The Social Significance of the Modern Drama

The author contends that modern dramatic art rejects art for art's sake and serves as a mirror of social life, exposing hypocrisy, duty, and institutional falsehoods while engaging audiences more effectively than polemics. A foreword and organized chapters survey national schools and major dramatists across Scandinavia, Germany, France, England, Ireland, and Russia, analyzing representative plays and their treatment of social wrongs, personal sacrifice, and moral conflict. The essay argues that socially conscious drama can awaken intellectuals, challenge entrenched assumptions, and prepare publics for social change, and it notes the relative undevelopment of a native American social drama to date.