c g7l UC-NRLF ^C Ifl? 5TS UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA THE NATURE BACKGROUND IN THE DRAMAS OF GERHART HAUPTMANN BY MARY AGNES QUIMBY A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL PRINTING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1918 ^7/ THE NATURE BACKGROUND IN THE DRAMAS OF GERHART HAUPTMANN. CHAPTER I. Introduction. The significance of the nature element in literary art is too well recognized to demand a special defense here. Professor Camillo von Klenze's comprehensive resume^ of the books and articles dealing with the nature-sense, supplemented by Miss Rey- nolds' bibliography and review in the introduction to her large work on "The Treatment of Nature in English Poetry between Pope and Wordsworth,"^ show how the subject has continued to occupy the attention of literary critics ever since the appearance in 1794 of Schiller's Essay "tjber die naive und sentimentale Dichtung". The reason for this interest, explained at some length in that standard work of Alfred Biese's, "Die Entwick- elung des Naturgefiihls im Mittelalter und in der Neuzeit"; (1888), has been summed up in one sentence by Professor von Klenze in his article entitled "The Treatment of Nature in the Works of Nikolaus Lenau."^ He says "An artist's attitude! toward nature, whether his medium be language or line and color, is the subtlest expression of his individuality." Corroboration of this is found again and again in statements made by nature lovers themselves. Walt Whitman hints at it parenthetically in the following description of the sea : "The attractions, fascinations there are In sea and shore! How one dwells on their simplicity, even vacuity! What is it in us, arous'd by those indirections and directions? That * von Klenze, Journal of Germanic Philology, II ( 1898) , pp. 239 ff . ^ Myra Reynolds, The Treatment of Nature in English Poetry (Chicago. 1909), pp. XV ff. To these lists should be added Grillparzer as a Poet of Nature, by Faust Charles de Walsh (New York, 1910). ' The University of Chicago Press— Decennial Publications. First Series, (1903). VoL VII, pp. 20. ff, (3) 420206 4 Nature Background in Dramas of Gcrhart Hauptntann spread of waves and gray-white beach, salt, monotonous, senseless — such an entire absence of art, books, talk, ele- gance — so indescribably comforting, even this winter day — grim, yet so delicate looking, so spiritual — striking, emo- tional, impalpable depths, subtler than all the jx)ems, paint- ings, music I have ever read, seen, heard. (Yet let me be fair, perhaps it is because I have read those poems and heard that music.)"* This man, though he loved nature so jealously that he made his outdoor notes upon the scenes which they describe and left them "impromptu", as he says, so afraid was he of "dropping what smack of outdoors or sun or starlight might cling to the lines" admits more positively and directly in the following para- graph the importance of the subjective element: "Nature con- sists not only in itself, objectively, but at least just as much in the subjective reflection from the person, spirit, age, looking at it, in the midst of it and absorbing it — faithfully sends back the characteristic belief of the time or the individual, takes and readily gives again the physiognomy of any nation or litera- ture — falls like a great elastic veil on a face or like the molding plaster on a statue."^ No thorough study has yet been made of the nature element in modem naturalistic literature. As a beginning of such an investigation in the field of German literature this phase of Hauptmann's dramatic art will be analyzed in the following chap- ters. This selection by no means implies a necessary belief in the immortality of Hauptmann's dramas. They have been chosen primarily because they represent in their entirety a pecu- liarly significant record of the various tendencies of the natural- istic period. The necessity of emphasizing the truth of this statement may justify a review, in brief outline, of the evolution of naturalism in Germany and of its expression in the dramatic art of Hauptmann.^ * Walt Whitman, Specimen Days, p. 88 (Small, Maynard & Co., Boston, 1901). "Walt Whitman, Poetry To-day in America, p. 290 (Boston, 1901). * The following review lays no claim to originality. It is to be found in fuller form in the various histories of German literature which include this Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 5 The battles that raged during the early eighties in the literary centres of Berlin and Munich in the revolt against the old prin- ciples of literary art resulted, at least in Berlin, in a victory for Arno Holz's theory of consistent naturalism. While, of course, a result of various influences such as those of Tolstoi, Dostoievski, Bjomsen, Strindberg and Ibsen, this theory was based most directly on the principles of Zola. And Zola, it will be remem- bered, showed an interesting inability to keep his own personality out of his professedly naturalistic novels, so that while advocating in theory that the material for a novel should be collected and presented in exactly the same way as that of a botanist or a zoologist, he was nevertheless constantly pronouncing moral judg- ments and expressing indignation at wrong and sympathy with the distress that he depicted. In his famous definition of art he admits this personal element by adding to the statement that "art is a corner of nature" the significant modifier, "seen through a temperament".'^ Holz, however, while starting out with Zola's definition, insisted on a more radical elimination of the per- sonality. "Die Kunst" he said "hat die Tendenz, wieder die Natur zu sein. Sie wird sie nach Massgabe ihrer jeweiligen Reproductionsbedingungen und deren Handhabung."^ And not only did Holz promulgate this theory of the reproduction of an atomistic and mechanical world by the most exact scientific methods, excluding all possibility of style that implies selection and rearrangement of details, but he attempted to put the theory into practice in the series of sketches called Papa Hamlet and a drama Die Familie Selicke. It was this theory and its illustration that Arno Holz pre- sented to Hauptmann in 1889. Up to this time the creative genius of this young artist had been groping for the proper form of period. Cf., for example, A. Soergel's Dichtung und Dichter der Zeit (Leip- zig, 1911). Buch I. An excellent summary is to be found in Ludwig Lewisohn's introduction to The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann, Vol. I, pp. ix-xxxvii. ' "Une oeuvre d'art est un coin de la creation, vu a travers un tempera- ment." Proudbonet Courbet in Mes Haines — Causeries htteraires et artisti- ques. Paris, 1866 (New Ed. Paris, 1880, p. 2.) '* Arno Holz — Die Kunst, ihr Wescn und ihrc Gcsctzc (Berlin, 1891), p. 192. 