The evening world., 1894-05-02
"

= q" thl = hlilNll''H NJ N"' N'S'N 49,
first part OF the representation there was
some applause. but 1t was scattered.
and II was plainly to be seen that the
audience was I'm "A maze OF wonderment
about the purport and purpose OF all
they had been looking ut and listening
to-. But when the second curtain de.
sec nded and the performance was
over, the theatre fairly rang with
enthusiastic approval or the
evenings work. The applause was sus-
tained for five minutes. during which
time the whole house waited and
brought out Gerharlt Hauptmann. the
ruthor, twice. Hanncle and the Hanne-
lean Christ n half dozen times. and one
OF the smile wreathcd Rosenfelds once.
Only n few in the audience, who pre-
tended to be greatly grieved by what
they vaguely described as the irrever-
ence OF the play, dldn't like 1t. Nearly
everybody was delighted with II and
said so, in addition to Joining In the
noisy and hearty commentator at the
conclusion OF the play.
There Is nothing irreverent in Han
nele." 1t is strange, weird and full OF
symbolism, II Is s~piritualistic to n grue-
some degree, but IT is neither religious
nor irreligious per sc. Greed has no
part whatever in its motive. Belief In
n future state is made n vehicle for the
phi ,nomena with which Mr.. Hauptmann
ills the dream-phases OF his story. but
that Is all. The fears and hopes OF an
ill-treated young girl In extremis. fur-
nlsh the dramatist his theme, and be-
cause Hannele Is Christian, Christian
ity gives It's coloring to the striking
contrast between her condition and her
thought operations. Leaving Its hysteri-
cal possibilities out of the question:.
"HaI nele" can do no harm.
A child is dying. She has been taught
that death Is the door to eternal punish
ment or eternal joy. Naturally she pre-
fers the latter. She lisps her anxiety
that 1.-The loving Jesus should stretch
out his arms and take her to heaven.
Her brutal, drunken, vagrant father
has beaten and abused her until
her body Is full of bruises. He
turns her out in the cold, and, weak and
desperate, she seeks the river. Teacher
Gottwald rescues the child and carries
her to the ~almshouse. which Is her
home, to die. with terrible liberalism
the abject environment of this passing
younr life Is made manifest. Wretched
beggars crowd around her rag-fiecked
bed. The besotted father Is brought in
and is seen to be a worse type of tramp
than Walter Jones or Walter Gale ever
offered is. The place reeks with
wretchedness n poverty. An a~toning
antithesis Is presented in Teacher Gott-
wald. refined, cultured and superior to
all aroun him. In the early portion of
her dream we are made acquainted with
the fact that poor little Hannele has
loved the Teacher, and there Is a suspi-
cion that she has once. at least. in the
mute language Of a few violets given to
him. tried to tell her love.
BE that rs 1t may, she is now on her
deathbed hoping and praying for heaven
and her loving Jesus" She has never
seen either of them. but she has no
doubt often painted mind pictures of
them. And how has she painted them?
Surely. her eaven was n place directly
the opposite of the almshouse and Its
access ories. No rags there; all shining
silks and brilliant tinsel. No filthy hard
bed, but n couch OF down n gold and
crystal. No bare feet. but beautiful
white slippers. Nc quarreling thieves
and beggars, but angels in white with
great white wings. No damp and dark
ness. but wonderfully radiant light. And
what would her flowing jesus look like?
Why. glorined Teacher Gottwald, of
course. The Teacher was her ideal here
an apotheosis of him would suffice for
her ideal in the hereafter.
1t is upon this mental process that Mr..
Hauptmann must have based and built
his play. II he had any serious purpose
In writing 1t. Otherwise It Is simply a
take the place Of elves inc fays. From
the dignity of the work. however. and
the correlation OF the physical and
phantasmal incidents in t, there is every
reason to believe that Mr.. Hauptmann
aimed to be metaphysical and not mys-
teal. and that his vision play illustrates
a theory of the genesis and evolution of
the human idea Of Immortality. That
theory is forcibly set forth on his stage.
There you rave the real Hannele suffer
ing and In rags: here you have the
dream Hannele In a robe of silk and
white slippers, lying In n crystal coffin.
while the almshouse inmates look on in
awed amazement. or whisper about the
richness of her apparel and the extraor-
binary change that has taken place In
her garments. SC. There you la Gott-
valid. the man; here you have him trans
figured. none other than Hannele's Saw
Jour. leading her by the hand through
vistas OF angels to the presence OF the
throne.
Thnra iS nnthinp In his m sbnrk my