ABSTRACT
Of the plays Toller wrote in prison Hinkemann is the one whose quality has been most fully appreciated and justly assessed. Even in 1922 in MS, under the title Eugen Hinkemann, it was described by Fritz Droop as “one of the most shattering dramas of the last decade’, and as possessing “permanent worth” (1) . Marxist criticism has remarked, disapprovingly, of course, upon the shift in this play from “historical optimism” to a “politically pessimistic world-view” (2) . As early as 1957 Martin Reso saw the play as tragedy in the Aristotelian sense and an expression of opposition to the banal optimism that thinks that social order can solve all problems (3) .
The fundamental character of the work is loneliness and resignation. In the sadness of Hinkemann is mingled that of the poet; over the lost revolution and futile sacrifices (4) .
