Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1955 German Expressionism, 1915-1920: the Plays of Georg Kaiser. William Harlan Shaw Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Shaw, William Harlan, "German Expressionism, 1915-1920: the Plays of Georg Kaiser." (1955). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 134. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/134 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM 1915-1920: THE PLAYS OF GEORG KAISER A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by William Harlan Shaw B.A., Hardin-Simmons University, 1943 M.A., Hardin-Simmons U niversity, 1949 August, 1955 The m aterial In th is d isse rta tio n is fo r the reader and is •• not to be reproduced in any way without the express permis­ sion of the copyright holders. Anyone publishing or pro­ ducing these plays will do so without the permission and co-operation of the translator and at his own risk. Any misuse of this material will make the offender guilty of ' infringement of international copyright law. The firm of Felix Bloch Erben of Berlln-Charlottenburg retains the rights of all of Georg Kaiser’s plays. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his gratitude to Dr. C. L. Shaver fo r his In te re st and guidance In the preparation of this manuscript. He also wishes to thank Dr. C. M. Wise and the other members of his com­ mittee for their reading and editing of the work as well as their encouragement and suggestions. A special word of thanks Is due Mr. Hans Coll, a graduate student in Chemistry from Austria, who spent many hours In checking the translation. The kind permission extended by Frau Margarethe Kaiser and Felix Bloch Erben to use the photograph and facsimile of the handwriting as well as to translate the three plays is gratefully acknowledged. A copy of the letter granting permission to translate is included. i l l TABLE OP CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................................................H i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. x INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 PART I . DISCUSSION CHAPTER I DEFINITION ............................................................. 5 CHAPTER II BIOGRAPHY .................... 13 CHAPTER I II OVERVIEW OF KAISER'S WORK.......................................19 CHAPTER IV THE THEME OF THE NEW M AN.......................................34 CHAPTER V THE EIGHT PLAYS IN ENGLISH................................. 43 CHAPTER VI KAISER'S STYLE ...................................................... 70 PART I I . TRANSLATIONS EUROPA ...................................................................................................81 THE WOMAN'S SACRIFICE .................................................................. 210 HELL.WAY.BARTH . ..............................................................................286 WORKS OF GEORG KAISER.........................................................................................393 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................ 397 VITA............................................................................................................................. 400 lv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS P late I. Photograph of Georg Kaiser .......................................................... vi II. Facsimile of Georg Kaiser’s handwriting ............................. v ll III. Letter from Felix Bloch Erben .................................................. ix v C}T(\A/'V v \ I A A ^ IM/W\ du f] [A/wh L(a/L i \\A, IJt fvMA/k* . ___ vr, gV\. 1/V0U. ia/W w i jl (_ oUt/i twiil. uvvu>m'| j,Uvuuj^ y w w \ W VV\J fcVVlj ^ V w ’L dlA/VV. i^/vw (r\.(r(vid\. l/w\A» (tiiv ii/vvi^iU)l 111 ftWflhUii ^/yivUijL uvyv^ PL/JK avvVU/u [Ivvii. t v ^ w v L ^ v v j ] - l/w v v ^ jL l^ v w Ilia (vik [ ,toi iui/L (^/VV\ ^y\l/W\ ^ IrU /li hi'K 'U l yjfi/v fl t/1/Hiiuti - lMA/>HVVuUlWjllVi yiltwliIjA^vuO. J- t/vmtl/- ^VV>/ livwwjv (, tM/VV\ uv/lnr rtil tVU 0 1 1 fvVtA/lA - lAifi-j y\ lyK yw yplJlu ^ [ ^N ^V V V V lik^ | . c/VwMv lR4v UUUH44/M/) - (iIUWl - uwlMx l^ww/iL* hvv)\\iK\ivliiL M/lf d /w w v i i Examiniert man die Menschheit, wle sie bis heute geworden 1st, resultlert folgende Note: unrelf (drelmal unrelf). Unrelf zum Umgang mit dem Nachsten (trotzdem blbllsch mit den slmpelsten Parabeln gepredlgt 1st und h'ochste Stadt- bauten