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                                 MAGDA
                          A Play In Four Acts


                                  _By_
                           HERMANN SUDERMANN


                    _Translated from the German by_
                      CHARLES EDWARD AMORY WINSLOW


                               *   *   *

                          Copyright, 1895, by
                      Lamson, Wolffe and Company.

                 Assignment of above Copyright to

                            Emanuel Lederer,
                   13 West 42d Street, New York City,

                      recorded in Assignment Book
             V. 21 Page 143, June 8,1899, Washington, D. C.


                               *   *   *


CAUTION.-Professionals and amateurs are hereby notified that this play
is fully copyrighted under the existing laws of the United States
Government, and nobody is allowed to do this play without first having
obtained permission of Samuel French, 24 West 22d Street, New York
City, U. S. A.






                           _Copyright, 1895_,
                    By Lamson, Wolffe, and Company.






                                 MAGDA




                               CHARACTERS


      Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold Schwartz.
      Pastor Heffterdingt
      Dr. Von Kellner
      Max
      Major-General Von Klebs
      Prof. Beckmann
      Mrs. Schwartz, the stepmother
      Magda Schwartz    \
                         > sisters
      Marie Schwartz    /
      Franziska
      Mrs. General Von Klebs
      Mrs. Justice Ellrich
      Mrs. Schumann
      Theresa, the Schwartzs' maid


                               *   *   *


                                SYNOPSIS


      Scene--The Schwartzs' home.
      Act I.--Afternoon.
      Act II.--Evening of the same day.
      Act III.--The next morning.
      Act IV.--The same morning.




                                 Note.


Herr Hermann Sudermann has achieved surprising success in passing from
novel-writing to dramatic authorship. He has a style of the utmost
distinction, and is well skilled in technique. His masterpiece,
"Heimat," is absolutely original. No play has ever produced a more
impressive effect upon German audiences. When it ceases to be
performed, it will still hold a permanent and important place in the
libraries of dramatic literature. Though a psychological study, there
is no concentration of attention upon morbid conditions. All these have
passed before the play begins. There is no passion for mere passion's
sake. Its development proceeds from the energies of circumstances and
character.

Herr Sudermann, unlike some of the new dramatists, is not lacking in
humor; and the snobbishness, stuffy etiquette, and scandal-mongering of
a provincial town are well illustrated by the minor characters. Into
this atmosphere comes the whirlwind from the outer world with fatal
effect. It is scarcely possible to conceive more varied and intense
emotions naturally and even inevitably evolved from the action of a
single day. The value of the drama lies in the sharp contrasts between
the New and the Old, alternately commanding, in their strife, the
adhesion of the spectator or reader. The preparation for the return of
"The Prodigal Daughter" occupies an entire act, and invests her
entrance with an interest which increases until the tremendous climax.
Yet the proud martinet father commands our respect and sympathy; and
the Pastor, in his enlightened self-conquest, is the antithesis alike
of the narrowness and lawlessness of parent and child, and remains the
hero of the swift tragedy.

It is not uncommon that the scrupulousness attending circumstances
where partiality would be a natural impulse, makes criticism even
unusually exacting. It is believed that in this spirit the present
translation may be somewhat confidently characterized as being both
spirited and faithful.

                                                      E. W.

The Oxford.
     _January_, 1896.




                                Persons.


      Schwartze, _Lieutenant-Colonel on half-pay_.

      Magda,     \
                   > _his children by his first wife_.
      Marie,     /

      Augusta, _born_ Von Wendlowski, _his second wife_.
      Franziska von Wendlowski, _her sister_.
      Max von Wendlowski, _Lieutenant, their nephew_.
      Heffterdingt, _Pastor of St. Mary's_.
      Dr. von Keller, _Councillor_.
      Beckmann, _Professor Emeritus_.
      Von Klebs, _Major-General on half-pay_.
      Mrs. von Klebs.
