Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/654

 650 Campbell KAMPF UND KRIEG im deutschen Drama von Gottsched bis Kleist. Zur Form- und Sachgeschichte der dramatischen Dichtung von Dr. Max Scherrer. Rascher & Cie, Verlag, Zurich, 1919. In this work students of the drama who are interested in having their literary conceptions more precisely defined will find a wellnigh indispensable guide. Its title suggests that it stands in relation to the events of the past five years. And some connection is indeed noticeable here and there, though it is not an essential consideration in discussing the book. As the author tells us, the work was conceived in 1913, and in its present form grew out of a Munich dissertation (1917), which comprised the introduction and the first three of the fourteen chapters. These three chapters merely laid a firm foundation for the develop- ment of the subject. The words Kampf Und Krieg are to be taken in their literal sense. What the author offers us is a study from one consistent point of view of the development of the classic form of German tragedy from Gottsched to Kleist, or, strictly speaking, from Klopstock to Schiller, as these two men really indicate the be- ginning and the end respectively of the evolutionary process. The particular phase of this evolution that the author chooses for his consideration, is the method of representing scenes of war and combat on the stage. In limiting his problem so strict- ly, he expressly denies any narrow interest, but rather hopes to show us a type, more or less inclusive, of the entire dramatic growth during its most significant period. He sums up his result in the general statement (p. 391), that the classical tragedy in Germany gradually made from two opposing ideals (French and Shakesperean),from the conflict between reason and imagi- nation, a unique synthesis in a new form. This may sound familiar enough, but it none the less stands here as the fully justified outcome of a new and striking line of research. Ye must admit that the author made an instructive choice of his point of approach, when we consider that his course leads him to such outstanding examples as Gotz, Wallenstein, and Der Prinz von Hamburg. The chief advantage of such an intensive study, if it is carried through soundly as in the present instance, is its searching test of accepted generalities on every hand, their modification in some cases, their unexpected confirmation from a fresh point of view in others. The present treatise furnishes us each of these advantages in turn. It is somewhat surprising, for example, to find Klopstock presented as a figure that counts in the evolution of dramatic form. Yet a plain case seems to be made out for him in this respect. We see how a man of original mind instinctively seizes the right means for the expression of his intentions, even in an unaccustomed