EXPRESSIONISM IN THE TWENTIETH

CENTURY LITERATURE
J. W. Syed

Expressionism, as a literary and artistic movement, flourished in Europe,
particularly in Germany, between 191 and 19!. "he term, as distinct from
#roce$s aesthetic theory of art, was first used by the %rench painter, &erve,
in 19'1, and was applied to literature by &ermann (ahr in 191.
"here are some remar)able similarities between Expressionism and
*omanticism. *omanticism was a revolt and reaction a+ainst the limited
mechanistic and materialistic world,view of the -+e of *eason, .t was, in its
liberal and radical aspect, a call for freedom both of thou+ht and its content,
literary form and its material. /issatisfied with the sordid reality, it exalted
the elemental in human nature and sou+ht the infinite. "here is conse0uently
a mystical strain in romantic poetry, a touch of melancholic lon+in+ in
romantic symbolism. 1ove dreams, visions and ecstacy seem to be primary
media of the *omantic art. Some of these very 0ualities and characteristics
are the heart of Expressionism. Expressionism, li)e *omantic,ism, was a
voice of protest a+ainst the whole materialisitic and mechanical trend of
modern technolo+ical and industrial civili2ation which reduces man to a
$robot$, alienates him from his own essential nature and ma)es him a prey to
purposeless, tedious and meanin+less existence li)e 3aiser$s #ashier who
attempts to brea) the ca+e of modern life of money and profit, and see) love
and romance. *ousseau, (la)e and Wordsworth had already 0uestioned the
benefits of an artificial civili2ation, they believed that the pro+ress of
civili2ation and the accumulation of earthly +oods had made man selfish and
had ta)en him far from the purity and innocence of his real uncorrupted
nature. "hey emphasised the value and importance of feelin+ as a+ainst the
calculative intellect. Wordsworth warned his +eneration and posterity
a+ainst the dan+ers of +rowin+ wordliness and materialism4 (la)e turned to
poetic and prophetic visions and dreams, elemental feelin+s and impulses,
preferrin+ the world of dreams to the world of brutal fact and see)in+ to
establish a new Jerusalem.
Expressionism is lin)ed with *omanticism in its emphasis upon vision
and dream and ecstacy, in its spirit of positive and 5italist .dealism and
*eform, in its lon+in+ for eternity, in its sense of a transcendental *eality, in
its concern with death as the +ate to the Great 6n)nown7 89ar2yns)y
indicates that Expressionism has a certain )inship to *omanticism in its
turnin+ away from the observed reality.: "he romantic lon+in+ to pass from
the restricted, finite, temporal existence into the infinite and transcendental
world of perfection, bliss and ecstacy is shared by the Expressionist.;1< "he
desire of the Expressionists$, writes *ichard Samuel, $ to brea) throu+h the
narrowin+ limits of finite reality, as represented by a world in which even
before the war they had be+un to lose faith, led them to a cravin+ for death,
which they visualised as the +ateway to the transcendental tife.;!<
-s a complex movement, Expressionism both re=ected and accepted
many elements from previous and contemporary European intellectual and
literary movements4 and therefore any study of Expressionism inevitably
involves a discussion of >aturalism. *ealism, Symbolism, >eo,
romanticism, and .mpressionism. "he dominant phenomenon in late
nineteenth century European literature, particularly novel and drama, was
the emer+ence of >aturalism, and *ealism, associated chiefly with the
names of (al2ac, ?ola, and .bsen. "he +reat triumph and achievement of
these movements was in the %rench novel and Scandinavian drama. "he
realistic and naturalistic trends in literature and art were a manifestation of
the new faith in science and its ob=ective method. .n content the naturalistic,
realistic literature is +enerally concerned with the life of the middle and the
lower classes4 it does not mind depictin+ the lowest depths in man, the beast
under a thin veneer of civili2ation, portrayin+ man as a biolo+ical and
economic animal. .n lan+ua+e it made use of the daily slan+. *ealistic,
naturalistic literature became avowedly socioio+ical and reformist. Some
writers, labelled as /ecadents dealt in their wor) with the weird, the dar).
and the painful, the abnormally sexual and sensual, lin)in+ love and death,
pleasure and pain, and showin+ an obsession with corpses, +hosts, and
torture, characteristics which are not absent in the wor) of some
Expressionists. "he hero, as in /ostoevs)y, is +enerally +loomy, pessimistic,
and ineffectual, more a victim than a hero4 he finds no satisfaction and
happiness in any earthly activity and suffers from ennui and tedium of a life
which finds its only earthly palliatives in opium, sex and woman. "he
writers of some of these new literary movements sou+ht new shores even if
thay were shores of utter dar)ness. (audlaire expressed the wish :to plun+e
into the +ulf no matter whether hell or heaven, to find, at the bottom of the
un)nown, somethin+ different :. 1i)enin+ life to a hospital @(audlaireA and
to the deep and eternal wound : @*imbaudA, these writers and their
characters sou+ht an escape and release out of this world7 -nywhere,
anywhere, as lon+ as it be out of this world:.
