Naturalistic Comedy

Hauptmann’s play, The Beaver Coat, is written based on the concept of combining early European Naturalism and Realism into a comedy based on everyday life.  The author uses infinitesimal details, down to how people walk and stand, to describe the scene and set the tone for the play. Many, many elements that are defined are not necessarily pertinent to the story, but in the big picture, those details help focus the reader on the way Prussian people lived during the 1880s, and the activities that happen while looking for the truth becomes more important than actually finding the truth. I think this is one reason there is no definite ending. Sarcasm is much more common in this work than a straight answer, and people’s reactions to everyday actions are very comical. Mother Wolff is portrayed as a female ‘Robin Hood’ archetype, ‘just doing what she has to, to survive’, for herself and her family. This lets the audience be more vested in the story and the outcome, although the lack of finale is almost annoying. I feel the author portrayed this story as real life would normally happen, because real life goes on, and people find different, never-ending paths in their journey. That is extremely natural and realistic.

I replied to an earlier post that it was a little disappointing to read a story with so much detail and nothing left to the imagination, but I feel Hauptmann’s use of naturalism, realism, and comedy combined is brilliant, and really makes up for the hanging ending that the audience is not accustomed to in other comedies during that time.