Woyzeck is a groundbreaking German play, left unfinished when Georg Büchner died in 1837. It tells the story of Franz Woyzeck, a poor soldier struggling to survive in a brutal world.
Woyzeck is exploited by his superiors, used in cruel medical experiments, and mocked for his poverty. He desperately tries to care for his lover, Marie, and their child, but his mental state unravels under constant pressure. When Marie is unfaithful with a handsome drum major, Woyzeck’s despair and jealousy push him to the edge.
In a fit of madness, he murders Marie by a pond and then stumbles into his own destruction.
Though fragmentary, Woyzeck was revolutionary, it depicted the life of an ordinary working man on stage with stark realism. Its themes of poverty, exploitation, and psychological breakdown made it a forerunner of modern drama, influencing writers from Brecht to Beckett.
Woyzeck endures as a raw, tragic portrait of what happens when society crushes the most vulnerable.