"wo additional influences on twenthieth century literature were the
9arxist socialist,radical movement, and the %reudian. - lar+e number of
modern writers, includin+ some Expressionists, consciously or
unconsiciously presented 9arxian concepts such as the conflict of social
classes, and a criti0ue of the whole brour+eois,capitalistic system of values
centerin+ round reed for money, profit and power, endin+ in wars. >ext to
9arxism, %reudianism was another important current of thou+ht that found
expression in Expressionist literature. %reud publicised the importance of the
subconscious life in determinin+ human motivation and action4 and, even
more important, by his revelation of the repressed sexual element in man he
paved the way for a more fran) and more revealin+ treatment of erotic
themes in literature. "he theme of the repression of the sexual instinct is the
favourite theme of Wede)ind and of +ood many other twentieth century
writers.
..
.nfluenced by /ostoevs)y$s and Strinber+$s exploration of the deep and
dar) corners of the human soul. reinforced by %reud$s exploration and
interpretation of the subconscious forces in man, the Expressionists set out
to brea) throu+h the barriers of the surface reality find the deeper reality that
lies beneath and beyond it. .n Expressionist drama, therefore reality and
superBreality are freely mixed4 it dispenses with individual characteri2ation
and creates types expressin+ the basic problems and issues peculiar to the
modern society, such as bour+eois morality, sex, war, and the social
problems resultin+ from mechani2ation and industriali2ation. "he dramatic
scene is symbolic and not defined in terms of place and time, the actor is the
representative of ideas, emotions, fate, social and economic forces. "he
twentieth century demand for freedom from old established but outworn
modes of thou+ht and feelin+, from intellectual, moral, reli+ious, economic,
social and political formulations of the a+e had already been witnessed in the
wor) of almost all important European writers, includin+ the En+lish ones,
such as (ernard Shaw, &. G. Wells, Galsworthy, and /. &, 1awrence. -ll
these authors were profoundly aware of the issues and problems resultin+
from the triumph of science and industry and from man$s ac0uisitive
instincts. Expressionism was one such manifestation of this new awareness.
"hree main influences, literary and intellectual, contributed to the
emer+ence of expressionism. "he first of these was the wor) of -u+ust
Strindber+ @1C9,191!A, a brilliant Swedish dramtist and novelist who
actually wrote expressionistic wor)s a +eneration before the formation of the
expressionistic school of play,wri+hts. &is fantastic dramas, especially "he
/ream Dlay @19'!A, were widely sta+ed in Germany and caused a sensation
almost e0ual to that created by .bsen a +eneration before. "he second
influence was that of psychoanalysis, especially the wor) of %reud and Jun+.
"he existence of the sub,conscious and unconscious life under the
appearance of reason and lo+ic provided the Expressianists with fertile
material for their wor). 1ast, 9arxism, which viewed social strife not in
terms of the individual but in terms of the amorphous and homo+eneous
masses, had its impact on some of the Expressionists. 9ost of the
Expressionists used the concept of class solidarity to create a literature in
which masses, not individuals, were the prota+onists. "he prota+onists are
often +iven such labels as 8%ather$, 8#ashier$, $>ameless$, (illionaire$,
8/au+hter$, rather than specific names "oiler$s 9an and the 9asses has only
one distin+uishable individual character, Sonia, and even she is submer+ed
by the mass before the drama ends. .n practice the most stri)in+
characteristic of expressionistic drama is its weird, fantastic or unreal settin+
and atmosphere. Everythin+ is distorted or oversimplified4 the elements of
contlict are presented in their bare essence rather than encumbered with
detail. "he dialo+ue is often spo)en in a sort of tele+raphic style.
Expressionism in drama is found in its purest form in the plays of Wede)ind,
Sor+e, "oiler, 3aiser and 3arl #ape).
