The Weavers is a play written by the German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...

 in 1892.

Plot summary

Most of the characters are proletarians struggling for their rights. Unlike most plays of any period, as pointed out many times in literature criticism and introductions, the play has no true central character, providing ample opportunities for ensemble acting.

Criticism

Barrett H. Clark's comments: as one of Gerhart Hauptmann's experiments in dramatic form, The Weavers is highly significant. Instead of a hero, he has created a mob; this mob is therefore the protagonist—or chief character—and if individuals emerge from the rank and file they are not thrust into the foreground to stay long. It is the weavers as a class that are ever before us, and the unity of the play is in them and in them alone; they are only parts of a larger picture which will take shape as the story advances, and are not intended to be taken as important individuals.

External links

• The text of the play at the Archive.org