6 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann expression. The artistic impulses which had been evident from his childhood, in his tendency to fanciful dreaming, in his pas- sionate love for music, in his fondness for sketching and for writing poems and fairy tales, had led him first to the study of sculpture, then to acting, and finally to serious writing. In 1885 he had published his first work, the formless romantic Byronic poem Promethidenlos, in which he gave expression to his sympa- thy with wretched humanity and to his longing for the light of heavenly beauty. This same idea was the basis for his collection of dreamy, visionary poems. Das Bunte Buck (1885). "Wie eine Windesharfe sei deine Scele, Dichter! Der leiseste Hauch bewege sie. Und ewig miissen die Saiten schwingen im Atem des Weltwehs; denn das Weltweh ist die Wurzel der Himmels- sehnsucht. Also steht deiner Lieder Wurzel begriindet im Weh der Erde; doch ihren Scheitel kronet Himmelslicht." And it was still the same idea that found expression in the short story Bahnwdrter Thiel (1887). By this time, however, his study of the natural sciences and particularly of Darwin's teachings, his reading of Zola and his contact with the Berlin group of literary critics had combined to turn him to a partial use of the naturalistic method. Already favorably disposed to naturalism, then, he became a ready convert to the extreme prin- ciples of Amo Holz, who, during his visit in Niederschonhausen, read to him sketches from Papa Hamlet, depicting without reserve the most repulsive features of poverty, filth, and lewdness. The significance of this incident in Hauptmann's literary career is proved by the often quoted dedication of Vor Sonnenaufgang, dated July 8, 1889: "Bjame P. Holmsen dem konsequentesten Realisten, Verfasser von 'Papa Hamlet' zugeeignet in freudiger Anerkennung der durch sein Buch empfangenen entscheidenden Anregung." j Upon the foundation of Holz and Schlaf's consistent nat- uralism Hauptmann developed the new dramatic form. It had, of course, to modify the severity of Holz's ruling concerning the absolute elimination of selection and arrangement of -detail, but, as Lewisohn says, "it sought to rely as little as possible upon the traditional devices of dramaturgic technique. There was to Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 7 be no implication of plot, no culmination of the resulting struggle j— ( ' in effective scenes, no superior articulation on the part of the Oo« characters. A succession of simple scenes was to present a sec- tion of life without rearrangement or heightening. There could be no artistic beginning, for life comes shadowy from life; there could be no artistic ending, for the play of life ends only in eternity. . . . Since its fables are to arise from the imme- diate data of life, it must equally emphasize the significant factor of those common things amid which man passes his struggles. And so the naturalistic drama was forced to introduce elements of narrative and exposition usually held alien to the genre. Briefly, it has dealt largely and powerfully with atmosphere, environment and gesture; it has expended the stage direction beyond all precedent and made of it an important element in dramatic art."® , Such, in general, is the keynote of the naturalistic drama QJUuoLitot (MLu'i£J which prevailed for a period, and according to which Hauptmann, /{«> (1 h^i I t^c in addition to Vor Sonnenaufgang (1889), wrote Das Friedens-' a^d u>x.(-u^feuo fest (1890), Einsame Menschen (1891), Die Weber (1892),' f^j^^tc^tLl. Kollege Crampton (1892), Der Biherpels (1893). But the absolute reign of this dramatic form, as is well known, was short. Dissatisfaction with the limitations of nat- uralism expressed, for example, in such an article as that by Dehmel in the Munich Gessellschaft in April, 1892, represented a feeling that was becoming general throughout Europe. Encour- aged by such varying influences as those of Brunetiere, Nietzsche and Anatole France a new period of idealism developed, mani- festing itself in various forms. Such dramas as Ibsen's The Wild Duck, The Lady from the Sea, Ghosts, and When We Dead Awaken call to mind the symbolistic phase of the movement, while the names of Maeterlinck, Strindberg, Rostand, suggest various types of romanticism in their recourse to the fantastic, the mystic, and the allegorical. In Germany, Ludwig Fulda's symbolistic play Der Talismann (1892) ushered in the new movement. The romantic tendencies of Hauptmann so long curbed by the rules of naturalism quickly responded to these impulses. Not •Lewisohn, Dramatic Works of Hauptmann, I, pp. xvin, xxv. 8 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann venturing at first to break the rules which he had set for him- self he made use of the dream technique in Hannele (1893) as a device for presenting idealistic visions in poetic form. Then in 1896 appeared the frankly romantic play Die versunkene Glocke. In the meantime he had written the historical drama Florian Geyer (1896) and Elga (1896), a dramatization of Grillparzer's story Das Kloster bei Sendomir. The naturalistic influence, however, had not lost its power over the dramatist, for in 1898 appeared the naturalistic play Fuhrmann Henschel, and after the the Shakespearean imitation Schluck und Jau (1900) came two other naturalistic plays, Michael Kramer ( 1900) and Der rote Hahn ( 1901 ). After the legendary, poetic drama Der arme Heinrich (1902) appeared the naturalistic Rose Bernd (1903) and the symbolic Pippa Tanst (1907). The romantic Die Jung fern von Bischofsberg (1907), the two legendary plays Kaiser Karls Geisel (1908) and Griselda (1908) were all followed by the naturalistic plays Die Ratten ( 191 1 ) and Gabriel Schillings Flucht (1912). The series closes with the pageant Festspiel (191 3) and the legendary drama Der Bog en des Odysseus (1914). And so the dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann, ranging from extreme naturalism to naturalism in poetic form or with sym- bolic interpretation and finally to pure romanticism, represent in their entirety the changing, uncertain spirit of the period. Yet fairness compels one to admit that the groping is chiefly for form of expression. Whether through "scientifically" accurate repro- duction of the world as it is, or through poetic