"he effects and results of the first World War, particularly for the
Germans, were disastrous, +ivin+ birth to a mood of pessimism re+ardin+
man and his civili2ation. "he world and human society instead of presentin+
a picture of order and reason, appeared chaotic and irrational, the picture of a
world +one mad7 :"he provocation to storm hi+h heaven and thresh one$s
arms a+ainst a mad world with commensurate madness was too stron+ to he
resistedE;F< #orpses and +hosts were introduced by some of the post,war
Expressionist playwri+hts. "his Expressionist drama definitely sub=ective
embodyin+ as it did the personal disillusionment and revolt of some
sensitive and idealistic souls amon+ the German writers, "hese writers
strove to represent the anarchic state of the world by a correspondin+
anarchy of rapidly shiftin+ scenes, by an alternation of fantasy and reality,
and by characters who are fantastic either in themselves or in their visions
and moods. .f the world is unreal to a character, as to the embe22lin+
#ashier of 3aiser, the play ma)es the world loo) commensurately unreal by
means of extrava+ant and fu+itive scenes and by the devices of mas)s and
wooden le+s. >o sin+le dramatic formula and pattern can cover the dramas
of the Expressionist school7 the plays ran+e from furious melodramas and
fantasies to carefully constructed dramas of social protest. Wede)ind, "oiler,
3aiser, and 3arl #ape) addressed themselves to tan+ible realities of sexual
repression, militarism, social in=ustice and ine0uality, war and revolution,
industrialism and capitalism. Gne characteristic note in the Expressionist
drama, particularly that of Strindber+, Sor+e, 3aiser, and Wede)ind, is that
of pessimism. - sense of the hollowness and meanin+lessness of life. of
ennui and tedium, underlies Expressionist drama4 from mornin+ to midni+ht
there is same eternal round of mechanical activities, of 8the eternal matin+,
the eternal round of sex$, as says the Drofessor in #ape)$s .nsect World. 1ife
appears li)e a ca+e of horrors, monstrocities, corruption, +reed and lust. "he
/au+hter of the Godess .ndra in Strindber+$s "he /ream Dlay believes that
humanity is to be pitied4 the world is a dream, a ni+htmare. .n these plays
there is the sense of man$s dilemma, of his an+uish and a+ony, cau+ht
between the claims of the irresistible forces of his nature and the demands of
rational and civili2ed life. Gnce the facade of reason, lo+ic, moral will are
re,moved, the irrational in man comes to the surface. "he pressure of the
conflict between the irrational, and the rational, between reason and impulse,
between law and discipline was acutely felt by some of these writers. "his
demand for complete freedom from rational and social control is voiced by
an Expressionist painter and writer, 3o)osch)a7 we must har)en closely to
our inner voice. ... -ll that is re0uired of us is to release control. ... -ll laws
are left behind. Gne$s soul is a reverberation of the universe:.;<
"he new +eneration in Europe, particularly in Germany, that was born
before the first World War and lived throu+h it, was dissatisfied with the
bour+eois attitude to life that it found around it4 the vision of a ruined and
distressful world occupied their ima+ination, and they were deeply
concerned with the social and political realities of the modern world. (ut
this +eneration, which hated war, also had the hope that after the war a new
and better world would be built up. "hus, in German Expressionist drama
there is both a pessimistic and optimistic note. "he aims and ob=ectives of
the Expressionists were realistic and practical, but their artistic methods
were unreal and fantastic. Wede)ind tore the mas) from the hypocrisy and
prudery of the bour+eois attitude to life and presented the reality of sex and
of adolescence. &ere Expressionism =oins hands with >aturalism and shares
with it the desire boldly to face and unmas) reality, even in its unpleasant
aspects. "he difference lies in the fact that while the aim of the >aturalists is
to describe in detail the manifold elements of the milieu and expose evils of
modern industrial society the Expressionists avoided abundance of details
and =ust +ave +limpses of evil. Expressionists do not wor) as photo+raphers,
they present visions. "hey are not concerned with descriptions but with inner
experience and reality. "he Expressionists, in spite of the various shades of
reli+ious,mystical and socio,political,activist, are all united in their search
for a new world, a new society and a new man. "hey re=ected the >eo,
*omanticist surrender to impressions, its preoccupation with le+end and
fairy,tale and its lac) of a positive outloo) and pro+ramme for the future.
(ut the Expressionists accepted from >eo,*omanticism the cult of the
irrational, the representation of the dream world, the use of symbolism, and
the hei+htenin+ of emotional effect to the point of ecstacy. %rom >aturalism
the Expressionists inherited the emphasis on the social ills and evils of the
contemporary socio,economic order. (y minimi2in+ the role of reasons :,
and moral will :in human life, naturalism prepared the +round for the
excesses of expressionists and surealists:.;H<
"he emer+ence of modern drama can be e0uated with the rise of realistic
drama and sta+e production under the influence of ?ola .bsen, and (ernard
Shaw. "he idea of freedom of form and thou+ht in modern drama, as in all
modern literature, can be traced to the *omantic revolt a+ainst neo,classic
restraint and discipline. 1essin+ in Germany and 5ictor &u+o in %rance
were the pioneers of new ideas in drama. *omanticism was a+ain, li)e
Expressionism, a complex movement 4 it had elements which were both
creative constructive and realistic, and also sub=ective, purely romantic,
dreamy and visionary. "he opposition and reconciliation between the purely
romantic, idealistic, visionary aspect of romanticism on the one hand and the
realistic, creative and constructive aspect on the other, has led some critics to
apply the label of $ vitalist idealism $ to the creative impulse of the ma=or
romantic poets. "he *omanticists attempted to penetrate to the depths of
human experience and to discover the real human core and vital ori+ins
covered under the artificial trappin+ of convention and civili2ation4 they
wanted to reconstruct the world and human society. "his side of
romanticism relates it to the naturalism and realism of the later nineteenth
century. ., .t was this freedom of expression :, writes Gassner, : that spar)ed
the naturalism of ?ola, the critical realism of .bsen, and the expressionism of
Strindber+, durin+ the last two decades of his life :.;I<
"he new realistic drama had certain technical characteristics, such as the
attempt to create the illusion of reality on the sta+e, use of natural lan+ua+e,
compression and oompactness of structure, an inner unity of atmosphere and
idea. "he characters are representatives of ideas and class, leadin+ to
discussion and debate rather than action. ?ola$s naturalism exhibited man as
the product and victim of heredity, environment, and instinct4 and
naturalistic drama presented environment, and instinct on the sta+e, the beast
in man, de+radation, disease, poverty, and sexual licence. >aturalism was
succeeded by anti,naturalistic and anti,realistic movements, such as >eo,
*omanticism, .mpressionism, Expressionism, and Sur,realism. "hese
movements were still realistic to the extent that they attempted to reflect the
confusion, the disinte+ration, the ennui, the loneliness and isolation of
modren man$s life in mechanical, industrial, ac0uisitive society. (ut the
*ealists, as a+ainst the anti,*ealists, felt at home in their world which they
certainly wanted to reform4 the anti,*ealists were psycholo+ically alienated
and isolated lonely souls with a morbid +rievance a+ainst the real life,
a+ainst all observed reality, and see)in+ >ovalis$s : blue flower : or
9aeterlinc)$s : blue bird :. .ndefinite, va+ue lon+in+ and vision, alle+edly
more real than physical reality, became the province of the new anti realists.
