Die Ratten: Berliner Tragikomödie

by Gerhart Hauptmann

"Die Ratten: Berliner Tragikomödie" by Gerhart Hauptmann is a drama premiered in 1911. Set in a decaying Berlin tenement, the play interweaves two contrasting stories: a desperate cleaning woman who buys a baby to replace her dead child, spiraling into tragedy when the birth mother has regrets, and a pompous theater director who preaches classical ideals while betraying them. This naturalist work critiques wilhelminian society by contrasting the existential struggles of the poor with the hollow pretensions of the bourgeoisie.