:The Grandfather. 1.50 net. A. Goetze < Heights. 1.50 net. Maxim Gorki X Children of the Sun. 10.00 net. X The Smug Citizen. 2.00 net. < A Night's Lodging. 10.00 net. '' Summer Folk . 2.00 net. Max Halbe XThe Rosenhagens. 1.50 net. Otto Erich Hartleben X Hanna Jagert. 1.50 net. Carl Hauptmann /iEphraira's Breite. 10.00 net. Send for Complete List RICHARD G. BADGER Publisher Boston Prinlrd by pcrmissioii of S. T. Kajiwara P^MMA (tOLDMAN THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MODERN DRAMA EMMA GOLDMAN BOSTON: RICHARD G. BADGER TORONTO: THE COPP CLARK CO.. LIMITED Copyright, igi4, by Richard G. Badger All Rights Reserved The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. FOREWORD In order to understand the social and dynamic significance of modern dramatic art it is necessary, I believe, to ascertain the difference between the functions of art for art's sake and art as the mirror of life. Art for art's sake presupposes an attitude of aloofness on the part of the artist toward the complex struggle of life : he must rise above the ebb and tide of life. He is to be merely an artistic conjurer of beautiful forms, a creator of pure fancy. That is not the attitude of modern art, which is preeminently the reflex, the mirror of life. The artist being a part of life cannot detach himself from the events and occurrences that pass pan- orama-like before his eyes, impressing themselves upon his emotional and intellectual vision. The modern artist is, in the words of August Strindberg, " a lay preacher popularizing the press- ing questions of his time." Not necessarily because his aim is to proselyte, but because he can best express himself by being true to life. Millet, Meunier, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Em- erson, Walt Whitman, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Strindberg, 3 4 Foreword Hauptmann and a host of others mirror in their work as much of the spiritual and social revolt as is expressed by the most fiery speech of the propa- gandist. And more important still, they compel far greater attention. Their creative genius, im- bued with the spirit of sincerity and truth, strikes root where the ordinary word often falls on barren soil. The reason that many radicals as well as conser- vatives fail to grasp the powerful message of art is perhaps not far to seek. The average radical is as hidebound by mere terms as the man devoid of all ideas. " Bloated plutocrats," " economic de- terminism," " class consciousness," and similar ex- pressions sum up for him the symbols of revolt. But since art speaks a language of its own, a language embracing the entire gamut of human emo- tions, it often sounds meaningless to those whose hearing has been dulled by the din of stereotyped phrases. On the other hand, the conservative sees danger only in the advocacy of the Red Flag. He has too long been fed on the historic legend that it is only the " rabble " which makes revolutions, and not those who wield the brush or pen. It is therefore legitimate to applaud the artist and hound the rabble. Both radical and conservative have to learn that any mode of creative work, which with true perception portrays social wrongs earnestly and Foreword 5 boldly, may be a greater menace to our social fabric and a more powerful inspiration than the wildest harangue of the soapbox orator. Unfortunately, we in America have so far looked upon the theater as a place of amusement only, exclusive of Ideas and inspiration. Because the modern drama of Europe has till recently been inaccessible in printed form to the average theater- goer in this country, he had to content himself with the interpretation, or rather misinterpretation, of our dramatic critics. As a result the social significance of the Modern Drama has well nigh been lost to the general public. As to the native drama, America has so far pro- duced very little worthy to be considered in a social light. Lacking the cultural and evolutionary tra- dition of the Old World, America has necessarily first to prepare the soil out of which sprouts creative genius. The hundred and one springs of local and sectional life must have time to furrow their common dhannel into the seething sea of life at large, and social questions and problems make themselves felt, if not crystallized, before the throbbing pulse of the big national heart can find its reflex in a great literature — and specifically in the drama — of a social character. This evolution has been going on in this country for a considerable time, shaping the wide-spread unrest that is now begin- 6 Foreword ning to assume more or less definite social form and expression. Therefore, America could not so far produce its own social drama. But in proportion as the crys- tallization progresses, and sectional and national questions become clarified as fundamentally social problems, the drama develops. Indeed, very com- mendable beginnings in this direction have been made within recent years, among them " The Easiest Way," by Eugene Walter, " Keeping Up Appearances," and other plays by Butler Daven- port, " Nowadays " and two others volumes of one-act plays, by George Middleton,— attempts that hold out an encouraging promise for the future. The Modern Drama, as all modern literature, mirrors the complex struggle of life,— the struggle which, whatever its individual or topical expression, ever has its roots in the depth of human na- ture and social environment, and hence is, to that extent, universal. Such literature, such drama, is at once the reflex and the inspiration of mankind in its eternal seeking for things higher and better. Perhaps those who learn the great truths of the social travail in the school of life, do not need the message of the drama. But there is another class whose number is legion, for whom that message is Foreword 7 indispensable. In countries where political oppres- sion affects all classes, the best intellectual element have made common cause with the people, have become their teachers, comrades, and spokesmen. But in America political pressure has so far affected only the " common " people. It is they who are thrown into prison; they who are persecuted and mobbed, tarred and deported. Therefore another medium is needed to arouse the intellectuals of this country, to make them realize their relation to the people, to the social unrest permeating the atmos- phere. The medium which has the power to do that is the Modern Drama, because it mirrors every phase of life and embraces every strata of society,— the Modern Drama, showing each and all caught in the throes of the tremendous changes going on, and forced either to become part of the process or be left behind. Ibsen, Strindberg, Hauptmann, Tolstoy, Shaw, Galsworthy and the other dramatists contained in this volume represent the social iconoclasts of our time. They know that society has gone beyond the stage of patching up, and that man must throw off the dead weight of the past, with all its ghosts and spooks, if he is to go foot free to meet the future. This is the social significance which differentiates 8 Foreword modern dramatic art from art for art's sake. It is the dynamite which undermines superstition, shakes the social pillars, and prepares men and women for the reconstruction. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Foreword 3 The Scandinavian Drama Henrik Ibsen ' 11 ^The Pillars of Society 13 XA Doll's House 18 >^Ghosts 25 9^ An Enemy of Society 34 August Strindberg 43 J^The Father 45 K Countess Julie 51 >< Comrades 61 The German Drama Hermann Sudermann 69 J^Magda 71 XThe Fires of St. John .80 Gerhart Hauptmann — 87 K Lonely Lives 87 XThe Weavers 98 KThe Sunicen Bell 108 Frank Wedekind 118 The Awakening of Spring 118 The French Drama Maurice Maeterlinck 129 X^ Monna Vanna 129 Edmond Rostand 138 ;CChantecler 138 Table of Contents FAGE Br'ieux I47'< X Damaged Goods . I47 ^Maternity .......... l6i The English Drama George Bernard Shaw 173- KMrs. Warren's Profession 176 ^Major Barbara * » 186 John Galsworthy igfr KStrife 197 Kjustice 208 j^The Pigeon .

Load more