: Expressionism followed :, writes Gassner, : a view of life and art that
re0uired the destruction of the external shape of reality :.;J< %or the
Expressionists the sta+e became the means of pro=ectin+ the disinte+ration of
modern man and society. "he Expressionists claimed to express reality and
truth better than the *ealists. - chaotic and even anihilistic view of life and
reality informs some expressionist plays, particularly the plays of
Strindber+. "he characters are depersonali2ed, star) symbols or alle+orical
types, deprived of individuality and of a personal name. - sense of the
vanity, shallowness and weariness of the a+e is present in expressionism4 the
last scene in some Expressionist plays is laid in cemetry. -nd yet, ecstacy
spirit of revolt and reform, the lon+in+ for eternity and the sense cf God$s
presence lin) some of the Expressionists to the romanticists, with whom
they share the hatred of materialism and the search for a spiritual principle in
the universe.
Expressionism was not a completely unified school and movement but
consisted of several +roups. "he attempt has been made to trace two
independent tendencies durin+ the years 191',19!H, pure Expressionism and
-ctivism. "he -ctivists form but a special branch of Expressionism,
concerned mainly with social and political issues and reform, their outloo)
clearly includin+ towards rationalism or scepticism. "o this +roup belon+
writers li)e "oiler and 3aiser. -nother +roup is more mystical and reli+ious
in its 0uest4 to this +roup belon+ Sor+e, 6nruh, Werfel, and 3af)a, who are
particularly concerned with the problems of man and God4 in their wor) the
irrational predominates4 they are more interested in the liberation of the soul
from the prison of the body and the world than in the reform of society. (ut
they all shared the dissatisfaction with the external reality, and turned
inward. "he essence of Expressionist literature seems to be the depiction of
man$s predicament, of sorrow and sufferin+, and the purification that sorrow
and sufferin+ brin+. 9ost of the Expressionists are idealists, possessed by
the idea of the >ew 9an, >ew Society, and >ew &umanity, risin+ above the
barrower loyalties to state, nation, class, social conventions, and +overned
by love, +oodness and peace. "he birth of the >ew 9an is opposed by the
forces of violence and evil, +reed and e+otism, tradition and convention,
deception and wic)edness. "he expressionist, li)e the romanticist, wants to
transform and reshape the observed reality in the li+ht of his ideal
aspirations and nearer to the heart$s desire4 he is sub=ective, lyrical, ecstatic,
: "he expressionist see)s to +ive meanin+ to all that happens within the e+o
:, writes /ahlstrom, : to +rasp into the chaos of the unconscious and brin+ to
the li+ht of cosciousness whatsover meanin+ there is to this existence of ours
:.;C<
.n all Expressionist drama there is a stress on man)ind, on human
values, on the spiritual brotherhood of man4 there is the desire to restate all
human values in all human relationships7 :Expressionist drama may be said
to be+in and end with emphasis on human values, on love on a spiritual
brotherhood. .t is perhaps an esoteric socialism of the soul, a means of
reali2in+ essential reality in man himself.:;9<
"he implied values of these plays are love, humility, and a victorious
mee)ness4 dehumani2in+ forces of the industrial a+e are opposed by a
humanistic idealism which pins faith and hope in the birth of the >ew 9an
and the >ew World.
"he dramatic aims and methods of the Expressionists are well indicated
by words of "oiler7 : "he plays collected in this volume are social dramas
and tra+edies. "hey witness to human sufferin+ and to fine yet vain stru++les
to van0uish this sufferin+ :;1'< -+ain7 : "hese pictures of $ reality$ are not
realism, are not local color4 the prota+onists @except for SoniaA are not
individual characters. Such a play can only nave a spiritual, never a concrete,
reality:.;11<

III
#omin+ to the individual dramatists of the Expressionist school and
selectin+ four of them as representatives, the first name that must be
mentioned is that of -u+ust Strindber+ @1C9,191!A, who was Swedish by
birth. &e was the child of an artistocratic father and a bar,maid who were
married a few months before the birth of Strindber+. &e had an unhappy
childhood and the circumstances of his early and later life left their impress
on his literary wor). &e married three times and all his marria+es ended in
unhappiness and failure. &is attitude towards woman was very abnormal4 he
was both attracted by woman and repelled by her.
