SOURCE: "Lost American Opportunity: Two 1931 German Plays about Mary Baker Eddy," in Comparative Drama, Vol. 28, No. 4, Winter, 1994/1995, pp. 486-509.

In the following essay, Gadberry discusses two little-known German dramas about Eddy.

My personal interpretation is that Germany has such a wealth of love, mercy, and other virtues found in the Christian faiths that we do not need an American sect, which in my opinion, does not teach humility, but strives for business success in addition to religious goals.—Ilse Langner (1931)

In 1930 and 1931, a critical biography and two plays about Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy appeared in Germany, and a third was announced. They were but part of the Euro-American revival of interest in the problematic founder of Christian Science, who had died in 1910. "Mother Mary," as she came to be called, remains a fascinating and outrageous character. Mark Twain, her contemporary, found much to ridicule and fear in...