Gerhart Hauptmann John Galsworthy a Parallel
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7 ’ ’ It is with pleasure I ackrfidwledge my 1 indebtedness to Professor Cornelius “f ey an d t in in m e fln in téi > g , first , for inspir g in o f or est modern drama , and sec nd , his I W n valuable counsel . ish also to tha k G . C . C F Professors hild and . E . Schell M r l ing , and . Kar Scholz for helpful sug gestion s . CONTE NTS I N TRODU CTI ON SUB J E CT MA TTE R ART T H E PARALLE L PLAY S Die Web er an d Str ife D er Biber p elz an d Th e Silver B 0x H a l m l r n h e es Hi m e f ah t a n d Th e Littl e Dr eam . ’ M ich a el Kr am er a n d A B it 0 L ove H AP R N I N C TE V . CO C LU S O B I B LI OGRAP H Y HA PTMAN N AND O HN GA W RT H GE R RT HAU J LS O Y , A PA A R LLE L . I . I N R D I O N T O UCT . Ioh n Galsworth has unc o nsciously created on the last page Of Th e ~ y Cou n tr y H ou s e a symbol of the relat ionship between Gerhart Hauptmann “ R M r P n d e : o f . e c and himself . Thus he puts it The faces the ector and y ff a n d were turned up at the same angle , and di erent as those faces figures n O f o f were in their eter al rivalry type , a sort essential likeness struck her w as with a feeling Of surprise . It as though a single spirit seeking for a two to body had met with these shapes , and becoming confused decided ” . on inhabit both The ast ishing thing is , not that a spiritual relationship x e should e ist between them , but that it should xpress itself in singular parallels in their works and their careers . Th e parallels in their careers take the form of interesting coincidences . F t irst , is the proximity of their ages . Then , is the fact tha , tho each r has travelled extensively, each has laid the scenes of his wo ks almost - x n . M t e clusively in his ative country oreover , each is pre occupied wi h H G D . his native district , auptmann in Sile sia and alsworthy with evon A s x nearly all o f the few e ceptions are the results of travels , it can readily be seen which countries have had the greatest influence upon them . These o i n H t o o r few excepti ns are , the case Of aup mann , laid wh lly partly , in 1 2 3 4 5 S G e A G Italy, witzerland , Poland , re ce and merica ; in the case Of als 6 7 8 9 1 0 in G A A . worthy , Italy , Tyrol , ermany , South frica and merica E ach , A t as A . o it should be noticed , h visited Italy and merica lth ugh nei her r O h etic — H would pose as a prophet , each has written a p p book auptmann , 1L P r om ethialen l o an d r s eld a s G i . 2 D er A t l pos e . 8 l E ga . ‘ D er B o en d es O sseu s an d r ech s ch er F r u h l n g dy G i i i g . l‘ At l a n ti s . °“ ” A Kn h t in V lla R u b ein a n d O th er Stor es Th e a r k F l ower W n in th e ig i i , D , i d ” “ ” Rocks an d Th e I n n o f T a n u ll t in Th e I n n o Tr an u ll t r q i i y f q i i y . 7“ ” V ll a Ru b ein a n d Th ttl Dr a m i e Li e e . 8 “ ” Th e Sa l at on o f a F o s th e in V lla R a be a a n d Oth er tor ies v i r y i i S . “ ” A W om an in M o tl e A y . 1 ” ” Th e S l en ce in V lla R u b ein an d Oth er Stor es an d Th at Ol d T m e la ce in i i i , i P Th e I n n o Tr a n u ll t f q i i y . I O Ger/t a r t Hau pt m a n n a nd Joh n Gal sw or thy A tl an ti th T n G Th e M o s before the sinking of e ita ic , alsworthy , b before the outbreak of the present war . E ach is well versed in painting an d e a f o n . music . E ach is a poet , a nov list , a dr matist inter ational repute w n n E ach has ritte prose sketches and comments , and an introductio to ’ w another s ork . Hauptmann and Galsworthy are not what might be called popu ” t n lar wri ers . Their work is far above the comprehe sion of the mass of f or . F or people , and much too universal , too tolerant the specialist the o r e t man who desires mere art , the man who desires m re amusement , hey n w h o n have a superabunda ce of thought ; for the man desires o ly ideas , ' “ ” t C f iir they are provokingly artis ic . onsequently they write wenige E dle , can F who appreciate both their art and their thought . rom this it must not b e ou t o f inferred that either is isolated in some back eddy, the current A t o f Th e th e . n modern life . reverse is nearer truth l ho not chan el break ar o f ers they e channel makers . E ach is abreast modern development in both thought and technique . E ach is a leader in our renascent drama —“ which is renascent as Galsworthy says n ot because this or that ma n is i ” B H be o f n ew t . writing, but cause a sp ri oth auptmann and Galsworthy e n H emin ntly represent this new spirit , si ce auptmann is the foremost t o f Ge G O f r drama ist contemporary rmany, as alsworthy is contempora y E . o f an d ngland This fact , together with the importance drama , the uni versal interest in it at the present time , is the j ustification of the present study . The purpose of this paper is n ot to point ou t merely that this new spirit expresses itself in these tw o m en but more especially that it expresses itsel f similarly in these tw o men ; no t to prove any i n debtedn ess to any ou t n n O f author or movement , but to point the singular phe ome on paral ' l lism h A e b u t ow . ; not to show why they are alike , they are alike nalysis or critical appraisal of the work Of either author is not here attempted n M rather i terpretative comparison . oreover no claim is made that this study is either exhaustive o r complete . i While both Hauptmann and Galsworthy began to write at the en d of n n a r . the inetee th century, they e essentially writers of the twentieth This is because they look forward instead of backward or merely a round . The century j ust closed was one of change of incalculable significan ce in all ' — n t i phases Of li fe i dustry , poli cs , religion , ethics , art , due primarily to the P r t development of science . erhaps the g eatest change was wrough by the I n tr od u ction I I expansion Of the material side o f life . The introduction of improved u T e x machinery pr Od ced in dustrialism . his made lif more comple and An intense , and created plutocrats and industrial slaves . accompaniment o f this material expansion was the extension Of the democratic and social b F R spirit , given , as it was , its initial impetus y the rench evolution , and h b M x n S . T e later, acceleration y ar ia ocialism result was to place emphasis upon the individual and his right to political , economic and reli i u t O f g o s fre edom . Scarcely less important han the material expansion ’ li fe was the mental . I f science changed man s environment and mode of x n n t O f life , it likewise e te ded his mental horizo , by the introduc ion new ideas in practical ly every field of human endeavor. It made the world B ut smaller an d created a cosmopolitan spirit . the phase of science that A in re volutionized all things was the theory of evolution .