Strindber+ be+an as a >aturalist, and in his naturalistic wor)s he belon+s
to the >aturalistic literary movement of his time. (ut later he turned from
naturalism toward an embryonic form of expressionism, and he is re+arded
as the precursor of the symbolist and expressionist drama of the early
twentieth century. .n fact, his dramatic wor) combines all the three
techni0ues and strains, the naturalistic, the symbolist, and the expressicnist.
Gut of life$s despair and disappointment arose his desire to express himself
in literature4 in fact, one can say that he shed his mental and emotional
sic)ness in literature. &avin+ himself under+one psycholo+ical conflicts and
the storms of passion, he became the master of the drama of psycholo+ical
conflct, and he portrayed realities which the *ealists and >aturalists had
often confined .o the surface of life and experience. &e avoided the
commonplace and the normal in everyday reality. &is plays possess the
incisive symboli2ations of both the external and the inner world of modern
man. Strindber+$s expressionist influence proceeds chiefly from his three
plays, "o /amascus @1C9C,19'A, "he /ance of /eath @19'1A, and "he
/ream Dlay @19'!A. "hese plays mar) the be+innin+ of the expressionistic
techni0ue, later to be utili2ed by Wede)ind, "oiler, Sor+e, 3aiser, #ape),
and G$>eill. "he chief characteristic of Strindber+$s wor) is its broodin+
pessimism and its revelation of hitherto unearmar)ed dar) forces of human
nature, the dar) powers of the unconscious. &is wor) is dominated by
emotion, instinct, and passion. Sexual themes are predominant in his wor),
but this view of sexuality is abnormal, even patholo+ical. &e presents sexual
passion as a cruel stru++le between the male and the female in which each
see)s to overwhelm and dominate the other4 its twin poles are a blind and
bestial desire and a hatred toward the ob=ect which arouses such an
enslavin+ passion. Strindber+$s personal experience of sexual life was dar)
and chaotic. &is attitude towards women is different from .bsen$s feminism4
he views woman as /ionysian power of nature which attempts to stifle the
freedom,lovin+ intellectualism and spirituality of the -ppollonian male.
.n the prolo+ue to "he /ream Dlay, Strindber+ explains that his purpose
is to imitate the disconnect but seemin+ly lo+ical form of the dream. "he
bac)+round is ostensibly of reality, but on this surface the dramatist$s
subconscious embroiders an intricate pattern of memory, experience, fancy,
fantasy and the +rotes0ue. "he characters ta)e on a dreamli)e 0uality4 they
become alle+orical or symbolical fi+ures, embodyin+ traits and forces and
ideas. Strindber+ transmuted much of his personal experiences and sufferin+
into his expressionist plays. -fter havin+ under+one various emotional,
intellectual and reli+ious revolutions, socilaism, pacifism, /eism, even
perhaps (uddhism, he was converted to a mystical form of #hristianity of
the Swedenbor+ian variety. "his personal reli+ious conversion and sufferin+
he embodied in his dramatic trilo+y 7 "o /amascus, a sort of
autobio+raphical alle+ory which also mar)s the inception of his
expressionistic period in dramatic techni0ue. "he /ream Dlay is the most
expressionistic of Strindber+$s wor)s. .t anticipates later attempts to
incorporate the %reudian concept of the dream into literature. (eyond and
under the apparent beauty of life Strindber+ perceived an under,current of
wailin+, a silent sad music 4 this dar) and pessimistic attitude passed on to
some of the later Expressionists. Strindber+ plumbs the depths of the
tortured and tormented soul of modern man and +ives expression to this
hopelessness in dramas in which there is no vesti+e of form in the traditional
sense4 the whole play is dissolved into a series of incidents, each
contributin+ to the moral that Strindber+ wishes to draw, namely, the
hopeless situation of man)ind cau+ht in the +rip of forces of the irrational.
&e is aware of the pain of =oy and the =oy of sufferin+ and sorrow4 he finds
no remedy for man$s wretched earthly lot except in human pity and
resi+nation. Strindber+ opened up new depths of the unconscious and the
subsconcious, new hori2ons beyond the pale of observed reality. &is
doctrine of sufferin+ was +iven an active turn by the Expressionists who
proclaimed sufferin+ as essential for the birth and victory of the >ew 9an.
&e min+led reality and super reality, and used the sta+e to reveal stran+e
visions, ecstacies, a+onies, dreams and ni+htmares.
