La interpretación de la violencia y su importancia como fundamento del discurso dramático en Die Weber, de Gerhart Hauptmann

Resumen

Gerhart Hauptmann is one of the most important authors in the German literature, considered as a pioneer of the so-called “social drama”. His work Die Weber gives expression to the terrible life conditions of textile workers in an area of Germany in the nineteenth century, during the period of the industrial revolution. In this play Hauptmann shows the spirit of that time, the ideas which were current in that society and its analysispermits to draw some conclusions about the role of violence in that historical context. Terms like “class struggle”, “resistance” or “proletarian violence” are necessary to reflect on typical social conflicts of the early capitalism. However, the unquestionable relevance of violence in this text goes farther: there wouldn’t have been any possible uprising without it —any possible plot—, and the ultimate drama of Naturalism would have never been written.