description of a realm of the author's own creation, there is evident the constant / subjective ideal of l^ettering the present environment. As Haupt- mann himself expresses it, it is the longing for beauty in its big- gest sense, "das Himmelslicht," for himself and for his fellow- men in exchange for physical and spiritual ugliness — "das Weh der Erde." It may, then, be a worthy subject of research to determine how far the nature element in the dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann reflects the attempts at objective, naturalistic methods on one hand and, on the other hand a tendency to pass beyond these limits to subjective and even poetic interpretation. , CHAPTER II. Hauptmann's Acquaintance With Nature. An investigation of the nature element in Hauptmann's dramas suggests preliminary consideration of the part the outdoor world has played in his own life. Both chance and choice have combined to keep Hauptmann in contact with nature. His homeland, Silesia, is a country of varied scenic interest. Obersalzbrunn, his native village, .was at the time of his birth one of the favorite resorts of the Riesen- gebirge. The large inn, *'Zur preussischen Krone", owned by Hauptmann's father, stood on a beautiful, green, wooded hillside surrounded by flower gardens. From promenades could be seen the Hochwald and the Sattlewald, the castle of Fiirstenstein with its spacious gardens and parks, and, farther in the distance, the Eulengebirge and the Zobten. In the Riesengebirge itself great peaks like the Schneekoppe and Brunberg, deep gorges, numerous waterfalls, dark abysses and bright valleys unite in producing a landscape of marked Alpine character. The mountains are thickly wooded. Oak and beech forests at the foot, silver firs, pines, and beeches on the slopes give beautiful coloring to the mountains in the various seasons. Toward the summit itself the underbrush is often so thick as to form almost impenetrable walls, while the peak itself is in some places a bare, rocky surface and in others a meadowland. In addition to mountain scenery Silesia presents various . other types of landscape. Green plateaus and the rolling or hilly surface of the coal regions extend to the east of the Oder, while toward the north and northwest lie the fertile plains of Lower Silesia. The beauties of this country were not lost on the boy Haupt- mann. Schlenther tells, for example, that the village school- master took his boys out for long walks through meadow, forest, and field, over mountains and valley calling the attention of the boys to the songs of the birds, to the flowers and the grains, to (9) 10 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann the insects and the butterflies.^*' When the zealous teacher tried to make use of such opportunities for drill in Latin forms, Gerhart expressed his horror that such intrusion should be made on "God's free nature", — an incident which may argue as much for his appreciation of the beauties of the country as for his antipathy to Latin. When he had to leave his home to attend school in Breslau, "Der kleine, freie Prinz aus dem Quellenland"^^ felt as if he were shut up in prison, and when it became necessary to leave the city to go live with his uncle in the country he was the only one who was pleased. "Hinter ihm Staub und Stuben- dunst, vor ihm Luft, Licht, Leben."^^ Here, to be sure, Haupt- mann experienced a less delightful association with nature. "Das Werk des Landsmanns, der nachste Verkehr des kultivierenden Menschen mit der Natur war ihm in heisser Arbeit nahgetre- ten.-'^^ Evidence that it was none the less valuable can be found in the treatment of the background in "Rose Bemd".** And years afterward he himself wrote in his aunt's album : "Ick kam vom Pflug der Erde Zum Plug ins weite All — Und vom Gebriill der Herde a Zum Sang der Nachtigall."'^^ In general it is the charm of the Riesengebirge that has brought Hauptmann back again and again to his homeland. For years he had a home in the region, first at Schreiberhau and later in Agnetendorf where, in full view of the Riesengebirge, he spent at least his summers. In addition, Hauptmann has also had opportunity to view much of the more widely famed scenery of the world. In 1883 he took his first Mediterranean trip. Sailing from Hamburg, he followed the coast to Spain, went by train along .the Riviera to Genoa, sailing from there for Naples, and later going on to "Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann (Berlin, 1912), p. 6. " Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 9. ' "Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 11. *^ Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 15. " Cf . page 48. " Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 15. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 1 1 Rome. Driven home by illness, he returned the next summer and since then has spent many winters there. It was on the return from this second trip that he stopped at Hohenhaus near Zitzschewig in the Lossnitz valley. Here at the home of Marie Thienemann he enjoyed the splendid old garden with its linden and chestnut trees. In 1885 Hauptmann and his wife went to Berlin to live, but, because Hauptmann could not endure the city, they spent the summer in Riigen. Later he went with his second wife for several summers to Hiddensoe, an island which, as Schlenther puts it, "wie ein langer, diirrer Hecht etwas gekriimmt langs der Kiiste sich ins Wasser streckt".^® When in the fall of the year 1885 Hauptmann moved to Erkner, a suburb of Berlin, he lived in a house back of which, as his friend Bolsche says, "sich der Wald dehnte, ab tmd zu gebrochen vom blanken weissen Spiegel eines flachen Schilfsees, zu dem der Ufersand gelb wie Dukatengeld nieder quoll und aus dessen Moorboden die Ruderstange das Sumpfgas wie Selterwasserper- len stiess. Wachholder und Heidelbeeren und diirres Famkraut, Libellen und Schmetterlinge. Ein Spechtruf und sich jagende Eichkatzchen. Das war keine berauschende Landschaft, die man sehen musste, ehe man starb, aber immer doch eine Land- shaft."^'^ Schlenther speaks of Erkner situated by the lake and the pine forests as "das echte markisch-melancholische Idyll". ^^ This remained Hauptmann's home for four years, though he spent a few months in the summer of 1888 in Zurich, and in the fall went to Frankfort am Main. Toward Christmas he moved to Bergedorf near Hamburg and then in the spring of 1889 to Berlin. Since then he has revisited much of the country men- tioned. In 191 7 he went to Greece. Taking the steamer in Triest, he sailed along the Dalmatian coast to Brindisi, stopped for some time in Corfu and then continued on his way to Par- thos, Olympia, and Athens. This trip was followed immediately by one to America. " Paul Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 222. "Kummer — Geschichte der deutschen Literatur (Dresden, 1909), p. 628. " Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 30. 