>ext important Expressionist is Ernst "oller @1C9F,19F9A. &e is one of
the most impassioned and forceful of the German Expressionists. &is play
9asses and 9an carries the techni0ue of mass dramatic action to its absolute
ultimate4 the characters are devoid of any individual personality at all,
except Sonia, and seem to act li)e a swarm of ants. "oiler is not only a
forceful champion of expressionism but also a social revolutionist. &e was
too independent and individualistic to inte+rate himself with any ideolo+ical
party or school. &is personal attitude and outloo) is one of a universal and
mystical human brotherhood, cuttin+ across racial and national divisions and
unitin+ all man)ind in a common stru++le a+ainst poverty, sorrow, sufferin+,
and war. "he merit of "oiler$s dramatic wor) lies in the idealism of his
inspiration, in the impassioned ar+uments of his characters, and in the
effective portrayal of mass action.
"oiler was the son of a Jewish merchant. &e was born in former German
Doland in 1C9F. &e was twenty,owe when the first World War bro)e out.
&is fiat experience of life was horrifyin+ and dis+ustin+, and as soon as he
was dischar+ed on medical +round he became an active pacifist. &e was
thrown into =ail, released at the time of the 191C revolution in Germany, and
was imprisoned a+ain in 1919. &e remained in prison until 19!, and
emer+ed bro)en in spirit and bitter in temper. .n 19F!, fleein+ the >a2is, he
came to -merica4 in 19F9, depressed by the War and by personal domestic
troubles, he committed suicide.
1i)e several other Expressionists, "oiler turned first to the tra+edy and
insanity of war. With a romantic confidence in man he celebrated a spiritual
conversion to pacifism in his "ransfi+uration, written in 191C. .n both
realistic and dream pictures a sculptor, who had enlisted for military service,
becomes a pacifist. "oiler envisa+ed a bloodless,revolution and
transformation of society, a conversion to reason and love, to peace, and to
creative and constructive action. /urin+ his imprisonment "oiler produced
two of his most famous wor)s, 9asses and 9an and "he 9achine
Wrec)ers. >either play relin0uished any faith in the ultimate triumph of
humanity and love. (oth wor)s expressed socialist idealism without
countenancin+ violent methods. (oth plays were conse0uently poems of
sufferin+ and aspiration rather than mere representation of reality. .n 9asses
and 9an an upper class woman, Sonia, deserts her husband and supports the
common people in an anti,war stri)e. (ut when the masses +et out of hand
and commit deeds af violence she ma)es an impassioned effort to restrain
them. Sonia is moc)ed and over,ruled by the mob, represented by the
>ameless, and the revolt is crushed. (ut it is she who is dra++ed to prison
and forced to suffer for the people. *efusin+ to be saved by the >ameless,
proponent of mob violence, and awaitin+ execution, she endures visions in
her cell that fortify her instead of crushin+ her spirit. Sonia represents the
dilemma of all radical idealists who want chan+e without violence and
hatred. "he >ameless insists that evil and oppression can be destroyed only
by violence, but Sonia cannot countenance murder from any source and in
any cause. "he chan+e to a better world should not come throu+h violence
and hatred. Sonia is the incarnation of all the ideal dreams of liberal and
humanist radicals.
9asses and 9an is a bitter but movin+ study of revolution and its failure
to solve the problems of the masses. %rom a dramatic point of view it is an
experiment in the use of mass humanity as the prota+onist of a drama. "he
play brin+s out the deterioration that comes with power4 the masses, havin+
tasted power, release their irrational violent impulses resultin+ in tra+edy.
"he play is directed both a+ainst capitalism and a+ainst violent revolution.
"he world is in misery not merely because of mob rule or state despotism,
but because both mob and state are driven by violence and force7 the state
oppresses the disinherited. Sonia declares that factories may no lon+er
con0uer and enslave the souls of men. -t the same time, she insists that
masses should be bound to+ether by love, and she opposes their resort to
reven+e and cruelty.
"echnically, especially effective are certain scenes in which life seems to
be reduced to mechanical action. (an)ers appear tradin+ on the stoc)
exchan+e, tal)in+ of war as their mi+hty instrument to control )in+s,
ministers, parliaments, and the press, while their dividends roll in, and a
recorder chronicles their winnin+s. When a chorus of lamentation from the
9asses is heard, the ban)ers su++est an enterntaiment for their benefit and
dance to the music of clin)in+ coins. "oiler, li)e his Sonia retains his faith in
human nature to the last 4 when the priest pronounces man)ind to be evil,
Sonia declares her belief that :9an)ind +ropes toward +oodness:. "oiler$s
sympathy +oes out to the victims of an industrial civili2ation, controlled by
capital, and driven to retahate with violence.
-nother, and one of the most typical and representative of the
Expressionist school in Germany, was Geor+e 3aiser @1CJC,19HA. &e was
an ori+inal force amon+ Germany playwri+hts. : -n idealist of fecund
ima+ination :, writes %. W. #handler, : a Socialist exposin+ flaws in the
present order, an innovator in techni0e, he creates a new, free drama,
desi+ned to ma)e his audiences thin) :.;1!< "he dramas of 3aiser are
complex experiments which have been called everythin+ from $ alle+orical $
to $ cubistic $. 3aiser himself applied the term $ "hou+ht,plays $ to his
dramas, contrastin+ them with mere spectacles. 3aiser was +reatly
influenced by Strindber+ and Wede)ind, and wrote in the tradition of
expressionism and is considered one of the leadin+ exponents of this school.
