Hauptmann, Gerhart (1862–1946), German dramatist, the chief playwright of
naturalism, who in 1912 was awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature. A Silesian by birth, he often used his native dialect to heighten the authenticity of his plays, of which the first,
Vor Sonnenaufgang (
Before Dawn, 1889), was produced in Berlin by the
Freie Bühne. Its depiction of a farmer's family which suddenly becomes wealthy, but sinks into degradation through alcoholism and sexual promiscuity, delighted some sections of the audience but outraged others by its uncompromising presentation of human and social misery. It was followed by two middle-class psychological dramas,
Das Friedensfest (
The Coming of Peace, 1890) and
Einsame Menschen (
Lonely People, 1891), which examines the problem of marital incompatibility. Hauptmann's next play
Die Weber (
The Weavers, 1892), based on the revolt of the Silesian weavers in 1844, was unusual in having as its hero a group of men instead of a single individual. Its naturalism displays dramatic qualities seldom achieved in this form: it is probably Hauptmann's best, as well as his best-known, play. It was followed by a satirical comedy
Der Biberpelz (
The Beaver Coat, 1893), in which, and in its sequel
Der rote Hahn (
The Red Rooster, 1901), Hauptmann created some fine character parts, notably Mutter Wolffen, a scurrilous but appealing Berlin washerwoman who cunningly outwits Prussian bureaucracy.
Florian Geyer (1896) is a naturalistic excursion into historical drama based on the Peasants’ Revolt in the time of Luther. Of other naturalistic plays written at this time,
Rose Bernd (1903) shows a simple girl driven by circumstances and instinct to infanticide;
Führmann Henschel (1898) and
Die Ratten (1911) paint even darker pictures of man's enslavement to environment and circumstance, both ending with the suicide of the main character. But Hauptmann's plays were not always naturalistic.
Hanneles Himmelfahrt (
The Assumption of Hannele, 1893), with its interpolated dream sequence, marks the beginning of a transition to a more poetic and symbolist approach, while
Die versunkene Glocke (
The Sunken Bell, 1896) explores the Romantic theme of the creative artist's relationship with reality. Hauptmann's last dramatic work, written in the shadow of the Second World War, was a blank verse tetralogy on the doom of the Atrides. The theme of senseless bloodshed exacted by inscrutable powers reflects Hauptmann's pain at witnessing Europe disembowelling itself for the second time in his lifespan.
Several of Hauptmann's plays have been performed in English translation:
The Sunken Bell (NY, 1900; London, 1907);
Hannele (NY, 1910; London, 1924);
The Weavers (NY, 1915; London, 1980). In 1933 Miles
Malleson's adaptation of
Vor Sonnenuntergang (1932) as
Before Sunset was seen in London with Peggy
Ashcroft.
