Carl Hauptmann's development as a writer and thinker mirrored the intellectual currents and crises of his time, even though he remained independent of literary movements. At heart a scientist and philosopher, he turned to literature in frustration over the failure of modern science to address man's spiritual dimension. He wrote some lyric poetry, but it was as a dramatist and narrator that he found his calling. His dogged search for an adequate style led to experiments that foreshadowed German expressionism. His basic theme-the search for man's soul-is fully in the spirit of the expressionist generation.

The third of four children, Carl Ferdinand Maximilian Hauptmann was born in Bad Salzbrunn, Silesia, on 11 May 1858 to Robert and Marie Straehler Hauptmann. His father was an energetic and strong-willed innkeeper, but not always a practical businessman. As times changed, the old clientele shrank and the new generation had no need for the...