The German dramatist and novelist Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (1862-1946) is best known for his pioneering naturalistic dramas. His subsequent work treats in various forms and styles the role of the individual in an apparently deterministic...

Gerhart Hauptmann first attempted to express himself artistically as a sculptor. But once he had discovered his literary talents he explored, after a somewhat epigonic beginning, all possible literary forms: novellas, novels, epic and lyrical poetry,...

Gerhart Hauptmann first attempted to express himself artistically as a sculptor. But once he had discovered his literary talents he explored, after a somewhat epigonic beginning, all possible literary forms: novellas, novels, epics and lyrical poetry,...

Gesprache und Interviews mit Gerhart Hauptmann (1894-1946). Ed. by H. D. TSCHORTNER. (Veroffentlichungen der Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gesellschaft, 6) Berlin: Erich Schmidt. 1994. 190 pp. DM 78. Gerhart Hauptmann und der Film. By SIGFRID HOEFERT. (Veroffentlichungen der Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gesellschaft, 7) Berlin: Erich Schmidt. 1996. 163 pp....

Gerhart Hauptmann: Tagebucher 1914 bis 1918. Ed. by PETER SPRENGEL. Berlin: Propylaen Verlag. 1997. 479 pp. DM 128. Hauptmann's diaries are a difficult read. Most entries are brief, their meaning is sometimes obscure, and the casual spelling reveals their improvised nature. Yet...

In the following essay, Clouser examines the conflict between spiritual and physical natures in Bahnwärter Thiel, equating Thiel with a failed Hercules.

In the following essay, Hodge interprets Bahnwärter Thiel as “a prose drama, patterned on classical Greek tragedy and influenced by a demonic, Dionysian concept of tragedy similar to that propounded by Nietzsche.”

In the following essay, Ellis probes narrative technique and patterns of imagery in Bahnwärter Thiel, linking these to the work's theme of “rigid control and its loss.”