12 Nature Background in Dramas of Gcrhart Hauptmann Evidence of Hauptmann's susceptibility to the various types of landscape is found in those writings which give best oppor- tunity for descriptions of nature. The little collection of poems, Das Bunte Buck ( 1888) has, like Promethidenlos, been kept from the public. Schlenther, however, to whom a copy was entrusted, tells us, "Eindriicke der ausseren Natur finden in kurzen, knap- pen, oft nur gestammelten, oft nur hingehauchten Lauten einen Widerhall im Gemiite des Dichters, der still seufzend beim Blat- terfall durch die Herbstnacht wandelt oder in Dammerlicht des Fohrenwaldes vor einem Jtinglingsgrabe weilt, Der Dichter vertieft sich in die Stimmungen der Selbstmorder, deren Geister- chor an den Grunenwald gegen die nahe Riesenstadt, ihre Verder- berin, flucht. Nacht, Nebel, Herbstwind, ein Schmetterling im Schnee, eine singende Lerche im Mondschein, schwache Hoff- nungen auf Licht and Lenz, das alles will zusammen stimmen in einen einzigen Sterbelaut."^® Again the finest nuances of the fir forest of Brandenburg in the radiance of the morning, in the glow of the setting sun, and the subdued light of the moon are reflected in various descriptive passages of Bahnwdrter Thiel.^^^ Der Apostel, in turn, gives repeated and enthusiastic expression to his love for Swiss scen- ery,^^ while in the longer novels there are constant allusions to the nature background. But the most convincing evidence of a genuine delight in all phases of outdoor nature is to be found in Griechischer Fruh- ling. Here in the spontaneous and sincere manner of a diary Hauptmann records his impressions of the richness of southern color, of the music of the birds and the breezes, of the fragrance of spring flowers and newly ploughed fields, of the beauty of little idyllic valleys and wide extended plains, of fine old gardens and groves, and of splendid Alplike mountains. Now he responds to the serious mood of the landscape, now to its wild, majestic appeal, and again and again he delights in the air of fantasy that seems to hover over the land. '* Schlenther — Gerhart Hauptmann, p. 38. *" Cf ., for example, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, pp. 25, 29, 35, 42, 45. " Cf., Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, pp. 53 ff. CHAPTER III. Dramas With Outdoor Settings. The dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann have been divided for the purpose of this investigation into the following groups: (i) Dramas in which at least one act has an outdoor set- ting or an indoor setting that affords a view of landscape. (2) Dramas with indoor settings, which, while affording no actual view of landscape, show in a definite manner the effect of outdoor conditions. (3) Dramas in which the settings ificlude no definite out- door touch. To the first group belong : ( i ) Vor Sonnenaiifgang, (2 ) Einsame Menschen,. (3) Die versimkene Glocke, (4) Schluck und Jau, (5) Der arme Heinrich, (6) Rose Bernd, (7) Die Jung fern vom Bischofsherg, (8) Kaiser Karls Geisel, (9) Griselda, (10) Gabriel Schillings Flucht, (11) Der Bogen des Odysseus. The second division includes : ( i ) Das Friedensfest, (2) Die Weber, (3) Der Biberpelz, (4) Hannele, (5) Elga, (6) Fuhrmann Henschel, (7) Michael Kramer, (8) Der rote Hahn, (9) Und Pippa Tanzt, (10) Die Ratten. For the third group remain only three plays: (i) Kollege Crampton, (2) Florian Geyer, (3) Das Festspiel. A detailed study will be made of the nature element in the background of each play of the first and second groups in its chronological order and of the relation between this background and the action. Concerning the technique it is important to determine how far the exact, detailed stage direction character- istic of the naturalistic method is used, and how far the broadly suggestive direction which leaves the details to be revealed more or less vaguely by the dialogue or to be supplied by the producer. The degree of subjectivity revealed in the description will also be considered with the object of determining whether it is a photographic reproduction lacking all personal element, as demanded by the Holz theory, or a representation of a piece of nature "seen through a temperament," or a consciously subjective interpretation betrayed by direct comment upon the scene. This (13) 14 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann will involve a discussion of the aesthetic and emotional values and the relation of any emotional features discovered to the action or situation of the play. Finally, note will be made of changes in the background to accompany the action with the purpose of determining whether they are realistic changes de- manded by the lapse of time or mere artificial changes intro- duced for dramatic effect. Attention will also be paid to the reaction of the individuals to the nature background. This is expressed, sometimes in a permanent and definite influence upon the whole character, or, more often, in allusions to particular phases of the nature set- ting as a means of supplementing the stage directions, of indi- cating emotional temperament in general or a passing mood of the individual, or it may give expression to reflections upon the inner meaning of nature. The first play to be considered is Vor Sonnenaufgang in which Acts II and IV present outdoor scenes. In this drama written under the direct influence of Holz is to be found, as might be expected, the closest adherence to the naturalistic stage direction which leaves no details to be added by the persons in the play. A detailed description is given of the Krause farm- yard in Silesia. The exact arrangement of all the buildings, the garden, the arbor, the gateway and all the trees is prescribed in a diagram. To this Hauptmann adds the further information that it is four o'clock in the morning and that a pallid grey light is coming in through the gateway. Against the grey sky one sees the silhouette of Beipst sitting on the ground sharp- ening his scythe, the monotonous sound of which is all that is heard for a few minutes. When this stops, there follows an interval of "solemn morning silence," which is soon broken by the shouts of persons leaving the inn, the barking of