Kirchturme sind—unrelf zur Polltlk (die mit dem prlmltivsten Mlttel von Menschenraassenschlachten pseudo- glorlos operlert)—unrelf zur KunBt (man kontrolllert Biihnenspielpl&ne). Was Jetzt zu pflegen 1st (uber das nachste Jahrhundert): Hygiene. Nlcht Altrulsmus—nlcht Polltlk—nlcht Kunst. Ausschllessllch Hygiene. „ . Georg Kaiser v ili VERLAC F 0 ■ BOHN I. FILM OND FONK FELIX BLOCH ERBEN BERLIN mmi BADEN-BADEN Herrn William Harlan Shaw L uftpoat Department of Speech Loulalana State University Faraapiatkari 1119 21 Baton Rouge 3 ChtrlvBfl B«rIla*V«>t LOUISIANA /US* B«rlla*CbarIott«abarg 2 tk Z d A a A tiN m M A itm I'aBer <W<4 4 .4 .5 5 W/P 21.4.55 ■Sehr g eeh rter Herr Shaw! Der Verlag Kiepenheuer & rt'itsch in KcJln hat una Ihr Schreiben vom 4. April 1955 Ubergeben, da wir ala BUhnonvertrieb der Werke Georg Kaiaers fUr dessen Brledigung zusthndlg a Ind. ■ ir au toriaieren S ie hiorm it, d ie BUhnenwerke "Das Frauenopfer*. "HBlle Weg Brde" und "Buropa" von Georg Kaiser fUr Ihre Disser­ tation in die englische Sprache zu Ubersetzen und diese l!ber3etzung nach den Vorachriften der dortigen Universitiit zu vervielfhltigen. Die Ubersetzung ist mit dem im vorletzten Abaatz Ihrea Schreibena erwhhnten Zusatz zu versehen. Mit vorziiglicher Hochachtung I i i \ ^ijhen hilHkHUial.i M h-fal HIM / ■ — n— B||||| fknlnn * i | ITiiiriiif IT r all Ifi III lilt riaaMaal a. M-, C J» a. >■!.>«7 . Iiaa-Kaw HIMT / E«ilpH»i Baia— BaAaa. IlAlalalaa ABaa It. Fara^aaAin1 IH Ix ABSTRACT Dramatic critics and historians have generally acclaimed Georg Kaiser to be the greatest of the German Expressionistlc play­ wrights. It is known that he wrote the largest number of plays of all the dramatists of Expressionism, and that until 1933, his plays were second only to Hauptmann’s in number of productions in Germany. In spite of the fact that some of these plays have been done in England and America, only a small number of them are actually known in these countries, because, until the present time, only eight of them have been translated into English. This is an insufficient number for the English reader to determine the true value of Kaiser and to place him properly in theatrical history. There is also a scarcity of criticism available in English, and that which does exist concerns Itself largely with From Morn to Midnight and the Gas trilogy. Very, few critical works in English cover all of his translated plays to say nothing of his untranslated ones which number over forty. The purpose of the present study is to present in English three heretofore untranslated plays, which, though quite different from one another, were written during the same period of Kaiser's career. These Include the greatest of the Expresslonistlc comedies, Buropa. which is a musical comedy-like fable play; Kaiser's most fully developed romantic play, The Woman's Sacrifice; and the piece said to have been the greatest success in Expresslonistlc staging, x He11.Way.E arth. The tra n sla tio n s of these plays compose the major portion of this study. Part .one which serves as an Introduction to the translations of the plays is made up of six brief chapters. Chapter I presents a definition or description of Expressionism and discusses its origin and development. Chapter II Is a biography of Kaiser and includes some comments on h is works by German, English, and American c r itic s . Chapter III contains an overview of all of Kaiser’s plays, and Chapter IV discusses the New Man theme that recurs in its various forms in all of them. Chapter V discusses in a more detailed way the five previously translated plays which were written between 1915 and 1920, From Morn to Midnight. The C oral. Gas I., Gas I I . and The Fire in the Opera House. and the three present translations which came within the same period, Buropa, The Woman*s Sacrifice, and Hell. Way.Barth. Chapter VI deals with Kaiser’s style in these eight plays. Finally, a complete list of Kaiser’s published plays, novels, and articles is supplied in an appendix. xl INTRODUCTION Dramatic c r itic s and h isto ria n s have generally acclaimed Georg Kaiser to be the greatest of the German Expresslonistlc dramatists. It is known that, of all the playwrights of Expressionism, he wrote the largest number of plays, a total of fifty-nine with eight still unpublished in 1955. It is also known that he rose to popularity with the theatre goers of the principal German cities