Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - The German Drama - Herman Suderman - Magda - The Fires of St. John
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
80 Hermann Sudermann
alone to Germany, but to the universal spirit of
a newer day.
THE FIRES OF ST. JOHN
IN "
The Fires of St. John,"
Sudermann does
not go as far as in
"
Magda." Nevertheless the
play deals with important truths. Life does not
always draw the same conclusions; life is not al
ways logical, not always consistent. The function
of the artist is to portray Life only thus can he
be true both to art and to life.
In this drama we witness the bondage of grati
tude, one of the most enslaving and paralyzing
factors. Mr. Brauer, a landed proprietor, has a
child, Gertrude, a beautiful girl, who has always
lived the sheltered life of a hothouse plant. The
Brauers also have an adopted daughter, Marie,
whom they had picked up on the road, while travel
ing on a stormy night. They called her
"
the
calamity child," because a great misfortune had
befallen them shortly before. Mr. Brauer s
younger brother, confronted with heavy losses, had
shot himself, leaving behind his son George and a
heavily mortgaged estate. The finding of the
baby, under these circumstances, was considered
by the Brauers an omen. They adopted it and
brought it up as their own.
This involved the forcible separation of Marie
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