dogs in the distance, and a loud, confused crowing of cocks. Certainly in relentlessly realistic detail of form, color, and sound this description leaves nothing to be desired. The ques- tion of the subjectivity disclosed yields interesting results. The first part of the description, given in diagram form, is necessarily objective in character. The phrase "feierliche Morgenstille" in Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 15 the additional description gives the only suggestion of an ex- pression of interpretation and judgment. The purposed effect of the background, however, and its relation to the play leave little doubt concerning the play of "temperament." The ugly details depicted in the gloomy light of the hour before sunrise combine to produce a picture which matches in its sickly grey- ness the moral conditions of the Krause family as they are to be revealed in the act, where the father appears as a drunken beast and the stepmother a coarse and brutal woman, living in adultery with the man who is to marry her daughter. The change, indicated by stage directions, that takes place in this background during the course of the action is in itself a perfectly realistic one, namely the gradual change from the grey light of dawn into a deep red and finally into the full light of day. It is used, however, in a way that indicates a conscious effort to produce dramatic effect. At the moment when Loth, the idealist of the group, giving up as hopeless his attempt to interest old Beipst in the Utopian aims of the "Icarians" in America, looks out into the distance, the beauties of the awaken ing morning become visible. Through large fields of clover a brook winds its course, marked by alders and willows. A single mountain peak looms on the horizon. The larks appearing on all sides begin to trill, first in the distance and then in the yard itself. No one speaks during this interval, until Loth rises with the remark that one ought to go walking on such a beautiful morning. This is obviously an arrangement of the scene to emphasize the contrast between the ugly physical details of the Krause home and the nature scenes beyond, and, further, to symbolize the contrast between the ugliness of the Krause stand- ards and the beauty of the ideals of the young reformer Loth. In Act IV the same background is used in much the same way. The realistic details of the farmyard scene, including the activity of the farm workers are carefully depicted in the accom- panying stage directions. 22 The love scene naturally takes place in the most attractive spot — the arbor. Vor Sonnenaufgang, pp. 77, 78, 79. 1 6 Nature Background in Dramas of Gcrhart Hauptmann In regard to the second phase of the problem, the reaction of the characters to the nature background, it is significant that only the ideaHsts of the group, Loth and Helene, express a delight in the beauties of nature One little remark in Act I betrays Loth's aesthetic appreciation of landscape in general. In telling of the suicide of a friend he mentions that it hap- pened in the Grunewald "an sehr schoner Stelle der Havel- seeufer. Ich war dort — ^man hat den Blick auf Spandau!"^^ In the second act his first words as he steps out of the door are: *'H! . . . h! . . . Morgenluf t !" -^ In this exclamation, along with the dreamy contemplation of the distant scene already noted and the rather gushing remarks about the beauty and the freedom of the country,^" Hauptmann cleverly reveals the temperament of the visionary young reformer. And a subtle indication of similar tendencies in Helene is given in her love for nature. When she first. appears in Act II she stops to gaze silently at the distant scene in which Loth had delighted, inhales the fra- grance of the herbs hung upon the fence and, bending down the bough of the tree before her, admires the low-hanging, red- cheeked apples. ^^ While Einsame Menschen has an indoor setting, the garden and lake are fully visible in the background. The detailed description of the room in a country house at Friedrichshagen in Berlin includes the general statement that two bay windows and a glass door in the rear wall afford a view of the veranda, the garden, the lake which joins it, and the Miiggel hills beyond. No mention is made, either in the stage directions or in the text, of the time of day or season of the year. In the second act the time of day, the season of the year, and the atmosphere are more sharply defined in the stage directions. In Act III the time of day is given in the directions, but the condition of the weather is left to be disclosed in the dialogue. In the fourth " Vor S onnenaufgang , p. 15. " Vor Sonneaufgang, p. 42. " Vor Sonmnaufgang, p. 49. " Vor S onnenaufgang, p. 47. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann ly and fifth acts merely the time of day is defined in the directions at the beginning, though with the progress of the acts changes in the nature of background are definitely stated in accompany- ing directions. In none of the stage directions is there any subjective com- ment upon the nature element. The description in Act I is, of course, merely broadly suggestive and objective, presenting a scene which might be considered to have aesthetic value only. But with the progress of the action the element of "tempera- ment" becomes manifest, for in each case the background is made to reflect the changing moods of the characters. In Act II the exuberance of Anna Mahr and the newly awakened spirit of Johannes Vockerat as a result of the new companionship find an appropriate background in the bright autumnal tones of the scene, which are emphasized by such details as the basket of grapes carried by Anna and the cluster of brilliant leaves that she wears as she stands looking out over the lake into the dis- tance, while men's voices sing: "Went Gott will rechte Gunst erweisen, Den Schick t er in die weite Welt." That it is the waning brilliancy of autumn, however, rather than the budding brightness of spring is significant. Frau Kathe's expression of grief, near the close of the act, over the fact that the new friendship between her husband and Anna Mahr has made her superfluous is a preparation for the gloom of the third act in which the thick fog of the morning robs the scene of its brilliancy, substituting the dull, grey tones of tragedy. In the fourth and fifth acts the lake appears in the subdued light of the late afternoon. When Vockerat sinks into a chair on the veranda at the sound of the whistle of the train that is to take Anna Mahr away, the exaggerated sentimental pathos of the scene is enhanced by the pale moonlight which just at that moment becomes visible.