Poor or non-existent sex education can lead to such undesirable results as rape, suicide and teen-age pregnancy. Illegal abortion can lead to death.

Well, preaching to the converted, there. The trouble is that the un-converted are the kind of people who would get outraged by a play like this and try to ban its performance or publication. I would like to think the problem is not as severe now as at the time of its initial publication but here in Britain it is still possible for parents to prevent their children from attending sex-ed classes if they want to. The children of such parents seem likely to be the ones who stand in most need of it, though, so complacency is not an option.

The play itself is, in this version, short and readable and has a completely bizarre final act. Who is the masked man? ( )

I had heard a lot about this play during my time in theater in high school. However, I never read it. I was always confused about why we didn't perform it. Now that I read the play it makes complete sense. This play is so innovative and covers such controversial themes, especially considering when it was published. An amazing read! ( )

This is a story about several young teenagers in late 1800's Germany who are all coming to terms with what it means to be both children and adults; or at least somewhere inbetween. It's a story about exploring themselves both mentally and physically but also noticing the difference in their interactions and relations with other teenagers – and most importantly, their relation to the adult world and how the adults view and treat them and their questions and thoughts.

It's about the suicidal teenager who can't stop thinking about lady legs, his best friend who struggles with the ignorance of the adulthood without realising his own and the two boys who hide away in the vineyards to kiss. We meet the girl abused by her father late at night; a dark secret that is eating her up from the inside. As she somewhat tells her friends of her abuse, one of them wants to experience what abuse is like. It's truly a coming of age story; gritty and dark in ways the 80's coming of age films never allowed – but it's also filled with so much wonder and light. It's dark and it's heartbreaking but it's also bright and full of love.

This god damn play. Honestly. I've been waiting for the right time to do this review because it's so fantastic. Before this, I was not that interested in reading plays. I mean, I'd read a few Shakespeare plays before but this one changed my god damn world. Thanks to this play, I haven't only gotten into reading plays but I've become a lot more passionate about theatre than I was before; especially musical theatre. This isn't a musical but it brought me to the musical adaption of the play. Although, as much as I love the characters and the actors of the musical, very few things could beat this play.

It makes one really think about things and see things from a new perspective. I really wish I'd known about this play when I was around fourteen, fifteen because it would've helped me so much. But it feels just as important for the adult world to read; to realise their flaws and consider what they teach their children but also how and why. ( )

Brilliant, shocking, and heartbreaking. ( )

It would seem that even in the 19th century teenagers were full on angst. At its hart the play is a criticism of 19th century German society's sexual repressiveness. The main plot of the story is how through not teaching their children about sex and reproduction the parents and society at large doomed Wendla,Melchior, Moritz to a tragic end. Wendla, who gets pregnant after having sex with Melchior(and seems to be abliviouse to the fact that it was happening) but refuses to accept the fact due to her mother telling her that only people in love can have children dies of an abortion. Moritz, who is disturbed by his sexual urges get Melchior, who knows all about sex to right an essay about it but later is still distracted by his urges which causes his study's to suffer leading to his expulsion and him committing suicide. Melchior is blamed for Moritz death and also expelled with his parents sending him to a reform school where he agonizes over Moritz and Wendla. Eventually he escapes and stumbles into a graveyard where he finds Wendla's grave and encounters the ghost of Moritz who tries to trick Melchior into death saying that he's learned so much being dead. Melchior almost accepts but is stopped by a masked man who convinces Melchior that he still might have something to live for. the main problem I had was that Melchior was so unlikeable he was the epitome of whiny teenage angst. and I really couldn't feel sorry for him. I can see why the play has been banned when it came out as it does deal with subjects that polite society at the time did not talk about. I tried to like the play but it was thoroughly depressing and the angst got really annoying. I can appreciate it for it place in theater history and it's criticism of German society in the late 19th century but that's about it as its not a fun read. ( )