The Social Significance of the Modern Drama

The Social Significance of the Modern Drama is by Emma Goldman. A section headed Edmond Rostand, Chantecler says that the modern drama has made progress as an interpreter of social ideas and portrayer of the human struggle against internal and external barriers. The text calls Chantecler the intense idealist, whose mission is light and truth.

The text says George Dupont will not postpone the marriage for several years, and that he would have to give an explanation, break his word, and lose his inheritance. The text says The Seagull is not defeat, and that as long as there is still such material in society as the Constantines, men and women who would rather die than compromise with the sordidness of life, there is hope for humanity. A section headed The Cherry Orchard calls the play Tchekhof's prophetic song, in which three stages of social development and their reflex in literature are depicted. The text says professional critics seldom see below the surface, else they would discover beneath the grin and satire of Frank Wedekind a sensitive soul, deeply stirred by the heart-rending tragedies about him.