almost without a battle. The productions of the new school soon made their way even into some of the subventioned theatres; but it was the unsubventioned Deutsches Theater of Berlin that most vigorously continued the tradition of the Freie Bühne. One or two playwrights of the new generation, however, did not actually belong to the Freie Bühne group. Hermann Sudermann produced his first play, _Die Ehre_, in 1888, and his most famous work, _Heimat_, in 1892. In him the influence of Ibsen is very clearly perceptible; while Arthur Schnitzler of Vienna, author of _Liebelei_, may rather be said to derive his inspiration from the Parisian "new comedy." Originality, verging sometimes on abnormality, distinguishes the work of Frank Wedekind (b. 1864), author of _Erdgeist_ and _Frühlingserwachen_. Hugo von Hofmannsthal (b. 1874), in his _Elektra_ and _Ödipus_, rehandles classic themes in the light of modern anthropology and psychology. The promoters of the Théâtre Libre had probably never heard of Ibsen when they established that institution, but three years later his fame had reached France, and _Les Revenants_ was produced by the Théâtre Libre (29th May 1890). Within the next two or three years almost all his modern plays were acted in Paris, most of them either by the Théâtre Libre or by L'OEuvre. Close upon the heels of the Ibsen influence followed another, less potent, but by no means negligible. The exquisite tragic symbolism of Maurice Maeterlinck began to find numerous admirers about 1890. In 1891 his one-act play _L'Intruse_ was acted; in 1893, _Pelléas et Mélisande_. By this time, too, the reverberation of the impulse which the Théâtre Libre had given to the Freie Bühne began to be felt in France. In 1893 Hauptmann's _Die Weber_ was acted in Paris, and, being frequently repeated, made a deep and lasting impression.