-^ Then, when Johannes is about " Einsatne Menschen, p. 237. 1 8 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann to end his life in the lake that has been his confidant in both his joys and his sorrows, wild geese fly like messengers of trag- edy over the water.^® These are again all natural phenomena which are arranged with the definite intention of heightening the dramatic effects. In this play Hauptmann skillfully shows the different sorts of response made by three different types of persons to the charm of the Brandenburg landscape. Frau Vockerat, mother of Johannes, accustomed to the green, hilly scenery of Silesia, cannot enjoy the sandy region, though she naively finds the lake itself "wirklich hiibsch," but at the same time an object of dread to her nervous, motherly soul. "WundervoU" ^® is the adjective which Johannes uses to express his more aesthetic and more emotional appreciation of the lake. And his sensitive, even morbid, temperament finds a sympathetic note in the melancholy idyll of the Brandenburg landscape. His longing for the free- dom that solitude brings is revealed in the remark: "Mein Ideal ist ein weiter Park mit einer hohen Mauer rings herum. Da kann man so ganz ungestort seinen Zielen leben." ^" On the other hand, Anna's glowing delight in the frosty beauty of the morning ^^ is expressive not only of her momentary exuber- ance in the joy of a new and congenial companionship but also of the general vigor and buoyancy of her nature. It is a platitude that in Die versunkene Glocke, Hauptmann succumbs entirely to his romantic tendencies. The problem of the play, the conflict between the inevitable conditions of en- vironment and idealistic aims, is the same modern problem as that of Einsame Menschen and Gabriel Schillings Flucht, but the form of a "deutsches Marchendrama," in which it is pre- sented, allows Hauptmann to use all the imagination that is characteristic of the writers of the old romantic school in cre- ating a Tieck-like world of enchanted woods and meadow peopled with elves and sprites. "* Einsame Menschen, p. 289. * Einsame Menschen, p. 205. '^Einsame Menschen, p. 209. ** Einsame Menschen, p. 214. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 19 The first point to be noticed in connection with the nature technique is the absence of a definite and detailed description of the landscape. Prominent as the nature element is throughout the scene, the stage directions simply suggest a fir-clad glade in the mountains, a hut in the background beneath an over-hanging rock, and an old well. There is no mention of the time of day or the season of the year, but just as in a Shakespearean play, for example, it is necessary to turn to the dialogue for further description. Rautendelein's words to the bee in the opening scene hint that it is springtime: "Flieg auf den Waldrain, Bienchen, iibern Bach, dort gibt es Krokus, Veilchen, Himmelschliissel :" ^^ And to the Nickelmann's "Brekekekex" she replies: "Brekekekex, jawohl, es riecht nach Friihling, und das wundert dich. Das weiss der letzte Molch im Mauerloch, weiss Laus und Maulwurf, Bachforell' und Wachtel, Fischotter, Massermaus und Flieg' und Halm, der Bussard in der Luf t, der Has' im Klee ! Wie weisst derm du es nicht ?" *^ The Waldschrat confirms all this with his remarks. "Hier unten riecht es warm, bei Euch ist's mollig. Bei uns dort oben pfeift und fegt der Wind." ^* and "Gestern ass ich den ersten Rapunzelsalat. " 35 And, finally, from Heinrich one gets an impression of the whole effect of the background which matches in its wild beauty and its fairy fantasy the spirit of the play: "Es ist hier schon. Es rauscht so fremd and voll Der Tannen dunkle Arme regen sich " Die wrsunkene Glocke, p. 257. "DiV versunkene Glocke, p. 259. ''* Die versunkene Glocke, p. 261. '^ Die versunkene Glocke, p. 261. 20 Nature Background in Dramas of Gcrhart Hauptmann so ratselhaft. Sie wiegen ihre Haupter so feierlich. Das Marchen! ja, das Marchen weht durch den Wald. Es raunt, es fliistert heimlich. Es raschelt, hebt ein Blattlein, singt durchs Waldgras, und sieh: in ziehend neblichtem Gewand, weiss hergedehnt, es naht — es streckt den Arm, mit weissem Finger deutet es auf mich — kommt naher, — riihrt mich an ... . mein Ohr .... die Zunge .... die Augen — nun ist's fort — und du hist da. Du bist das Marchen !" ^^ In such a world as this it is to be expected that changes in the nature setting will accompany the action. First to be noted are phenomena which are simply the normal indications of the passing of time, but which are so used as to heighten the dramatic effect at particular moments. For example, the Wald- schrat's account. of his attack upon the mortals, in which he finally sends their bell over the cliff to be lost forever in the lake, is the more impressive because of the gradually increasing darkness of evening. And there are other changes, more arbi- trary, which seem like more definite cases of "pathetic fallacy." The appearance of heavy dark purple clouds over the hills and the sudden rising of the wind and flashing of lightning at Hein- rich's appearance indicate the lively resentment of nature at the intrusion of a human being upon the fairy ground. ^'^ When Heinrich is carried away again the restored calm of the land- scape is revealed in the bright moonlight.^* Again, the coming of the cruel woodsprite is herald by lightning and distant thunder which increases when he actually appears. When he makes his threatening speech beginning: "Masslieb und Vergissnichtmein stampf ich in den Grund hinein," and at the end of which He carries off one of the elves, nature Die versunkene Glocke, p. 269. Die versunkene Glocke, p. 264. 'Die versunkene Glocke, p. 280. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 2 1 shows its fury in a raging storm of hail and thunder, which subsides when the sprite has gone.^^ Act II offers less opportunity for nature touches, since it takes us away from the fairy home on the mountain top to the house of Heinrich in a village of the valley. The stage direc- tions indicate simply that it is early morning and that the light grows brighter as the action advances. As in Act II, in accord- ance with the technique of the romantic drama, we get most of the description of nature from the characters themselves. Heinrich's wife, Magda, tells of the fields of cowslips beyond the garden,^ ^ and Rautendelein says as she opens the window in Heinrich's room: "Schon ist's. Doch morgen wird as windig sein, Eine lange Wolke, wie ein Riesenfisch Liegt auf den Bergen; morgen birst sie auf, und tolle Geister fahren sausend nieder, durch Tannenwald und Kluft, ins Menschental. Kuckuck! Kuckuck! der Kuckuck ruft auch hier, und Schwalbchen schiessen, schweifen durch die Luft, durch die der Tag mit Leuchten kommt gedrungen." ^^ From Heinrich we hear that the nightingale is at play out- side his window and that sweet scents of jasmine and elder blossoms are floating in.'