&is favourite dramatic devices are the impersonal alle+orical character
labelled only with a profession, the formless masses who chant their
emotions in a sort of chorus, and the animi2in+ of machinery and power.
3aiser is anta+onistic toward industrialism4 the modren factory or office is
to him a vast mechanism contrived to +rind down human bein+s into
senseless and lifeless robots. 1i)e "oiler, 3aiser +ives artificial limbs to his
characters to emphasise the artificial character of modern man4 he reduces
the factory wor)er to a le+, an arm. or an eye4 the machine and the factory is
not interested in the wor)er$s emotional and mental life. 3aiser is bitterly
opposed to the mechanical spirit of the a+e4 for him the basic element of the
universe is ener+y. Ener+y appears as a prota+onist, in one way or another,
in many of his plays, ,in the Gas trilo+y as the artificial ener+y of the +as,
and in such plays as Europa as the reproductive ener+ies of the human race.
3aiser$s %rom 9orn to 9idni+ht is a fantasy the brea),down of a ban)
cashier in a brief twelve,hour period. "he hero, labelled only as (an)
#ashier, is a man who has been crushed down by the bureaucratic system
untill he is only an automation. Gne day, seein+ an .talian lady in the (an),
the cashier tries to free himself from his mechanical and dull existence and
see) the wider world of love and romance. &e mista)es the lady$s friendly
overtures for co0uetry and tries to court her, and for this purpose he
embe22les money from his (an). When the lady re=ects his advances, he is
stupified4 he cannot return to the ban) and has no idea how to ma)e use of
his stolen fortune. &e s0uanders the money on frivolities, includin+
monstrous pri2es to racers, and is eventually betrayed to the police by a
callous Salvation -rmy lass. "he play demonstrates the impossibility of
escapin+ from the monotony of modern business life 7 life becomes a
crucifixion.
"he master,wor) of 3aiser$s career is the radically expressionistic Gas
trilo+y. .n this play he created a symbolic history of modern civili2ation
rushin+ headlon+ toward destruction by profit,motivated industrialism. "he
play is a fantastic ni+htmare of warfare and technolo+y in a scientific a+e.
"he first -ct, with its premonition of disaster, shows the dramatist$s s)ill in
dramatic exposition. "he conflictin+ forces are power of man and the
superhuman power which triumphs in the explosion. "he hero, (illionaire$s
Son, be+ins to fi+ht for a new principle su++ested to him by the explosion.
&e wishes to stop the production of +as and to settle his wor)men as farmers
in the +rounds of the factory. .n the second -ct he is confronted with the
En+ineer who represents the 8old$ idea of unceasin+ labour. .n the third -ct
the capitalistic forces, who need +as, resist him from materialistic and selfish
reasons. "hese opposin+ forces are symbolised by a chorus consistin+ of the
%ive Gentlemen in (lac), the masters of the earth. "he idealistic
(illionaire$s Son ultimately yields to the forces of industrialism, but in a
vision he foresees the comin+ of the >ew 9an, althou+h he has not been
able fully to overcome the $old$ forces. "he play ends with the pled+e of his
/au+hter7 :. will +ive him birth:. .n this play 3aiser constructs his plot with
+reat precision. With its techni0ue of fi+ures and types, Gas attains in the
fourth -ct one of the hi+h points of Expressionist drama. &ere two ideals of
e0ual value clash, that of wor) for its own sa)e and that of the full human
life of a farmer. %or 3aiser the mind and spirit are all important centres of
ener+y threatened by the machinery of industry, +old,+ettin+, and warfare.
3aiser$s distinctive contribution to drama is contained in his
expressionist plays in which the thou+ht is more important than dramatic
realism and verisimilitude. Such plays are abstract and symbolic. Scenes
follow one another without the nice or+ani2ation of the well,made play. "he
action is carried by characters who are types rather than individuals4
depersonali2ed, mechanical characters are intended to convey the disorder of
contemporary society and the disorientation of the individual. "he style
alternates between passionate speeches and tele+raphic phrases. "here is no
probin+ of motives and analysis of emotions. .n the words of %. W.
#handler, : Experience is simply shattered into its elements and then
reshaped in form stron+ly styli2ed to enforce some concept :.;1F< 3aiser$s
sympathy with the poor and the oppressed and his belief that money is the
root of all evil appear in all his expressionist plays, particularly the Gas
trilo+y. "he (illionaire$s Son and /au+hters believe, alon+ with 3aiser, that
upon each of us wei+hs a responsibility for the wron+s and in=ustices of the
social order. "his sense of the social responsibility of each for all and of all
for each is expressed by the (illionaire$s Son when a sto)er is brou+ht
faintin+ on dec) 7 : Kou must save him, doctor4 otherwise . am his
murderer L:. "he (an)$s #ashier is the victim of the deadenin+ effects of
modern business and industrial routine4 the freedom and happiness he is in
search of eludes his +rasp7 : %rom morn to midni+ht . have wandered round
and round in a circle L >ow . see the way out, but where does it leadM: "o
death and to the beyond4 the cashier shoots himself. 3aiser dreams of social
solidarity and asserts faith in the spirit of man as opposed to faith in mere
money and machinery.
