WEDEKIND, Prank, German dramatist and pamphleteer: b. Hanover, 24 July 1864; d. Munich.May 1918. He early became a journal ist, hut drifted for a time into the employ of Maggi:s soups, for whom he conducted their advertising department (1886), traveled as a performer in Hercog's Circus (1888) and set tled in Mtntich in 1890, where he spent the rest of his life in literary and artistic work of vari ous kinds. Wedckind's plays, of which many may be obtained in English translations. are • savage exposure of the sexual hypocrisy of for times, which imposes upon all classes a degree of restraint and concealment of this fundamental passion inevitably resulting in the most dangerous repressions and perversions.
His first play treats this situation in a more pathetic and impressive manner than Wedekind has since succeeded in reaching in any of his more ambitious works, for he presents in it 'Fruitlings Erwachen,' 1891, Spring's Awaken ing') the early sex interest of the child and the cowardice of parents in informing them on matters so vital to their future development. The terrible results of the misunderstood pas sion on the lives of the boys and girls in the play are perhaps more typical of Germany than of most other countries, owing to the more rigid course of German family life, but they are, in large measure, of universal application. Ldce several other plays of Wedekind, Fruh lino Erwachen' has been played in New York, in English. 'Erdgeist,' also dealing with sex phenomena (1895), is more colossal in its scope almost crushim in the fury of its obsessions; its sequel 'Die Bfichse der Pandora' (Pandora's Box, 1904) goes further in depicting the un savory side of sex relations — Schnitzler's 'Reigen' is probably the extreme in the more aphrodisiac, more tempting direction—than any other play in literature. 'Erdgeist) and 'Die Bfichse der Pandora' are more generally known under the collective title of 'Lulu,' the name of the man-consuming heroine. Other important
plays are 'Die junge Welt' (1897), 'Der Liebestrank' (1899), 'Der Kammersingee (played in New York in English, as 'The Tenor,' by the Washington Square Players. 1900). 'Hidalla' (1904), 'Die Zensur' (1908). The last named is a short but humorous dra matic attack on the censorship, with which NN'edekind had come in contact because of out spoken utterances in a previous play. In fact, be once fled from ( .ermany f r .n persecution for Mu ?wield (Nfajc•• ' ' icligung), re mained for a short time in ranS, returned voluntarily for trial, and served a short sen tence in the fortress of Konigstein (1900). After the outbreak of the European War in 1914, Wedekind seems, lace many other German writers, to have been attracted to a more sympathetic view of German his tory and the German government, and wrote (1915) a rather over-patriotic historical play, 'Bismarck,' glorifying the events leading tgi to the foundation of the modern German Empire. He is one of the most vigorous and original satirists of our time; his ironic, cynical estimate and rejection of the universe is apparent behind all his ingenious puns, his grotesque humor, his eccentric caricatures, his burlesque distortions. As an artist he considers restrictions of form to be not binding, and produces not infrequently results that are refreshing or even childlessly grotesque. His works (7 vols.) appeared at Munich in 1913 and include short stories as well as plays. biographical works on Wede kind have appeared from the pens of Pissin, Raimund (1905) • Kapp, Julius (1909); and Elsner. Richard (1909).
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