*^ These are all details which are sug- gestive of the sensual element of the scene. Ijn Act III the setting is again the mountain top. Through the open door of a deserted glassworks can be seen a landscape of peaks, moors, and dense fir woods. Here again the directions are broadly suggestive rather than definite and detailed. Rau- tendelein tells us that it is warm and sultry,^ ^ a condition which emphasizes her own weariness and sadness. Beyond this there is no definite allusion to the background. ^* Die versunkene Glocke, p. 283. *" Die versunkene Glocke, p. 200. *^ Die versunkene Glocke, p. 304. *^ Die versunkene Glocke, p. 305. ** Die versunkene Glocke, pp. 314, 316. 2.2 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann Act IV repeats the interior scene of the third act. No men- tion is made in the stage directions of the time of day, but Hein- rich says that it is the sad twihght hour and that the setting sun is veiled in purple,^ ^ again producing an effect which matches Heinrich's mood of doubt and sense of approaching disaster. In Act V the fir-clad glade of the first act again appears. No further details are given in the stage direction beyond the fact that it is after midnight. An elf tells that the wind of sacrifice, a red, red wind, is blowing from all the mountain tops into the valley, that dark smoke is streaming down from all the mountain peaks into the glade and that white clouds lie thick in the valley. This forms a fitting background for the meeting of the elves who come to tell of their grief over the death of Balder.** Changes necessitated by the passing of time as well as by dramatic requirements are recorded. As the elves disap- pear a fog drifts over the glade.^^ Dawn is heralded by the crowing of a cock,*^ but the moon still shines to add pathos to the picture as Rautendelein, weary and sad, sits upon the edge of the well, combing her long, flowing locks. Then as Heinrich in his death struggle finally clasps his ideal, crying "Die Sonne — Sonne kommt!" the red glow of the morning appears in the sky, and the dawn breaks. Thus natural phenomena which have been intimately associated throughout the play with the moods and actions of the various characters also produce the final cli- mactic effect. Certain forces of nature which are a part of the fairy mountain top, the nature background of the play, are visualized by Hauptmann in the characters of Rautendelein, Wittichen, Wickelmann, the Waldschrat, and the elves. So much has been written concerning them and Heinrich himself that it is neces- sary here simply to repeat that Hauptmann has made use, not only of his own rich imagination, but also of Germanic folklore **Die versunkene Glocke, p. 334. *^ Die versunkene Glocke, p. 353. ** Die versunkene Glocke, p. .^58. *' Die versunkene Glocke, p. 365. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 23 and of dramatic forerunners in presenting an interpretation of nature that is throughout romantic and symboHc.^^ The Shakespearean influence which is generally conceded to be evident in the comedy Schluck und Jau shows its first trace in that play in the use of a prologue which gives the setting of the piece in poetic style. The hunt, the joy of the season, is over. The dogs are back in the kennels, and the animals that the huntsmen have slain hang corded in the cellars. "und morgen mit dem Friihsten wird dies Haus von Gasten leer. Dann wird's verlassen liegen und seine roten Turmchen einsam heben iiber das Wipfelmeer, das endlos weite; und diese Raume werden nichts vernehmen, als Waldesrauschen — nachts des Uhus Wimmem — den Schrei des Bussards und das Fliigelklatschen der Tauben unsres alten Kastellans. — " ^® As a last bit of joy, therefore, before the party separates, the curtain is to disclose a piece which is no more than "einer unbesorgten Laune Kind." The first scene of the play, accordingly, presents a level, green space in the forest, through the high iron gateway of which the courtyard is visible. The radiant sun of an autumn morning that one might expect to find mentioned has been omit- ted from the description, and no definite locality is indicated by anything but the Silesian dialect of Schluck and Jau. The stage directions are hardly more definite than those of a Shakespearean play. From Jon Rand we incidentally learn more of the beauties of the place, as he remonstrates with Schluck and Jau: "miisst ihr denn zu meinen Tulpenbeeten schleppen euem Rausch * For interpretation of the symbolism and for discussion of the sources, cf. especially H. Ramiew — Die Symbolik in Gerhart Hauptmanns Mdrchendrama Die versunkem Glocke (Mainz, 1897). M. Schneidewin — Das R'dtsel des G. Hauptmannschen Mdrchendramas Die versunkene Glocke (Leipzig, 1897). Martin Schiitze — Hauptmanns Die versunkene Glocke — Americana Ger- manica, Til (1899), pp. 60-95. *• Schluck und Jau, p. 13. 24 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann und cure wusten, vollen Leiber werfen in Sidselills Garten, die so lieblich bliihn?"^** Toward the end of the scene Jon tells of the bracing air of the beautiful autumn morning and of the music of the herds' bells in the fields. ^^ The second and third scenes are interiors. Sidselill's room in the third scene has a door opening upon a terrace, which, however, is not described and which is included less for aesthetic reasons than for the practical one of providing a place where Jau, in the new role of prince, may try his skill at mounting a horse. Another terrace is visible from the ban- queting hall in Scene IV. Again, the fifth scene in the castle park is not described, but is given a pleasing touch bj- the men- tion of the fine old nut trees. In the sixth scene the green lawn in front of the castle gate that appeared in Scene I reveals Schluck and Jau, now the same poor wretches they were in Scene I before the trick was played upon them. It is possible that the old beech tree half stripped of its leaves, under which Jau sleeps in the half moonlight, is meant to add a touch of that humor mixed with pathos that is noted in the fate of the poor wretch. But on the whole this piece, avowedly light in char- acter, containing no element of great emotion or even change of mood, presents only the most general suggestions concern- ing the nature background, and these indicate no change of tone. The character in the play who is most responsive to the autumnal brightness of the setting is Jon Rand. Both the vigor of the huntsman-prince and the fantasy of the moon-gazing dreamer, who speaks of love and writes songs, find their reflec- tion in his nature feeling: "Verschlaf'ne Walder! bald erweck ich euch mit klaren Homesruf. Und deinen Trank, harzduf tiger Morgen, spiir ich schon im Blut: der taglich — meinem grauen Haar zum Trotz — mit Jugend mich erfiillt. In jedem Morgen ■* Schluck und Jau, p. 19. " Schluck und Jau, p. 24. ** Schluck und Jau, p. 109. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 25 ist Jugend; und in seine jungen Stunden drangt sich der Nachklang jeder seligen Zeit ans neue Hoffnungsgliick: und eng verschwistert zu einem triumphierenden Hall des Lebens, singt, was da war — und ist — und sein wird, Karl, in uns und um uns her und zu uns wieder, im Echo. Meinst du nicht?"^^ Again the merry exuberance of autunwi and the sober quiet of winter make equal appeal to this two-fold personality : "Schwingt Eure Beine, tanzt! Es tanzt sich gut libers braungold'ne Fliess gefall'ner Blatter, das unser alter Nussbaum abgelegt. Wirbelt den Kehraus! Most und Wein herbei! Herbstf riichte ! jeder nehme, was er mag von den gehauften Schalen. Bunte Ranken der wilden Rebe kranzt um Eure Schlafe! Bacchantisch sei die Lust, die bald erstirbt. Der hermelingeschmiickte Totengraber steht vor der Tiir: ein weisses Leichenhemde bereit in seiner Hand. Er sei willkommen. wenn diese letzte Sommerlust verrauscht! Ja, mich verlangt nach seinem weissen Kleide. — In diesem Meer von Faschingstollheit schwimmend — und zwar mit Lust, Karl — drangt doch meine Brust dem Ufer zu, der tiefen Winterruh." ^^ Though Hauptmann calls his metrical drama Der arme/ Heinrich a German legend in five acts, he keeps fairly close to the naturalistic technique in his careful portrayal of the back- ground. In Act I the scene, as described in the stage directions, is the little garden about the house of the farmer Gottfried in the region of the Black Forest. From a fine old elm, beneath which stand a stone table and a bench of turf, one looks out upon great green plateaus. Harvested fields are seen in the foreground and a line of wooded hills against the horizon. Iso- lated groups of fir trees are scattered here and there. While the season of the year is suggested by the harvested fields, the ** Schluck und Jau, p. 85. 26 Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann fact that it is a clear, cold morning is left for the dialogue.^* There is also no mention in the stage directions of the "Erlen- weg" referred to in the text.^^ While there is no evidence of subjective comment in this description, there is also no trace of the impressionism that merely recounts single, uncoordinated details. The composition of the picture with its distinct centre of interest, its strong fore- ground, and its interesting background indicates definite artistic intent. The evident purpose is to present the beauty of a country scene, the peacefulness of which is contrasted with the hopeless unrest of Heinrich, who knows himself to be a victim of leprosy. There is no attempt throughout the act to depict any changes in this background to accompany the action. The stage directions of Act III present a rocky wilderness, mighty firs, and trees with autumn foliage. In the background beyond a stretch of level ground is a cave, at the entrance to which lie withered leaves, cooking utensils, an axe, and a cross- bow. It is a 'fall evening. This picture, perhaps even more than the preceding one, is decidedly artistic in conception and effect. The mighty firs, themselves expressive of splendid isola- tion, the other trees suggestive in their foliage of the sadness of autumn, encompassing the lonely cave to which one's eye is directed over the stretch of level earth, present, especially in the autumn twilight, a scene which is most expressive of loneliness. And this forms a fitting background for Heinrich, who, wild, ragged, and unkempt, is digging a pit for his own grave. There are no changes in the background during the act. Act IV takes place within Benedict's chapel in the forest. A suggestive little touch of autumn is found in the wreath of leaves upon the altar and the crucifix. The gathering darkness adds solemnity to the scene in which Ottegebe dedicates herself to the service of Christ. In Act V the joyousness that comes from Heinrich's mirac- ulous recovery from leprosy through the victory over himself ^ Der arme Heinrich, p. 272. " Der arme Heinrich, p. 271. Nature Background in Dramas of Gerhart Hauptmann 27 and the consequent release of Ottegebe from her sacrifice, and the vigor of the new life in store for both of them are antici- pated in the stage directions by the radiance of the spring morn- ing that fills the richly adorned hall of the castle of Aue. The attitude of Heinrich toward the nature background is distinctly subjective. In the beginning of the play the landscape before Gottfried's house speaks to him of the peace and resigna- tion for which, in his physical torment, he passionately longs: "Noch ganz in Blattern steht die Ulme, und gleich wie aus Erz erhebt sie regungslos sich in des klaren Morgens kalte Luft: des nahen Frostes scharfer Silberhauch, vielleicht schon morgen, macht sie nackt und bloss — : sie regt sich nicht! — Ringsum ist gottergeben worauf das Auge fallt, nur nicht der Mensch, nur ich nicht — Friede! kehre her zu mir!"^® The calm of nature in contrast with the tumult of his own mind is again expressed in the following lines: "Hier ist es still, doch in der Stille wird mein Inneres laut, und wahrend draussen iiber Moor and Wiesen der Mond sein totes Licht ergiesst und etwa am Feldrain eine Grille mit ihm wacht, gibt's ein Getose hier in meinem Haupt von Reigentanzen, ritterlichen Spielen, Schlachtrufen, fremden Sprachen, Fliisterstimmen, die ich nicht kann beschwichtigen." ^'^ Heinrich's susceptibility, under happier conditions, to the voluptuous charm of lavish color, delicate fragrance, and soft sounds in southern lands finds expression in the glowing lines that follow: "Vor zween Jahren — Kind — lag dieser arme Gast, den du hier siehst am mag'ren Ranft hausback'nen Brotes zehrend, in Marmorhallen, wo die Brunnen klangen, " Der arme Heinrich, p. 272. "^ Der arme Heinrich, p. 273. 28 Nature Background in Dram