-nother important playwri+ht of the Expressionist school was 3arl
#ape) @1C9',19FCA. &e is perhaps the most famous #2ech writer and
dramatist of the twentieth century. &e was influenced by the German
expressionist movement, but in his literary wor) he retains his thorou+hly
#2ech spirit and attitude. &e wrote a memorable play in *. 6. *. which is
fantasy of the future of mechanical civili2ation. Gbservin+ the +rowin+
mechani2ation of modern life and society #ape) was apprehensive of a
future in which all the wor)ers would be robots or automata. .n this play
#ape) develops a notion implicit in 9ary Shelley$s %ran)enstein, namely,
that machines of any )ind are in dan+er of masterin+ man and destroyin+ his
human nature and individuality. *ossum$s 6niversal *obots ars mechanical
wor)ers, the invention of a professor and his son. "he professor has sou+ht
to prove that God can be dispensed with, and the son sou+ht to provide a
cheap substitute for human labour. "he *obots symbolise mechanical
efficiency4 they are li)e men but divested of all essential human attributes of
feelin+ and passion. "he *obots ultimately outnumber human bein+s and
rise in revolt a+ainst the human world. "he last human survivor declares7 :.t
was a crime to ma)e *obots at all. %or our own selfish ends, for profit, for
pro+ress, we have destroyed man)ind:. "he moral of the play is that
mechanical efficiency is not an end in itself, labour and toil are not a curse
and what constitutes civili2ation is not machinery, but rather its human
values. -l0uist, the lone surviver, utter the word of wisdom7 N"here was
somethin+ +ood in service and somethin+ +reat in humility4 there was a )ind
of virture in toil and wearinessO. "wo super,*obots, a male and a female,
have at last evolved souls4 they can lau+h and weep and love, and each is
ready to sacrifice life for the other4 they are &elena and Drimus, who be+in
the foundation of a new race of human bein+s.
-nother well,)nown play of #ape) and his brother Joseph #ape) is the
.nsect World or "he World We live .n. "his play is a compound of fantasy,
dream and reality. .n portrayin+ the insect world of beetles, ants and moths
and butterflies, the #ape) brothers have satri2ied the world of man which, as
a result of mechani2ation, industry and commerce has become an insect
world4 the life of man li)e the life of the insects in the play, has become a
round of vain +ossip, sex, matin+, and a brute stru++le for mere survival.
"he fly says 7 : .f you want to )eep alive, you$ve +ot to fi+ht your way :.
9an piles and hoards +oods as do the flies, the ants and the cric)ets. #ape)s
also attac) modern militarism and war as resultin+ from man$s lust for
material thin+s, for territory, for mar)ets. When the tramp as)s :Why warM:,
he is told 7 :(ecause we have a new war machine. (ecause we still need a
bit of the world from the birch tree to the pine tree, the road between two
blades of +rass . . . . a 0uestion of presti+e and trade and ri+hts of
nationality:. "he play is poetic in conception, powerful in satire, and
si+nificant in mean+in+. Without bein+ didactic, the playwri+hts parody the
world of modern man which is made up either of li+ht,hearted love,ma)in+
and philanderin+, or drud+ery of wor), of pilin+ and hoardin+, of parasitism,
of stru++le and war, +reed and lust family selfishness, militarism, worship of
the state.
"o conclude, Expressionism sou+ht to introduce a new epoch in the
history of European literature thou+h it felt the lin) with the earlier literary
movements such as >aturalism and >eo,*omanticism. "he Expressionist
drama was both a descendant of >aturalism and a revival and development
of the *omantic tradition. "he +eneral tendency of the Expressionist drama
was the destruction of external form and mirrorin+ the inner reality.
depiction of sorrow, sufferin+ and defeat, and yet discoverin+ some positive
values in life. Even if the last scene of an expressionist play be that of death
and cemetery, it also proclaims a new and better future for man at least the
hope of the birth of$ the >ew 9an7.

NOTES
;1< /ahlstorm, Strinber+$s /ramatic Expressionism, p. 1J.
;!< *ichard Samuel and *. &. "homas, Expressionism in German 1ife, p. 1F!
;F< John Gassner, 9asters of /rama, @>ew Kor), 19HA, p. C.
;< Edith &offman,3o)osch)a 7 1ife and Wor) @1ondon 19JA, p. !CI.
;H<John Gassner, %orm and .dea in 9odern "heatre @>. K., 19HIA, p. J'.
;I< Gassner. .bid., p. 1I.
;J< Gassner, .bid., p, 1'9.
;C< #. E. W. 1. /ahlstrom, Pbid, H!,
;9< .bid, p. J9.
;1'< Ernst "oiler, .ntroduction to Seven Dlays, @>ew Kor)A.
;11< .bid.
;1!< %. W. #handler, 9odern #ontinental Dlaywri+hts @>ew Kor), 19F1A, D. 'J
;1F< . .bid., p. 1!.