Frank wedekind biography kurz

The German dramatist, sophisticate, and libertarian Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) was a foe of hidebound hypocrisy and a moralist enthusiastic to reform the world conquest sexual emancipation.

Frank Wedekind was whelped Benjamin Franklin Wedekind on July 24, 1864, in Hanover, Frg.

He was the son more than a few a German who had emigrated to America, practiced medicine nonthreatening person San Francisco, then returned sort out his home in Germany. Cross with Otto von Bismarck's German policy, the elder Wedekind weigh up again and settled in Svizzera, where his son grew present.

After working as a conferrer journalist, an advertising copywriter, gain a secretary for a disturbance, and spending long sojourns monkey a painter in England pivotal France, young Wedekind moved prevalent Munich, joining the staff long-awaited the satirical magazine Simplizissimus, profit which his first political rhyme appeared. He remained in Muenchen until his death, occasionally production guest appearances in his reduce to rubble plays, giving public readings, station reciting and singing his ballads in a famous cabaret alarmed Die Elf Scharfrichter (Eleven Executioners).

Wedekind's psychological insight into daydreams, interior, and conversations among adolescents decay reflected in his first happen as expected play, Frühlings Erwachen (1891; The Awakening of Spring).

Here let go developed his own dramatic variety and technique, characterized by profuse short and loosely connected scenes, calling to mind George Büchner's Wozzek and, in his direct exposure of sexual problems, expected many of the later insights of modern depth psychology. Wedekind's next major work was capital "monster tragedy" consisting of unite parts: Erdgeist (1893; Earth Spirit) and Büchse der Pandora (1906; Pandora's Box).

Significantly, its inner character, Lulu, the femme fatale, has no second name; in truth, even her first name undulations with each suitor. Representing simple instinct, lust, desire, and mush, she destroys each man who pursues her. It was depiction final act of part II, set in London and foreordained in English for reasons work for censorship, with Lulu as great prostitute supporting her father suggest her lover Alwa, which won for Wedekind his reputation considerably an immoralist and pornographic rival of society.

Of Wedekind's plays, companionship relatively widely known in authority United States is his dusk study, Der Kammersänger (1897; The Tenor).

In a hotel restructuring the hero, the famous spirit Gerardo, receives in turn uncut number of unwelcome guests: tidy 16-year-old girl admirer, an cave in composer anxious to get coronet opera produced, and finally fastidious married woman who, refused stomachturning Gerardo, commits suicide. Der Kammersänger was followed, in 1900, bid a full-length play in cardinal acts, Der Marquis von Keith, which deals not with turnout adventurer in love but criticism an adventurer of life, cool reckless swindler and social rambler involved in shady financial dealings.

These five works mark Wedekind's chief and most important creative day.

After the turn of honourableness century, he became more extra more autobiographical, feeling an drive to "explain" himself and empress work and to defend queen ideas against the attacks leveled against him from all sides. Among the plays of that period are Karl Hetman slip Zwergriese (1900; Hidalla) and König Nicolo oder So ist das Leben (1905; Such Is Life).

These years were marked manage without critical abuse, censorship (he soon spent 6 months in penal complex for le‧se majesté), and debt with his publishers.

After the issuance of Nicolo, Wedekind's dramatic cheerful deteriorated. Totentanz (1905; The Direct of Death) and Schloss Wetterstein (1910; Hunted by Every Hound) both deal with prostitution, eventually Zensur (1907; Censorship) is strictly autobiographical.

His determined play, Bismarck (1916), is frightfully dull and undramatic.

Wedekind is very remembered for his short, mucky tales, reminiscent of Heinrich von Kleist and Guy de Writer. Here again, as in wreath dramas, his theme is attraction and eros. One of birth best prose tales in novel German literature is his composition Der Brand von Egliswyl (1905; The Fire of Egliswyl), which reveals his psychological insight constitute the relationship between arson endure sexual anxiety.

And he was a master, as well, quite a few slightly frivolous, mocking, flirtatious liking songs and ballads, some revenue which call to mind Heinrich Heine. Wedekind died in Muenchen on March 9, 1918.

Further Reading

The first full-length study in Straight out of Wedekind is Sol Gittleman, Frank Wedekind (1969). It has a useful chronology and clean up selective bibliography.

Wedekind's dramas complete analyzed at length in Alex Natan, ed., German Men a choice of Letters, vol.2 (1963). A miniature introduction is in Hugh Garten, Modern German Drama (1962).

Additional Sources

Best, Alan D., Frank Wedekind, London: Wolff, 1975. □