Technology and Armageddon

Abstract

Although Die Koralle is generally considered Part One of the Gas trilogy, it is almost certain that when Kaiser wrote the play during the years 1916 and 1917 he did not intend to expand it into a trilogy. Die Koralle stands as a drama in its own right, the conflict which it poses is solved, it also differs considerably from the two Gas plays in style. Furthermore, Kaiser wrote two different plays, Der Brand im Opernhaus (The Fire in the Opera House) and Der gerettete Alkibiades, before he turned to Gas I in 1917. However, there are points of comparison which have led critics to group these plays in what has come to be known as the Gas trilogy: they deal with four generations of the same family; there are a number of linking symbols such as the red coral and the red gas; the two Gas plays develop in much more detail the social theme briefly treated in Die Koralle. The three plays represent a coherent and progressively pessimistic vision of society in Germany in the past, the present and the future.

I have taken sides with mankind. I can’t defend God any longer. (K. 4/630)