11. Reigen
box 19/1
17
Reigen“ exposes the sordidness of illicit love.
It is a record of ten episodes of promiscnons philan¬
dering. The vices and follies of the characters of
the drama run the range from deceit, weakness,
cruelty, jealousy, greed, lust, betrayal to disgust
and brutal indifference. The incidents, for all their
vividness, are delicately portrayed. The author
presents no praise of illicit love, no glorification of
sexual adventures, no exploitation of vulgar and
indecent details. Rather are we confronted with
Drief, deftly written vignettes which unmask the
utter futility of attempting to secure abiding satis¬
faction from indulgence and sensuality. The actors
of the drama are by turns weak, blundering, greedy,
lustful, graceless, cowardly, ridiculous, defeated
and unhappy. No one after reading“Reigen'
would be likely to envy ang of them. No one would
be likely to be prompted to emulate their example.
Conczusion.
When the Court of Appeals legalized Mademoi¬
selle De Maupin, which counselled fornication, en¬
couraged adultery and made light of virtue, it estab¬
lished a frontier forthe freedom of expression which
Reigen' has far from transgressed. It is a modern
classic and has been recognized as such bythe civil¬
ized world. It more than deserves the sanction of
this Court.
Respectfully submitted,
Mokkis L. ERNST,
Attorney at Law.