Product Description

Spring's Awakening is a tragi-comedy of teenage sex. Its fourteen-year-old heroine, Wendla, is killed by abortion pills. The young Moritz, terrorized by the world around him, and especially by his teachers, shoots himself. The ending seems likely to be the suicide of Moritz's friend, Melchior, but in a confrontation with a mysterious stranger (the famous Masked Man) he finally manages to shed his illusions and face the consequences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125581 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-01
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 126 pages

Customer Reviews

A Rather Dated Work
I bought this title after hearing all the buzz about the current Broadway musical of the same name inspired by this original. I personally found it dated, full of the cliches of late Imperial German culture and its outlook: histrionic, melodramatic and just plain corny. Perhaps readers more sympathetic to or in-tune with that epoch and its values might find this a moving or interesting read. What I got from it, though was a clearer idea of why the post-World War I Weimar Republic's avante-garde couldn't wait to sweep away the cultural system that produced this kind of stuff.

In light of this play, society hasn't changed much today
I assigned this play to my drama class this fall. At first reading, I witnessed my students' eyes light up and watched them get involved in serious introspection and discussion for the first time. They were inspired. One ignorant parent contacted school administration, and the play was officially banned from our school and the classroom. What a shame. Sad to say...the narrowmindedness of parents haven't changed much in 100 years. Maybe this parent should read the play and then try to get to know her teenager a little better.

nothing special
this play took me about an hour to read, and moved very slowly in my opinion. I love the musical adaptation, but reading this was not exciting at all, it felt like I was reading it for class.